Safeway reported last week that the disposition of its Genuardi’s stores in PA and NJ contributed to a sales decline in the third quarter ended September 8. The company realized an after-tax gain of $49 million and cash proceeds of $111 million on the sale of 16 Genuardi’s units and the closure of an additional store during the quarter.
Sales for the quarter declined to $10.1 billion, or 0.2% as compared to the same quarter a year ago. Identical-store sales were 0.1% softer than expected, primarily due to a decline in price inflation. For 2012 so far, sales rose 1.4% to $30.4 billion, and identical-store sales rose 0.3%.