Safeway will close Hayward supermarket in 2026 but aims to save jobs

HAYWARD — Safeway has decided to shut a store in Hayward but intends to shift all of its affected workers to one or more locations in the area, according to a WARN letter sent to the state Employment Development Department.

Safeway estimated that 76 associates who work at the 231 West Jackson St. store will be affected. It is slated to close on Feb. 2, 2026.

“We do not foresee any layoffs as a result of the closure,” Terra Powers, a Safeway vice president human resources for the grocery chain’s Northern California division, wrote in a Nov. 5 letter to the state EDD.

Safeway is eyeing transfers for all the affected workers who are represented by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5 and Baker’s Union Local 125.

For the three-month period that ended on Sept. 6, Safeway owner Albertsons Cos. produced $168.5 million in profit on revenue of $18.92 billion, the company reported on Oct. 14. Compared to the same quarter a year ago, the latest profits were 15.8% higher and revenue was up roughly 2%.

All of the workers have bumping rights, Safeway noted, meaning displaced workers who have seniority could bump other workers with less seniority. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the existence of bumping rights would cause workers at other locations to lose their jobs.

“We intend to place all the associates into a position at another nearby location,” Power wrote in the WARN letter. “The exact placement of positions has not yet been completed.”

It wasn’t immediately clear whether the workers would all be shifted to the same location or how Safeway defined the term “nearby.”

“Associates will continue to work at the store to close operations for a period of time” after the Feb. 2 shutdown date, Safeway stated in the WARN letter.