March 29, 2024
The Liberty Lake Splash
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Liberty Lake, WA 99019
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Splash photo by Craig Howard

The familiar red Safeway branding that has been a fixture along Liberty Lake Road since 2000 will turn green in early June as the store transitions to a Haggen market.

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Grocer ‘family’ brings heart for community to conversion
4/29/2015 9:15:45 AM


Splash photo by Craig Howard
Pictured are 13 originals from the first year of Safeway in Liberty Lake - 2000. A 14th pictured, Mike Aragon, has been with the Liberty Lake Safeway since 2003. The team's long-lasting core and heart for the community will remain intact as the grocery store transitions to a Haggen market in June. Pictured front row, from left: Crystal Ruchert, Aragon, Lynn Owen, Tony Townsend, Tammy Nixon Potts and Dana Smith. Back row, from left: Dan DiCicco, Pete Peterson, Scott Beckett, Nancy Moore, Stan Sorensen, Connie Colwell, Jean Simpson and Vickie Peplinski.

By Craig Howard
Splash Contributor

Before Jan Marquez moved to Liberty Lake six years ago, she would make the drive from her home in Post Falls to shop at the Safeway store on Liberty Lake Road. 

"I like the customer service here," Marquez said. "They work with us. They listen. I tell everyone about this place."

When she heard her favorite grocery store would be changing hands from Safeway to Haggen this summer, Marquez wanted to make sure those who work at the site wouldn't be going anywhere.

"As long as the people are the same, I'll be shopping here," she said. "They're amazing." 

It turns out the employee roster of around 90 will not undergo the transition expected down the aisles this June. Despite being given the option to transfer to other Safeway locations in the area, the staff in Liberty Lake, starting with longtime Manager Dan DiCicco, will remain intact. The current team includes a core group of 13 that have been with the store since it opened in 2000.   

DiCicco, a Spokane native, began his career with Safeway in 1970, washing pans in the bakery when he was still a student at North Central High School. He gradually moved up the company ladder and was serving as manager of the Sandpoint store when he got a call to run the company's new venture in Liberty Lake. Now, DiCicco will lead his crew under the banner of Haggen, which purchased 146 stores following the merger of Safeway and Albertsons earlier this year (see sidebar below).  

"After 45 years with Safeway, I'm looking forward to a new job and a new beginning," DiCicco said. "From what I've read about Haggen, I think our customers are going to be very happy. For one thing, they're really involved in the community."

The civic-minded approach will be par for the course as far as DiCicco and his employees are concerned. The man known as "Safeway Dan" brought an emphasis on community causes from his days in Sandpoint, rallying support for local events like the Liberty Lake Community Yard Sales, the July 4th Parade, Liberty Lake Relay for Life and organizations like Kiwanis and Lions. Each month, employees donate a portion of their paychecks to the Safeway Foundation, which backs a variety of nonprofit groups. 

"It's great to be part of a family-oriented store that is so involved in the community," said Tony Townsend, who has been with Safeway 25 years and is part of the original Liberty Lake crew. "We're close knit as employees, and that makes it fun to work together. It's all about the team."

During the yard sales, Safeway employees set up a tent in the parking lot and bring items from home to sell. Each year, 25 percent of the proceeds go toward a cause selected by staff. 

"It's fun to be a part of," said Vickie Peplinski, who began at the store in 2000 and coordinates efforts for the yard sales. "We're glad to support good causes." 

In 2014, Safeway honored Jean Simpson as Volunteer of the Year for the company's Western region, which includes around 40,000 employees. A bakery employee since 2000, Jean has served on the Relay for Life committee and has also co-chaired the event. She is active in the Liberty Lake Community Theatre, another local effort taken up by a number of Safeway employees, including DiCicco.

Simpson said the store's positive environment starts at the top.  

"The thing is, Dan is not a boss, he's a leader," she said. "He works with us; he's not up on a pedestal. He's always asking if there's anything he can do to help." 

DiCicco and other co-workers were there for Simpson in 2002 when her husband was diagnosed with cancer. After a valiant fight of over two years, he passed, but Jean said the reinforcement at the store was priceless during her journey.  

"I felt supported by everyone here," she said. "They held me up during that time. That's what these people do here. We've all been through something of some sort, and we always know we'll be there for each other." 

Stan Sorensen, a 22-year Safeway veteran, lives in the Mead area but has commuted to Liberty Lake since he was hired in 2000.

"I just love the Liberty Lake Safeway and the crew that I work with," he said. "People ask me why I work in Liberty Lake when there are stores closer to Mead. Well, Dan's not at those stores. The people I work with are the reason I drive over here every day. They are my family."

In a decade and a half, employees have seen an array of changes in the community that surrounds the store. Toddlers are now in high school while some longtime shoppers have passed on. Liberty Lake celebrated its official incorporation in August 2001, just about a year after the store opened. Of course, DiCicco made sure the city had Safeway cake from the scratch bakery to mark the occasion. 

"We like talking to the regulars and being part of the community," said Nancy Mace, part of the inaugural team and a Safeway employee for 30 years, 29 of those as a deli department manager. 

When Pete Peterson moved to the Inland Northwest from Northern California after being hired by DiCicco in 2000, he had never heard of Liberty Lake. 

Outside DiCicco's office, a collection of plaques salutes efforts to support various causes, including the annual picnic at the Joint Base-Lewis McChord near Tacoma where Peterson, an Army and Marine vet, has been stationed. The display is known as "Dan's Wall of Honor," though in typical humble fashion, DiCicco refers to it as "Pete's Wall." 

"Dan understands that the employees are the store," Peterson said. "He cares about his people and the community. Dan definitely made the work fun. That's a real tribute to him. I'm just lucky to be here. I know with Dan here, it's going to be a smooth transition." 

Scott Beckett, known as Safeway's "trivia king" for his practice of tossing out random questions at the store, said DiCicco created the foundation for a flourishing work environment when he picked the first group of employees back in 2000.   

"We owe a lot to him as to why this is such a good group to work with," Beckett said. 

Tammy Potts, another inaugural employee, has worked at the Liberty Lake store five times as long as any stop in her 30-year career.

"I didn't realize how different it was until I worked here," she said. "It's true, we have the best people, the best management, the best community."

DiCicco, who acknowledges the looming need to change his nickname to "Haggen Dan," is quick to deflect credit to his team as they look ahead to a new chapter defined by the same generous priorities.   

"This is all about the employees, not me," DiCicco said. "They are the success story. We're successful because of them and the community. I'm just so fortunate to be able to work with these people. They are the store."

• • •

Haggen brings NW pedigree to Safeway transition

By Craig Howard 
Splash Contributor

In March, it took 36 hours, 100 workers and around 65,000 price tags to convert an Albertsons store in Lake Oswego, Ore., to a sparkling new Haggen market.

The rapid transition entailed everything from changes in signage to switching out cash registers and stocking the shelves with new products. Perishable food was donated while fresh produce and deli items were hauled in under Haggen's signature green and white banner.  

Such is the agenda these days for Haggen, a franchise that bills itself as "the Northwest's leading family-owned grocery chain." After acquiring 146 stores earlier this year in the wake of the Safeway/Albertsons merger, the company that began in 1933 with Ben and Dorothy Haggen's small neighborhood business in Bellingham now finds itself as a burgeoning retail powerhouse. 

Haggen's transformation began shortly after the Federal Trade Commission approved the purchase of Safeway by Cerberus Capital Management, a private investment company that already owned Albertsons. The acquisition in January - reportedly in the range of $9.2 billion - meant the FTC requiring Cerberus to divest Safeway and Albertsons sites in 130 markets, including Liberty Lake, where the two brands had the potential to create a supermarket monopoly.

Enter Haggen, which increased its inventory nine-fold in what amounted to the largest grocery divestiture in U.S. history. Associated Wholesale Grocers Inc., SuperValu and Associated Food Stores Inc. were also winners in the massive change of chains. Haggen will take over Safeway and Albertsons sites in Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada and Arizona.

John Clougher, chief executive officer with Haggen-Pacific Northwest, said shoppers should not expect much change in price with the new format. Haggen also has a reputation for carrying plenty of organic products and working with community farmers to bring in local produce. The store's hours and shopper favorites like the scratch bakery will remain.  

The changeover in Liberty Lake is expected to take place in early June, according to longtime Safeway Manager Dan DiCicco. Haggen will honor the tenures of current Safeway staff as well as vacation time balances. Any Safeway pensions will transfer to Haggen plans.     

"The best thing is that all the people in this Safeway will still be here when it becomes Haggen," DiCicco said. 

 

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