Mr. Schwilke began his career at Safeway in 1982 as a clerk in the company’s Seattle division where he advanced through the retail ranks to store manager and district manager. He was promoted to director, corporate retail operations in 2000, and later to vice-president. He was named vice-president, retail operations at Vons, and six years later returned to Safeway’s corporate office as group vice-president, produce and floral. Mr. Schwilke was promoted to his most recent assignment in Texas in 2008.
Mr. McTavish joined Safeway 37 years ago as a food clerk in the company’s Portland division. He advanced through a range of retail management assignments in six stores and three districts. Mr. McTavish was promoted to vice-president, retail operations in the Denver division in 2000, including an assignment as interim Denver division president in 2003. He was named vice-president, retail operations in the company’s corporate offices in 2004 and later that year became vice-president retail marketing execution for the Denver division.
“Both Tom and Paul have proven track records of success in a variety of challenging retail and marketing leadership roles,” said Steve Burd, Safeway’s chairman, president and chief executive officer. “We have great confidence in their abilities to lead these large organizations and we look forward to their continued success in their new assignments.”
Safeway Inc. operates 1,712 stores in the U.S. and western Canada and had annual sales of $40.8 billion in 2009.
