San Francisco (February 8, 2001) — Safeway, one of the nation’s largest grocery chains, announced today a new commitment to routinely circulate Golden Dollar coins to customers in all of its 1,500 stores nationwide. Initially, each store will order 1,000 coins. As demand for the Golden Dollar increases, the stores will order additional coins. Safeway is committed to maintaining Golden Dollar supplies to meet customer demand.
Safeway also announced today that it has begun a national promotional campaign for the Golden Dollar. In addition to using the coin in daily transactions, each cash register will prominently feature Golden Dollar signs encouraging the use of the coin.
U.S. Mint Director Jay Johnson joined senior Safeway officials at the San Francisco Marina Safeway to announce Safeway’s commitment to using Golden Dollars nationwide. Johnson received Golden Dollars in change while making a purchase, followed by a Golden Dollar coin cake–cutting to commemorate the one–year anniversary of the release of the coin.
“The U.S. Mint is delighted to be working with Safeway to speed Golden Dollars into the hands of consumers,” said Johnson. “Safeway is fast forwarding the process of getting Golden Dollars regularly circulating by making them available in all its U.S. stores.”
“Safeway is excited to be instrumental in encouraging the circulation of the Golden Dollar,” said Debra Lambert, corporate public affairs director for Safeway Inc. “We know Americans want to use Golden Dollars but sometimes have difficulty finding them. Safeway is stepping up to the plate to ensure consumers will have easy access to Golden Dollars.”
The Safeway announcement comes on the one–year anniversary of the release of the Golden Dollar. On January 27, 2000, the U.S. Mint began shipping Golden Dollars to commercial banks and financial institutions across the United States. Since then, 700 million Golden Dollars have been released into circulation, more than 10 times the 60 million Susan B. Anthony dollar coins circulated in 1999.
Events to announce the Safeway Golden Dollar partnership will also be held in Chicago, Seattle, Phoenix, Denver, Houston and Washington throughout February. The events will include opportunities to meet the Director of the U.S. Mint, participate in a Golden Dollar Safeway cake–cutting, and exchange other currency for Golden Dollars.
About Safeway
Safeway Inc. is one of the largest food and drug retailers in North America with annualized sales of approximately $32 billion. The company currently operates over 1,700 stores in the United States and Canada and has approximately 200,000 employees. Safeway’s common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SWY.
About the Golden Dollar
To ensure the coin’s success and as mandated by Congress, the U.S. Mint has been educating businesses and consumers about the Golden Dollar. The U.S. Mint was authorized to produce the new dollar coin by the United States Dollar Coin Act of 1997. Dollar coins have gained popularity in recent years due to their expanded use for purchases in post offices, subways, buses and other coin–operated outlets. Visit the Mint’s Web site for more information about the Golden Dollar at www.usmint.gov.