Safeway and Albertsons are hiring for hundreds of store positions in the region. 

The first Safeway store using that name opened in an art deco building at Olympic Avenue and Market Street, in Hillyard, around 1931. 

As coronavirus infections continue to increase in Spokane and North Idaho, virtually all area grocery stores have ended what had been called "hazard pay" for grocery store workers who were classified as essential employees and required to work during the pandemic.

Area grocery chains are taking additional social distancing precautions by implementing one-way aisles and restricting the amount of customers in stores to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The union that represents grocery workers in Spokane and North Idaho announced a deal Wednesday with Kroger, which owns Fred Meyer stores, to increase worker pay by $2 an hour for those employees who continue to work at grocery stores during the pandemic.

Shoppers at the Rosauers in north Spokane were greeted Wednesday with an employee holding a spray bottle and a towel. He wiped down every cart handle before handing it to shoppers.

The paper products aisles at several Spokane grocery stores on Wednesday afternoon continued to be deserted islands of shelves with placards reminding shoppers to take just one package each. While supply chains are improving at local stores, managers believe it could take suppliers weeks to catch up to the panic-buying onslaught that emptied most supplies of paper products, flour, sugar, eggs, pasta, canned goods and sanitizing wipes.

All Rosauers, Albertsons and Safeway locations will be offering store hours designated only for seniors and vulnerable members of the community. Target stores nationwide have established a similar policy.

Visitors to the Spokane Valley Safeway store are drawn to White Claw Ski Lodge, with its roof frosted with fluffy, cotton snow, dangling icicle lighting and a beacon of neon lights emblazoned with the hard seltzer’s logo. Once inside the in-store display, they can warm their hands by the fire, enjoy a position on the throne or simply gaze out windows at passing patrons.

Even as he bolted to the top of the leaderboard at the Safeway Open, Cameron Champ’s mind was elsewhere.

Justin Thomas didn’t get much rest during the four weeks between seasons. The 2017 FedEx Cup champion helped raise money for hurricane victims in the Bahamas, spent two weeks recovering from minor skin cancer surgery, then flew cross country to California to play in the pro-am before making his season debut at the Safeway Open. With the obvious exception of the skin cancer, it was about as perfect a break as Thomas could have expected.

Two Midway Elementary teachers in the Mead School District are celebrating receiving grants from the Safeway/Albertsons Foundation to fund hands-on learning experiences that they hope will excite and engage their students.

Like an 18th century sailor mapping out a series of Caribbean islands on a rum-running escapade, vegans and vegetarians will often ping-pong around a city bouncing from store to store in search of their preferred plant-based fix. A true first world problem.

For the fourth time in at least a year, Spokane police planted a bike outside the Safeway grocery store at Mission Avenue and Hamilton Street in north Spokane, hoping to bait people into walking away with an expensive new toy.

A pair of suspected bank robbers escaped the scene of a silent holdup at a Spokane Valley bank Wednesday morning.

Brandt Snedeker birdied the final three holes Saturday to take a three-stroke lead into the final round of the PGA Tour’s season-opening Safeway Open.

Brandt Snedeker birdied the final two holes for a 7-under 65 and a three-stroke lead over Phil Mickelson and two others in the PGA Tour’s season-opening Safeway Open in Napa, California. Playing alongside Hall of Famer Fred Couples, Snedeker had eight birdies and a bogey on the North Course at Silverado Resort and Spa.

Phil Mickelson had six straight birdies and shot a 7-under 65 to pull within two strokes of leader Sepp Straka in the PGA Tour’s season-opening Safeway Open. Coming off a winless performance in the U.S. Ryder Cup loss to Europe, the 48-year-old Mickelson birdied Nos. 9-14 and closed with four straight pars on the North Course at Silverado Resort and Spa. Straka birdied the final three holes for a 63.