When Joe Albertson started working for the Safeway chain of supermarkets, he may have dreamed of owning the store someday. In a sense, he ended up owning the store and the entire Safeway chain.
From the time he attended the College of Idaho, graduating in 1925, all Joe Albertson wanted was to be a grocer. He worked for Safeway, a chain that started in Idaho (as Skaggs, in American Falls), for several years, then borrowed $7,500 from his aunt and matched that with $5,000 of his own savings to start his own grocery store on State Street in Boise. That was in 1939. Joe added a store and another and another until he had a chain of Albertsons stores. It was a well-known brand throughout the West when he died in 1993.
Albertsons all but disappeared for a time after his death, but former employees of the company reorganized under the Albertsons name in 2006. The company is a now a retail giant.
Joe Albertson would be proud that the company he started now owns the company he first started to work for, Safeway. He was known for his generosity. The two best examples are his donation of Kathryn Albertson Park in Boise, and the Albertson Foundation, which still gives millions to Idaho projects, particularly in the field of education.
From the time he attended the College of Idaho, graduating in 1925, all Joe Albertson wanted was to be a grocer. He worked for Safeway, a chain that started in Idaho (as Skaggs, in American Falls), for several years, then borrowed $7,500 from his aunt and matched that with $5,000 of his own savings to start his own grocery store on State Street in Boise. That was in 1939. Joe added a store and another and another until he had a chain of Albertsons stores. It was a well-known brand throughout the West when he died in 1993.
Albertsons all but disappeared for a time after his death, but former employees of the company reorganized under the Albertsons name in 2006. The company is a now a retail giant.
Joe Albertson would be proud that the company he started now owns the company he first started to work for, Safeway. He was known for his generosity. The two best examples are his donation of Kathryn Albertson Park in Boise, and the Albertson Foundation, which still gives millions to Idaho projects, particularly in the field of education.
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