Two Safeway stores in Colorado Springs will close before the end of the year.

They are part of a larger, statewide cutback that will include 10 stores closing, according to information provided by Safeway. The two stores in Colorado Springs will be joined by four in the Denver metro area, two in northern Colorado, and one each in Lamar and La Junta.

All stores are expected to close on or by Nov. 7, according to the Safeway statement.

The two Colorado Springs store locations are: 5060 N. Academy Blvd. and 1425 S. Murray Blvd. The North Academy location was built in 1982 and the South Murray store was built in 2000.

Shopping traffic at the Murray location, northeast of the intersection with Fountain Boulevard, appeared to be picking up at 4:30 p.m. Customers hurriedly came and went, often with shopping carts full.

One, who had just heard the news, stood by her car in disbelief for a few moments.

“It’s sad,” said Ella Parker, as she loaded groceries. “I like Safeway. They have the best seafood.”

Parker was in a rush, having just bought ice cream.

Others, including Tatum Bender, do not normally shop at Safeway. While nothing about local grocery stores stands out to her – she called them all very similar – she echoed Parker’s comments. She likes Safeway and was not a fan of the closure.

The first announced closure appears to be in La Junta, where the town shared an email from the grocery store chain announcing the closure.

That store, located at 315 W. 2nd Street, employs about 60 people, some of whom are represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 union, according to screenshots the city of La Junta shared on social media.

In a press statement released Tuesday, the labor union condemned the closures. It worried about the impact of closures on not just the community, but the nearly “17,000 workers” across the state.

In the release, UFCW Local 7 said the closures demonstrate Albertsons — which owns Safeway — preference to “lining the pockets of its Wall Street investors,” rather than serving Coloradans.

“We call on Safeway to rethink this disastrous approach to shrinking its corporate footprint and instead, invest in Colorado communities with new and improved stores,” said UFCW Local 7 President Kim Cordova. “It’s time to put people above profits.”

The union said locations closing in Lamar and La Junta would force consumers to drive “at least 60 miles to reach the nearest full-service grocer.” There is a Walmart Supercenter located in both Lamar and La Junta.

It is not clear how many people work at the Colorado Springs locations slated for closure.

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Here is a statement from a Safeway spokesperson:

As part of our ongoing commitment to operational excellence and customer-focused innovation, we’ve recently unified the Intermountain and Denver divisions into the newly formed Mountain West Division. This strategic consolidation is more than a structural change – it’s a growth accelerator.

To fuel this growth, the Mountain West Division is taking several steps to integrate the team structures and store networks of the two former divisions. This includes Safeway closing 10 stores across Colorado, one in New Mexico, and one in Nebraska, all of which will cease operations on or before November 7, 2025.

We continuously evaluate the performance of our stores, and occasionally, after long and careful deliberation, it becomes necessary to make the difficult decision to close certain locations. We are working to place affected associates in nearby stores wherever possible.

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Safeway has proudly served these communities for decades, and the decision to close these stores was not made lightly. With a focus on growth, these closures will enable us to continue investing in our store network and better align with evolving customer needs. Together, these changes position us to operate in new and innovative ways that foster customer loyalty and drive long-term success.

The following Safeway stores are closing on or before Nov. 7:

5060 N. Academy Blvd., Colorado Springs

1425 S. Murray Blvd., Colorado Springs

201 E. Jefferson, Englewood

500 E. 120th Ave, Northglenn

1653 S. Colorado Blvd., Denver

12200 E. Mississippi, Aurora

3657 S. College Ave, Fort Collins

860 Cleveland Ave., Loveland

315 W. 2nd St., La Junta

906 E. Olive St., Lamar

230 Morehead St., Chadron, Neb.

730 W. Main St., Farmington, N.M.

Gazette reporter Cleo Westin contributed to this story.

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