LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The purchase of Safeway by Albertsons' parent company earlier this month isn't expected to result in major changes at the two Safeway stores in Lake County, according to a company official.

Safeway and Albertsons announced on March 6 that Safeway is being purchased by Albertsons' parent company, AB Acquisition, for $9 billion.

The merger is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year and must meet anti-trust requirements, the companies reported.

Safeway owns two stores in Lake County, one in Clearlake in the Burns Valley Shopping Center on Olympic Drive and the second in Lakeport, on 11th Street.

Safeway also owns the 11th Street shopping center where its Lakeport store is located.

Keith Turner, director of public and government affairs for Safeway's Northern California division, told Lake County News that it's anticipated to be “business as usual” for Lake County's stores.

That includes continuing to operate under the Safeway name. “We do not anticipate operating under any other banner,” Turner said.

The sale also will not change plans that the corporation has for moving forward with a gas station project in the 11th Street shopping center.

Last month, the Lakeport City Council approved a consultant services and developer reimbursement agreement with PMC of Rancho Cordova for completing work on the gas station project's environmental review and entitlement process, as Lake County News has reported.

Safeway hasn't yet submitted an application for the project. However, based on preliminary information presented to the council, the plans call for a station with 16 pumps, and a roughly 850-square-foot retail store and payment kiosk.

Turner said the fuel station continues to work through the approval process, and they hope to open during the third quarter of 2015.

Safeway representatives met with Lakeport city planning staff on Wednesday regarding the gas station, according to Planning Services Manager Andrew Britton.

“There was no indication that the potential corporate sale will affect this project,” Britton told Lake County News.

Britton said a potential opening date for the gas station project was not really discussed. “Their team has some work to do before the application package is ready to submit to the city,” he said.

He said it's also hard to speculate when the gas station will open because the city isn't sure when Safeway will submit its project application package.

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