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A FRESH PERSPECTIVE: Mixey, a 25-year industry veteran, oversees the huge distribution center.

SAFETY FIRST: NorCal has adopted the 5S lean distribution principles, which have helped to reduce injuries.

UNDER THE HOOD: “We’re constantly updating our fleet with more fuel efficient and environmentally-friendly equipment,” says Mixey. The fleet runs about 25 million miles per year.

Bigger is not always necessarily better, but in the case of one of Safeway Inc.’s distribution centers, the biggest is the best.

Safeway is the fifth largest food retailer in North America. The company operates 1,739 stores in the United States and western Canada and posted annual sales of $44.1 billion in 2008. The retailer has 12 retail operating areas each served by a regional distribution center. In all, Safeway has 17 distribution centers (13 in the U.S. and four in Canada) that provide the majority of all products to all of its stores.

The Tracy, CA, facility is the company’s largest DC—in fact, it’s one of the largest distribution centers on the West Coast. The DC services 271 stores in California and Nevada, as well as 19 locations in Hawaii—shipping some 14 million cases each 28-day cycle.

For its outstanding success at handling such a huge volume—with a 99.9 percent accuracy rate—Safeway’s NorCal division has received Food Logistics’ Golden Pallet award in the self-distributing retailer category.

The Golden Pallet Awards, sponsored by Food Logistics and CHEP USA, are the first industry awards to recognize excellence in warehousing. Two more winners will be profiled in upcoming issues of FL.

“The distribution center is 2.2 million square feet,” says Jack Mixey, the director of distribution of NorCal. “It’s like a small city.”

Mixey, a 25-year industry veteran, joined Safeway about 18 months ago. But he’s no stranger to the company—he started his career with the retailer in its Phoenix division in 1982. He’s also worked for U.S. Foodservice and CoreMark, so he brings a well-rounded perspective to his current position.

Mixey oversees the huge distribution center. Under one roof, there’s a produce warehouse (464,000 square feet), meat/seafood warehouse (100,000 square feet) and a frozen warehouse (253,000 square feet). Then there’s a dry grocery warehouse (678,000 square feet) and a general merchandise warehouse (390,000 square feet). There’s also a recycling center and a truck repair shop, as well as an administration building.