Safeway doesn't own Albertsons in California. If thee are left (most are Save Mart or Lucky), they are owned by Save Mart. Since that all went down, Lucky is a lot better than it used to be (and supports Apple Pay and a single line for self-checkout kiosks), where Safeway quality has gone the way of Albertsons.
Actually, per Wikipedia:
"On February 19, 2014, Safeway began to explore selling itself. On March 6, 2014
Cerberus Capital Management (which also owns rival grocery chain
Albertsons) announced it would purchase Safeway for $9.4 billion in a deal expected to close in the 4th quarter of the year.
[28]
In January 2015,
Bellingham, Washington-headquartered grocery chain
Haggen announced it would buy 146 Vons, Albertsons, and Pavilions stores across Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, and Arizona as part of anti-monopoly requirements following the merger. Some of the major metropolitan areas affected were Los Angeles, Portland, Phoenix, Tucson, San Diego, Bakersfield, Seattle, and Las Vegas.
:
So, Cerberus owns both Safeway & Albertson's. In the Sacramento area, the quality is quite good. Service could stand some improvement, but they have just gone on a major pricing reduction. If you watch their sales & coupons, you can get some good savings. Just got a 24 pack of their 16 oz. waters for 99¢. The Raley's/Bel Air chain here in this area is very overpriced.