Albertsons family weekly ads: Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's, Acme
Published October 9, 2026
Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, and Acme are all the same company. Albertsons Companies runs about 20 grocery banners in 35 states and Washington, DC, and most of their weekly ads start on the same day. But not all: Shaw’s, Acme, and Kings start on Friday, while their sister stores in the West start on Wednesday. Safeway ads in some eastern areas can start on a different day than in the West, so check the valid dates for your store.
This guide maps the Albertsons family weekly ads: which banners share a schedule, which don’t, and how one loyalty program works across all of them.
1. Meet the Albertsons family
Albertsons Companies owns banners that most shoppers know only by their local name. Here are the ones on our site, with where they operate and when the ad starts.
| Banner | Where | New ad starts |
|---|---|---|
| Albertsons | Mostly the West | Wednesday |
| Safeway | West; also DC, MD, VA | Wednesday |
| Vons | Southern California, Las Vegas | Wednesday |
| Pavilions | Southern California | Wednesday |
| Randalls | Texas | Wednesday |
| Jewel-Osco | Chicago area | Wednesday |
| Shaw’s | New England | Friday |
| Acme | PA, NJ, DE, MD, CT, NY | Friday |
| Kings Food Markets | Northeast | Friday |
Start days from the valid dates on each banner’s digital flyer, as collected on USA Weekly Ads. Banner count from Safeway’s about page.
Other Albertsons banners include Tom Thumb, United Supermarkets, Star Market, Haggen, Carrs, and Balducci’s. We don’t carry their ads yet, but the same rules below apply to them.
2. Know how the ads relate
Being in one family means the banners share a calendar and a loyalty system. It doesn’t mean every ad is identical.
- Shared dates. All the Wednesday banners above ran the same week in the current ads: October 7 to 13, 2026. The Friday banners ran October 9 to 15.
- Shared program. Each banner has its own “for U” account (Safeway for U, Vons for U, Jewel-Osco for U, ACME for U, and so on) with digital coupons and member prices.
- Different prices. Items and prices can differ between banners and between regions of the same banner. Safeway in California and Safeway in Maryland can start on different days, so check the dates.
The practical rule: use your own banner’s ad for your own store. If you live near two banners, such as Vons and Pavilions in Southern California, compare both. They start on the same day, so you can line them up side by side.
The same goes for deal posts online. A Safeway deal shared by a shopper in California may not exist at a Safeway in Maryland.
3. Watch for the Friday exceptions
This is where most mistakes happen. If you’ve moved from the West to the East Coast, or you read deal posts written for another region, you’ll expect a Wednesday ad that won’t arrive until Friday.
| Banner | Starts | Runs |
|---|---|---|
| Shaw’s | Friday | Friday to Thursday |
| Acme | Friday | Friday to Thursday |
| Kings Food Markets | Friday | Friday to Thursday |
From the valid dates on each banner’s digital flyer.
The Friday schedule lines these stores up with other Northeast grocers. Stop & Shop, which is not part of Albertsons, also starts on Friday.
4. Use one for U account the right way
Every banner’s best prices need its for U account. It’s free, and it’s where digital coupons and personalized deals live. At checkout, you enter your phone number or scan the app.
Safeway’s for U FAQ explains how the program works. The other banners use the same naming and the same idea. Here is an example of how an ad price and a for U coupon can stack.
- Regular shelf price
- $5.99
- Weekly ad member price
- −$2.00
- for U digital coupon
- −$1.00
- You pay
- $2.99
You save 50%
The numbers are an example, not a current price. The habit is what matters: clip the digital coupons before you shop, and check whether a member price needs your account. Without it, you pay the higher price on the shelf tag.
5. Don’t confuse Albertsons with Kroger
Kroger and Albertsons announced a merger in 2022. It never closed. In December 2024, after a federal court in Oregon blocked the deal, Albertsons announced it was ending the merger agreement and Kroger sent its own termination notice; the two companies then went to court over it (Kroger’s SEC filing).
For your shopping, that means two separate families with separate programs:
- Albertsons family: Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, Acme, and the rest. Uses for U accounts.
- Kroger family: Kroger, Fred Meyer, Food 4 Less, and others. Uses Kroger’s Shopper’s Card.
Coupons and points don’t carry across. If an older article says your Safeway card works at Kroger, it was written before the merger fell through.
Bonus: a weekly routine for any Albertsons banner
- Find your banner and start day in the first table (Wednesday in most places, Friday for Shaw’s, Acme, and Kings).
- Check your banner’s site for the new ad on its start day.
- Clip digital coupons in your for U account for anything on your list.
- Check for a longer flyer, like Acme’s two week Health, Home & Beauty flyer, and compare.
- Shop in the first few days of the ad, while front-page items are in stock.
Where to start
Find your banner in the table, note its start day, and make sure your for U account is set up before the next ad starts.