Quarterly Information (Unaudited) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended												4 Months Ended				12 Months Ended
	Sep. 08, 2012		Jun. 16, 2012		Mar. 24, 2012		Sep. 10, 2011		Jun. 18, 2011		Mar. 26, 2011		Dec. 29, 2012		Dec. 31, 2011		Dec. 29, 2012		Dec. 31, 2011		Jan. 01, 2011
Quarterly Financial Data [Abstract]
Sales and other revenue	$ 10,049,100,000		$ 10,386,900,000		$ 10,003,000,000		$ 10,064,300,000		$ 10,196,400,000		$ 9,772,000,000	[1]	$ 13,767,400,000		$ 13,597,600,000		$ 44,206,500,000		$ 43,630,200,000		$ 41,050,000,000
Gross profit	2,656,900,000		2,729,000,000		2,685,200,000		2,717,200,000		2,753,000,000		2,691,100,000	[1]	3,648,800,000		3,632,400,000		11,720,000,000		11,793,700,000		11,607,500,000
Operating profit (1)	218,300,000		247,200,000		189,800,000		248,300,000		277,000,000		219,200,000	[1]	448,800,000	[2]	390,100,000		1,104,100,000		1,134,600,000		1,159,400,000
Income before income taxes (1)	157,600,000		177,600,000		123,700,000		196,300,000		218,900,000		157,200,000	[1]	369,600,000	[2]	309,700,000		828,400,000		882,100,000		881,200,000
Income from continuing operations, net of tax (1)	108,000,000		121,700,000		81,600,000		130,300,000		146,000,000		25,100,000	[1]	255,000,000	[2]	216,800,000		566,200,000		518,200,000		590,600,000
Gain from discontinued operations, net of tax	49,000,000	[3]	1,200,000	[3]	(8,600,000)	[3]							(9,600,000)	[3]			31,900,000	[2],[3]	0		0
Net income attributable to Safeway Inc.	157,000,000		122,700,000		72,900,000		130,200,000		145,800,000		25,100,000	[1]	244,000,000	[2]	215,600,000		596,500,000		516,700,000		589,800,000
Continuing operations, Earnings per common share, basic (usd per share)	$ 0.45		$ 0.50		$ 0.30								$ 1.06	[2]			$ 2.28		$ 1.49		$ 1.56
Discontinued operations, Earnings per common share, basic (usd per share)	$ 0.21	[3]	$ 0.01	[3]	$ (0.03)	[3]							$ (0.04)	[3]			$ 0.13	[2],[3]	$ 0.00		$ 0.00
Total, Basic (usd per share)	$ 0.66		$ 0.51		$ 0.27		$ 0.38	[3]	$ 0.42	[3]	$ 0.07	[1],[3]	$ 1.02	[2]	$ 0.67	[3]	$ 2.41		$ 1.49	[1],[3]	$ 1.56
Continuing operations, Earnings per common share, diluted (usd per share)	$ 0.45		$ 0.50		$ 0.30								$ 1.06	[2]			$ 2.27		$ 1.49		$ 1.55
Discontinued operations, Earnings per common share, diluted (usd per share)	$ 0.21	[3]	$ 0.01	[3]	$ (0.03)	[3]							$ (0.04)	[3]			$ 0.13	[2],[3]	$ 0.00		$ 0.00
Total, Diluted (usd per share)	$ 0.66		$ 0.51		$ 0.27		$ 0.38	[3]	$ 0.41	[3]	$ 0.07	[1],[3]	$ 1.02	[2]	$ 0.67	[3]	$ 2.40		$ 1.49	[1],[3]	$ 1.55
Tax adjustments, settlements, and unusual provisions											(80,200,000)
Gain related to litigation settlement													46,500,000
Repatriation of foreign earnings											$ 1,100,000,000

[1] In the first quarter of 2011, Safeway incurred an estimated tax charge of $80.2 million as a result of the decision to repatriate $1.1 billion from Safeway's wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary.

[2] In the fourth quarter of 2012, Safeway results included a pre-tax gain from legal settlements of $46.5 million.

[3] See Note Q, Discontinued Operations.