Safeway limits paper‑bag features
Safeway has shifted to offering paper bags without handles because of supplier shortages tied in part to tariffs and global supply issues. The retailer says handled paper bags are currently unavailable, a move that has triggered shopper complaints and visible operational changes at checkout. (abc7news.com)
Safeway is giving shoppers paper bags without handles because it says handled bags are unavailable in a supplier shortage affecting multiple retailers. (abc7news.com) The change showed up at Bay Area checkouts this week, where customers told ABC7 the new bags felt weaker and tore more easily while groceries were being loaded into cars. Safeway said it is “currently able to offer paper bags without handles only” and did not give a date for bringing handled bags back. (abc7news.com) Nick Vyas, executive director of the University of Southern California’s Randall R. Kendrick Global Supply Chain Institute, told ABC7 the shortage reflects several pressures at once: tariffs on Canadian lumber, Indonesia revoking some lumber permits, and tighter demand for paper bags in California after the state’s plastic-bag rules changed. (abc7news.com) California stores covered by the state bag law could provide only recycled paper carryout bags at checkout starting January 1, 2026, and those bags must cost at least 10 cents each. CalRecycle says stores are not allowed to hand out any other kind of carryout bag at the point of sale. (calrecycle.ca.gov) That means a packaging problem that might have been a minor annoyance a year ago now lands directly at the checkout lane in California, where paper is the default paid option for many shoppers. The rule also requires paper bags to list the manufacturer, country of manufacture, and postconsumer recycled content on the bag. (calrecycle.ca.gov) Safeway is one banner inside Albertsons Companies, one of the largest grocery operators in the country. Albertsons reported in its latest annual filing that it operated 2,270 stores across 34 states and the District of Columbia as of February 22, 2025. (sec.gov) Paper bags have already been caught up in trade policy before this latest shortage. In late 2023, the United States International Trade Commission found imports of paper shopping bags from nine countries harmed U.S. producers, clearing the way for duty orders from the Commerce Department. (packagingdive.com) Albertsons has also taken a hard line with vendors on tariff costs. Reports last year said the company told suppliers it would not generally accept tariff-related price increases without prior authorization. (fox5atlanta.com) For shoppers, the result is simpler than the supply chain behind it: the bag still costs money, but the handle is gone. Safeway said it is working to resolve the shortage, and customers are left carrying groceries the harder way for now. (abc7news.com)
