The viaLink Company (NasdaqNM:VLNK) today announced that Safeway Inc. has signed a contract to utilize viaLink's syncLink(SM) service to synchronize item, price and promotion information with its trading partners. Safeway is one of the largest food and drug retailers in North America and operates 1,680 stores in the United States and Canada. The company reported annual sales of $28.9 billion in 1999. "The addition of an industry leader like Safeway to our customer base is an important milestone for viaLink," said Lewis B. "Bucky" Kilbourne, viaLink's chairman and chief executive officer. "We believe that synchronized item, price and promotion information is foundational to a successful e-commerce strategy for retail industry participants. viaLink has the only deployed solution for synchronization in this industry, and we are pleased that Safeway has selected us to provide this service."