Longtime Safeway CEO Will Retire In May

PLEASANTON (CBS/AP) -- Safeway's CEO Steven Burd will retire in May after more than 20 years with the grocer.

The chain, which has stores across the country, says it will search for a successor both internally and externally.

Burd says he wants to spend more time with one of his signature pursuits at Safeway: health care. Safeway raised more than $2 billion for charities, including more than $200 million for cancer research under Burd's leadership, according to the company.

He is giving up his chairman position as well in May, during the annual stockholders meeting.

Burd started at Safeway as president in October 1992 and became its CEO months later.

Safeway, based in Pleasanton, Calif., runs 1,644 grocery stores in the U.S. and western Canada.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed)