An Update on Blackhawk Network

Seeking Alpha just posted the transcript from Safeway's quarterly earnings call held on July 23. On the call, Safeway CEO Steven A. Burd commented on Blackhawk Networks, a wholly owned subsidiary of Safeway:

To give you a brief update on Blackhawk, the value of total card sales—this is what we offer in terms of face value of the card—increased 24% for quarter two and that leaves us at 25% for the first half of this year.

The sales of closed loop partner cards are an interesting one to follow because essentially those cards represent the gift cards of a lot of retailers who are going through the same kind of economic events that we are. The sales of the closed loop partner cards increased 22.4% in the quarter and are growing at a rate that is much faster than our partners' own card sales.

Year-to-date we are on plan for Blackhawk, both in terms of face value card sales and earnings."