I’ve lived in the region since the mid-1960s. There were no Albertsons in this area at that time. In Montgomery County, most folks I knew thought Giant was better than Safeway (although the reverse was true out with us working class folks in PG).
In the late 70s/ early 80s, Giant and Safeway had something of a duopoly. Between them, they had about 85% of the regional market.
We used to have A&P, but they eventually went out of business. At the lower end, we started to get folks like Shopper’s, Food Lion, Basics (I think they may have been a subsidiary of Giant). Into the 90s and 00s, we started to get Wegmans, Harris Teeter, etc.
But the 80s belonged to Safeway and Giant.
I came to DC in ‘79. Back then and for years after, Safeway dominated the city and Giant dominated the suburbs. Which sheds no light at all on whether there was a Safeway in Potomac Village at the intersection of Falls Road and River Road in the early 1980’s. There is now. This is FR, so someone will probably be along with the answer soon.