March 7, 2006
Safeway Looks to Stop Sucking
It seems that the folks over at Safeway have started taking the endearing nicknames for all their stores a little more seriously -- and they want to get rid of them.
The InTowner recently reported that California-based Safeway has started remodeling many of its area stores as part of a national effort to re-brand itself and attract back the customers who have fled to the alternatives, including Giant, Harris Teeter, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe's. The first Safeway to receive a facelift was the Hechinger Mall store in Northeast, followed by the 14th Street location in Capitol Hill, and soon to be followed by "Soviet" Safeway on 17th and Corcoran Streets and "Spanish" Safeway on Columbia Road in Adams Morgan.
Speaking personally as a three-year veteran of the Capitol Hill Safeway, pictured above, thank the heavens. While that Safeway's sudden decision to stop sucking may have come more as a response to a rumored Harris Teeter just down the road or the consistently shifting demographics of the neighborhood, the changes are welcome. The store is more inviting, better organized, contains a more diverse selection of foods, and thankfully still sells beer and liquor. It even has a Starbucks. The service still sucks, but, as they say, one improvement at a time.
Picture snapped by Martin Austermuhle.
|
On the Cap Hill Safeway -- that's a bit harsh. I actually find the staff friendly and checkout reasonably efficient. The store is cleaner than before the renovation but still comes up short on a number of fronts. The produce is often a day or two past peak and the product selection is inferior to even the average NoVa Safeway. They're also not so good at keeping sale items in stock. It's improvement, ableit a modest hop over their self set low bar. Harris Teeter on the Hill is reality and not rumor (2008), and despite its many flaws (I dare you to find a frozen food section anywhere more out of hand than the Crystal City HT), the Safeway will take a big hit.
You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig. While I applaud the recent changes to the Safeway on the Hill, I have not personally experienced an increase in product availablity. I've gone to there too many times and found 1 frozen pizza in the entire store, no frozen spinach, etc. It's not like these items are gourmet specialities. Unless service improves, all the money fixing up the place will be for naught. Unfortunately,I fear the new Harris Teeter down the street will suffer from the same problem and become another pretty pain machine when it comes to grocery shopping. While the physical structure makes a difference, its the people running and working there that are most important. With the the workforce drawn from the same labor pool, little real improvement can be expected. Garbage in, garbage out.
TJ,
Don't get me wrong -- I like some of the staff there. Some. Some suck. Bad. And they really don't seem to have a good idea of when to have as many people working registers as needed, leading to the much-hated line half-way down the frozen foods section for the "Express" lane.
2-0-0-8! Wow. I was hoping the Harris Teeter would go in in my lifetime.
There's a Safeway on the corner of 20th and S, but you would never know it. They don't have a sign outside. It's no bigger than any corner market you find in urban neighborhoods. It's also one of the most expensive supermarkets you'll ever find. Can they remodel the prices, too?
i went into soviet safeway one evening and every line was backed up to the rear of the store, so that all the aisles east of the produce section were in accessible due to people standing in them waiting to checkout... only go there to punish myself for spending too much at whole foods
I agree about the service...I went to the Safeway on Benning and Maryland last weekend and the checkout girl was really slow. She didn't seem to care that there was a line back to frozen foods, or that the person she was checking out had about 30 items (we were in the "express" lane.
I like the physical changes of the store...in fact, I think it may look a little better than the Capitol Hill Safeway (which has better service), but if they really want to compete, they need to get their employees in check.
Social Safeway in Glover Park is ALWAYS packed. Where's the self-checkout!!??
The Unsafe Safeway (Cap Hill) still earns its name, although the stale veggies are more dangerous than the parking lot these days.
The Soul Safeway on Maryland and Benning has made a major improvement, though. While the checkout clerks are still slow, there are more of them, the produce is better, and the stockers are courteous and helpful.
The Unsafe Safeway (Cap Hill) still earns its name, although the stale veggies are more dangerous than the parking lot these days.
The Soul Safeway on Maryland and Benning has made a major improvement, though. While the checkout clerks are still slow, there are more of them, the produce is better, and the stockers are courteous and helpful.
Yeah, it's always bothered me that the super secret double background Safeway on 20th doesn't carry the same specials, club card prices, etc. as the normal Safeways. Place is super handy when I walk home from work, but I hate the prices.
They're also not so good at keeping sale items in stock.
It's called a raincheck. Most people are too lazy to pick them up, but it takes a minute to get them, and you get the sale price when they have the item back in stock.
What about the Safeway on 4th and M, SW? That place is seriously sketchy. How come no one ever mentions Sketchy Safeway? While it's not the safest-feeling place out there, they do have a pretty good selection of food overall.
Elizabeth:
Sketchy Safeway is my local grocery. I've never had any doubts about its safety, but the food selection is only so-so and the service is pretty bad. Not Soviet Safeway bad, but bad enough that people in NoVA would riot if forced to put up with it.
"It's called a raincheck."
Are you effing kidding me, Chandler Bing? You take rainchecks on groceries? And it's the customer's problem that they're too *lazy* to get one?
"Yeah, it's always bothered me that the super secret double background Safeway on 20th doesn't carry the same specials, club card prices, etc. as the normal Safeways."
Because of this, and its small size, I always refer to this location as the "Safeway Sub-Station"...
Count me among the lazy on the rainchecks -- it means waiting in an additional line, then waiting for someone to confirm that they're really out of said item, then waiting to buy the other items in your basket, then waiting for the store to restock, then returning to store. . . usually I'll just do without or buy something comparable that isn't on sale. It works effectively like bait and switch, even if it's not deliberate. At least when I'm too lazy to remember my Safeway card they let me key in my mother's phone number(then again, I'm also too lazy to remember my old phone number used when I signed up for the card, and too lazy to update the information or get a new card)
Soviet Safeway (at 17th and Corcoran) is a good example of a store that changed rapidly once competition arrived (in the form of Whole Foods at 15th and P). But now our expectations are higher, too. As for the Secret Safeway (at 20th and S), well, even Leningrad residents in the mid-80's had it better. Awful awful awful awful produce. Absurd prices (Whole Foods is cheaper). And pedestrian selection for such a sophisticated neighborhood. Are you listening, Safeway?
I always heard Stealth Safeway for 20th & S NW. Is it Secret or Stealth? Is there another one to which I'm not privy? :-0
y'all have forgotten the watergate safeway, where i've been shopping for 20 years. everybodys maid shops there and occasionally somebody from upstairs comes in drunk. it's in zone 2 and parking is good either in front of boutique saint laurent or behind the saudi embassy. unfortunately the watergate pastry nolonger sell their box of 'ends'.
The Soviet Safeway has been my neighborhood grocery for 5 years and I haven't worse than it has been lately (admittedly I missed out on the pre-Whole Foods years). I walked in one evening to find the shelves nearly completely BARE. And I mean bare: there was not a single container of yogurt in the entire store, along w/ no eggs, no tortillas, no soup, even canned fruit was in short supply. The aisles were impassable since the shelves had been emptied onto temporary racks that were sitting in the middle of every other lane. Every attempt at asking "What is going on in here?" was met with a blank look as though nothing was wrong. I was appalled and if I had any other option short of blowing my paycheck at the Secret Safeway or Whole Foods, I would never step foot in there again.
disgruntled: what you ran into was the beginning of the re-working of the store. someone should have pointed that out to you...
here's my question, let me get all these names straight:
glover park/burleith: social safeway
adams morgan: spanish safeway
17th st: soviet safeway (i have heard it refered to as safegay, though that's not very tasteful)
cap hill: unsafe safeway
20th and S: secret (stealth) safeway
southwest: sketchy safeway
petworth: ?
maryland ave: soul safeway
watergate: ?
what about the safeway near the rhode island ave metro station, what's its clever nickname?
I've always heard the "Spanish Safeway" referred to as the Sandanista Safeway, alluding to both the Spanish-speaking local population and the soviet-esque service and product selection.
Yeah, what is the nickname for the Petworth Safeway?
I've heard Spanish Safeway referred to as "El Safeway." I quite like that.
Gayfeway. The Safeway on 17th & Corcoran is the Gayfeway.
Also Unsafeway is so much more elegant than "Unsafe Safeway." Let's go with that.
I prefer Not-so-Safeway for the Waterfront store...
ward 8 safeway= marionbarry safeway
watergate= monica lewinsky safeway
i will never go in the SafeGay again. since this renovation they are making way for the eventual beer and wine sales by offering less products.
and it aint cheaper than whole foods.
how many of ya remember
locker room safeway? it was at 20th and L
where ballys or one of those chains are now
i confess, 25 years ago i shopped at rhode island ave safeway. but back then it was located in ledroit near the Amaco gas station at 400 rhode island ave NW. a few months ago after shopping at the homo depot i hit the RI safeway and guess what? all the employees from ledroit moved over there. so, RI safeway should be renamed:
da hood safeway :)
I recommend that you try the Capitol Hill Safeway during the workday or on Saturday morning. The employees that work that shift are pleasant and efficient. Any other time leaves a lot to be desired.
I applaud the upgrades. It is still difficult to do business in that neighborhood despite gentrification - petty theft is rampant.
So when's my Giant (7th and O NW) gonna stop sucking?
Technically, there isn't a Safeway in Ward 8. The closest one is my local Skyland Safeway (haven't coined a catchy term yet), on 2845 Alabama Ave SE. Granted the western border of the parking lot probably touches Ward 8, but the store itself is Ward 7.
I don't know if it's comforting or disturbing that all the other District Safeway's have the same problems. I'll always drive to Temple Hills, Alexandria, Bowie, rather than deal with the ridiculous lines at the local Safeway. Of course for special occasions, I'll go to the Wegmans in Fairfax.
ML
to the locals that GIANT is known as the
jungle giant.
i regret to inform you it may never stop sucking!
lol
they keep changing the ward boundries on me!
Martine: Wait a minute? Beer and wine sales at Soviet Safegay? That changes everything!
I thought the super secret double background Safeway on 20th was called "Townhouse" Safeway. this is the one on the corner with Ruth Chris and Thaiphoon right?
the prices for that safeway are pretty bad. i recently used peapod and hated. it was dificult to buy the correct portions over line and i was greeted by a knock on the door with a four pound slab of cheddar and a teensy wee bit of broccoli.
gayfeway made me laugh out loud.
7th and O is Ghetto Giant. And say what you will, I can buy $25 worth of foodstamps from a crackhead for $10 and it's 8 times as cheap as the Whole Foods six blocks away. Plus, I keep my dignity, and you can't put a price tag on that. Oh, I know, you might say that there is no dignity in buying foodstamps from a crackhead, but it's a win-win situation. Cracky wins, I win. I go to Whole Foods, Whole Foods wins, I lose. Unless I eat a whole container of the free cheese in the back of the store, but that's just a temporary victory.
jeff jetton: i have lived in this neighborhood since 1987 and the giant at 8th and O is call
the JUNGLE GIANT
Martine Vose. I'll call it whatever I want to call it. Thanks.
DJ yes plus here's another secret about the SafeGay: the air rights have been puchased and condo's are being build ontop of the market.
Sketchy Safeway is also my local one.. I find the staff (checkers) to be quite nice. However it seems like there are rarely enough lanes open and it's common to have lines stretching down the aisles. Produce is hit or miss.. as long as you pay attention you won't be too disappointed, though there isn't too much beyond the standards. Meat/poultry is generally acceptable.. again, just a bit of attention goes a long way, and again selection isn't the largest. I don't get seafood there, so I dunno on that one. Also, if you come towards the end of a sale, don't expect to find much.
Personally, I like the Safeway in Wisconsin in Glover Park. Large store, excellent selection, always lots of sales on produce, pretty wide aisles. They do need to put more cashiers on during the lunch and evening rushes, though. Still, it's pretty dead on weekday mornings.
fyi the social safeway closes at midnight
and soviet safegay closes at 11