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.