Safeway closure at NE 122nd and Glisan

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SamSpade
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Safeway closure at NE 122nd and Glisan

Post by SamSpade »

Rather than continue to derail the main Safeway - Albertsons 2018 openings and closures thread, I thought I'd bring discussion over here.

Local media reports
KATU 2 (Sinclair): NE Portland Safeway to Close in August
KGW 8 (TEGNA): Safeway in NE Portland to Close (auto play video)
Pharmacy closing July 26.

It is unfortunate that the store right in front of a large senior living community and near where Albertsons (pre-merger) and another Safeway (pre-merger) closed a few years ago. The Albertsons was replaced by a Grocery Outlet and a gym, so that space was at least somewhat reused by a grocer. The Safeway is now a Ross Dress For Less.

As "Babs" noted over in the other thread, the Multnomah County Sheriff did relocate their east county headquarters to a modern building further east. (this is still city of Portland, so the law enforcement generally would be the city, not county responding) The county chose to use the space as a temporary shelter. That is also now closed.

In the same center, Target closed in 2011 which the developer eventually turned into state-run office space for those needing public assistance.

There is a stand-alone Safeway at SE 122nd and Powell, but if you were relying on public transportation or (challenging in east Portland) walking, that will be a difficult journey.

Further eastward on Division, there is a very busy Fred Meyer at SE 148th and Division.
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Re: Safeway closure at NE 122nd and Glisan

Post by Super S »

Retail has struggled in the general area of Foster Road north to Sandy Blvd., and 82nd Ave. east to Gresham. In addition to the various Albertsons and Safeway closings, there was the Fred Meyer at Rockwood, and recently the one at 82nd & Foster. Two Safeways and one Albertsons have also closed on 82nd in recent years. Mall 205 recently has been struggling...Target is still open there in a two story former Montgomery Ward, as is Home Depot, but much of the in between space is empty. And Kmart is closing at 122nd & Sandy as well.

I have heard that many retailers have had theft issues in the area. The Fred Meyer at Gateway took an unusual step of isolating the apparel department with limited entrances not seen in most stores to address some of these issues. The closing Kmart at 122nd & Sandy also has bars on the front doors.

Safeway as well as Target and Fred Meyer used the term "underperforming" with many of the closures. But in some cases other factors are at play. Target did build a new store at Cascade Station before the Glisan store closed which may have taken away some sales. Fred Meyer has to some extent consolidated to their traditional, larger stores (both Rockwood and Foster were "marketplace" stores) And Kmart is simply a chain that has not done well for years, and it doesn't help that the remaining stores in the Portland area are all old stores.

Between Safeway and Albertsons, Safeway seems to be the stronger brand of the two. WIth that said, however, Safeway has developed a reputation as having high prices unless you want to play the app/coupon/card games, while at the same time cheapening the appearance of the Lifestyle stores with the lighting enhancements. I think the original Lifestyle program was good at giving stores a more upscale appearance, but they have lost their way, and the experience now doesn't really justify the higher price point.
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Re: Safeway closure at NE 122nd and Glisan

Post by storewanderer »

I wonder what kind of sales volume this store did. Like, if sales volume was fine, but profitability was not good. The photos of the store online make it look pretty healthy... this is a bad situation when you have a decent volume store but can't turn a profit for whatever reason(s). It sounds like in this case those reason(s) were largely out of the company's control.
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