Portland-area Safeway hours changes

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Portland-area Safeway hours changes

Post by SamSpade »

It's been posted here when one of the grocers dropped 24-hour operations in Las Vegas. . .

Well, more hour cutbacks have come to Portland, albeit minor.

Most Safeway markets in the Portland area are open 5 am to 1 am. There used to be a few 24 hour stores but the last one I knew of was the Woodstock Blvd. location as SE Powell and Cesar Chavez was cut back to 5a-2a a few years ago.

Now, the store in my neighborhood has new hours posted - dropping to a more standard Albertsons:
6a-12mid. Again, not a major shift - opening just a little later and closing just a little earlier.

Portland chain grocer store hours at a glance:
Fred Meyer - 7 am to 11 pm; service departments until 7 pm
Walmart - varies, based on location; service deli/bakery (where available) are open until 7 pm
Target - 7 am to 11 pm, midnight Saturdays only. No service departments.

QFC - varies, but 24 hour operations seem to be reducing; service departments until 8 pm
Safeway & Albertsons - seem to be standardizing to 6a-12m, service departments seem to vary widely on staffing hours

WinCo Foods - 24/7, service departments from morning until early evening
Grocery Outlet - independent so hours set by operator but most 8a-9p

Trader Joe's - 8 am to 9 pm, except NW store until 10. One of only 2 I'm aware of in the chain, the other being Capitol Hill in Seattle.
New Seasons - 8 am to 10 pm most locations, service departments close 1 hour before store
Natural Grocers - 8:30 am to 9:30 pm
Whole Foods - 8 am to 10 pm
Market of Choice - 7 am to 11 pm, service departments close around 8 pm
Bales Markets - 5 am to 11 pm
Zupans - varies by location, now closing at 9 or 10 pm

99 Ranch - 9 am to 9 pm, service meat & seafood close at 7, hot food area at 8
Uwajimaya - 9 am to 9 pm, service departments and Beard Papa close at 7
Asian Food Center - 9 am to 9 pm
Barbur World Foods - 7 am to 10 pm (8a-9p in Pearl District)
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Re: Portland-area Safeway hours changes

Post by Super S »

There was a time in the late 80s-early 90s where EVERY grocery store was 24 hours. Even the independents. And it didn't matter if it was Portland or one of the smaller towns. Walmart wasn't in the Northwest yet, but Fred Meyer even experimented with the food department only being 24 hours, that did not last long.

It seems like Safeway has at times had "seasonal" 24 hour stores during the summer months, but it seems like this was only at some locations.

More recently, Safeway has been open Christmas Day. Not sure about Albertsons though.

It is a good idea for one or two stores to be open around the clock, but it is hard to make a case for everybody to stay open if there isn't enough business to justify it.
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Re: Portland-area Safeway hours changes

Post by Kyleinlongview »

Granted its the northern edge of the Portland market, but I noticed one of the two Longview, WA Safeway stores are reducing to closing at 11PM instead of 1AM later this month. This store is located in the downtown area and about 5 blocks from a 24 hour Winco. I noticed no posted changes at the other Safeway in town.
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Re: Portland-area Safeway hours changes

Post by pseudo3d »

Super S wrote: November 12th, 2017, 9:06 am There was a time in the late 80s-early 90s where EVERY grocery store was 24 hours. Even the independents. And it didn't matter if it was Portland or one of the smaller towns. Walmart wasn't in the Northwest yet, but Fred Meyer even experimented with the food department only being 24 hours, that did not last long.

It seems like Safeway has at times had "seasonal" 24 hour stores during the summer months, but it seems like this was only at some locations.

More recently, Safeway has been open Christmas Day. Not sure about Albertsons though.

It is a good idea for one or two stores to be open around the clock, but it is hard to make a case for everybody to stay open if there isn't enough business to justify it.
That is correct. I know for my area, the Walmart and one of the H-E-Bs stay open 24 hours due to the high student population in the area but the Kroger stores and the other H-E-B stores farther away don't have that massive influx and close at midnight or soon after.

Personally, late-night shopping is usually the worst a store has to offer--boxes are strewn everywhere, service departments are non-existent, produce selection is at its worse, and almost no one to assist you in any way.
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Re: Portland-area Safeway hours changes

Post by BillyGr »

Super S wrote: November 12th, 2017, 9:06 am There was a time in the late 80s-early 90s where EVERY grocery store was 24 hours. Even the independents. And it didn't matter if it was Portland or one of the smaller towns. Walmart wasn't in the Northwest yet, but Fred Meyer even experimented with the food department only being 24 hours, that did not last long.

It seems like Safeway has at times had "seasonal" 24 hour stores during the summer months, but it seems like this was only at some locations.

More recently, Safeway has been open Christmas Day. Not sure about Albertsons though.

It is a good idea for one or two stores to be open around the clock, but it is hard to make a case for everybody to stay open if there isn't enough business to justify it.
Several chains here did that for a time as well - for at least one it wasn't really a big expense, as they had no "dedicated" cashier. It was just someone who was stocking and doing other off hours tasks (cleaning or such) that would come up when there was a customer that needed ringing up, so they didn't lose anything if no one was shopping.
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Re: Portland-area Safeway hours changes

Post by storewanderer »

Fred Meyer is closing service departments in Portland at 7 PM now? Typically they always had bakery and deli staffed until 10 PM (9 PM in smaller areas, such as Medford)... and the hot food half price in the last hour of deli operations.

NorCal Safeway took an opposite approach under Albertsons. Stores that were taken off of 24 hours, were put back onto it back in September. Other stores expanded hours by one hour at each end (open an hour earlier, close an hour later), which did not necessarily make sense in some small towns, but it was a directive to try to get sales up.

There are a lot of issues with 24 hour operations at this time. As grocery stores have more "high value" drug/beauty items, theft becomes an issue moreso than it was 20 years ago. Also being open 24 hours increases the insurance costs for the store due to increased risk of robbery or customer incident during stocking.

There was a shopping center over in Hillsboro, OR with a 24 hour Safeway and a rare 24 hour Rite Aid, I wonder if those two stores are still both 24 hours?
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Re: Portland-area Safeway hours changes

Post by klkla »

storewanderer wrote: November 12th, 2017, 4:59 pm There are a lot of issues with 24 hour operations at this time. As grocery stores have more "high value" drug/beauty items, theft becomes an issue moreso than it was 20 years ago. Also being open 24 hours increases the insurance costs for the store due to increased risk of robbery or customer incident during stocking.
This. For the reasons you mention as well as income inequality creating more homeless and desperate poor people (a trend which has only grown over the last 20 years).
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Re: Portland-area Safeway hours changes

Post by SamSpade »

That would be the Tanasborne area that straddles the Beaverton and Hillsboro border, right?

Rite-Aid remains a 24-hour pharmacy. Safeway had signs posted today to note their new hours. I believe this was a 5a-1a store. Now? 6 am to 11 pm.
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Re: Portland-area Safeway hours changes

Post by storewanderer »

Yes, right by the long-closed Haggen was where that 24 hour Safeway/Rite Aid pair operated.

Wow, that is a pretty serious cut in hours. I was at that shopping center fairly late at night a year or two ago (close to 11 PM) and both stores had a decent trickle of traffic for the time (5-10 customers at once). That Rite Aid also had Thrifty Ice Cream (only prepackaged, not a service counter).

Maybe they figure since Fred Meyer closes at 11, they can just close too.

I think the Portland division is being run by more Albertsons people so that may explain some of what is going on.
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Re: Portland-area Safeway hours changes

Post by Super S »

Kyleinlongview wrote: November 12th, 2017, 9:20 am Granted its the northern edge of the Portland market, but I noticed one of the two Longview, WA Safeway stores are reducing to closing at 11PM instead of 1AM later this month. This store is located in the downtown area and about 5 blocks from a 24 hour Winco. I noticed no posted changes at the other Safeway in town.
I am continually amazed that, with the higher prices, that Safeway can maintain three locations in Longview-Kelso. Seriously. This is an economically challenged area and while WinCo is the only other grocery-only store left, there is a Fred Meyer and two Walmarts. Plus Grocery Outlet. Out of all of those, Safeway is the only one that requires the card and app gimmicks for sale prices (which aren't really any better than the competition) Then again, maybe there are people who view the other stores as lower class.
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