Retail Watchers

Maybe the card should be like what Fred Meyer does and it is for earning fuel points and also rebates. But in Fred Meyer's case, the option to get the sales price without the card is there. You just won't earn the fuel points or rebates.

marshd1000 wrote:Maybe the card should be like what Fred Meyer does and it is for earning fuel points and also rebates. But in Fred Meyer's case, the option to get the sales price without the card is there. You just won't earn the fuel points or rebates.

That sounds like good idea. Safeway gathers a lot of information about shoppers habits with the card and is able to tailor their marketing directly to them which is a strategic advantage but customers pretty much hate having to use a card to get discounts. This seems like a win/win solution.

Knowing that Albertsons pretty much sold all of its gas stations pre-merger, will the combined company still operate gas stations? This could influence what happens to the club card.

It seems like Albertsons is playing a lot differently this time around. With that said, I find Safeway to be a poor gas station operator. The .10/gallon credit card fee usually makes their price like a Shell or Chevron for those using a credit card. Their convenience store has the same prices as in-store, and a bit of an odd mix. So some items are a great deal, other items like the $3.99 8lb bag of ice that is under $3 everywhere else, not so much. The Safeway gas station/convenience store is supplied by walking items from across the parking lot over to the convenience store (same way Kroger supplies its convenience kiosks in the parking lots, but those are only kiosks, not 2,000 square foot convenience stores with 3 aisles and 12+ cooler doors. Also they are disgustingly uncompetitive on cigarettes. DOLLARS above other convenience stores.

storewanderer wrote:It seems like Albertsons is playing a lot differently this time around. With that said, I find Safeway to be a poor gas station operator. The .10/gallon credit card fee usually makes their price like a Shell or Chevron for those using a credit card. Their convenience store has the same prices as in-store, and a bit of an odd mix. So some items are a great deal, other items like the $3.99 8lb bag of ice that is under $3 everywhere else, not so much. The Safeway gas station/convenience store is supplied by walking items from across the parking lot over to the convenience store (same way Kroger supplies its convenience kiosks in the parking lots, but those are only kiosks, not 2,000 square foot convenience stores with 3 aisles and 12+ cooler doors. Also they are disgustingly uncompetitive on cigarettes. DOLLARS above other convenience stores.

A 7lb. bag of ice is 0.999 at 99 Cents Only! I've always wondered why people pay more than that for ice.

I often find both Kroger & Safeway to have some of the lowest gas prices around (I often get gas at Vons in Inglewood or Gardena or Food 4 Less in South L.A.). Safeway charges more for using a credit card but Kroger has the same price cash or credit. I always use my Ralphs Rewards card when I drive to Las Vegas (Smith's) or Arizona (Fry's) & often find their gas prices even before the gas discount is the lowest in the area.

Safeway gas is often the second lowest price gas around. However, very often an ARCO station close to Safeway might have prices that are very close. Also, Costco often has lower prices. Of course an ARCO close to Costco might also be very close in price to Costco. Safeway gas is not Top Tier gas. Top Tier gas must meet a certain standard and Safeway gas fails to meet that standard. You are taking a risk of damaging your car's engine with Safeway gas. Even ARCO gas is Top Tier.

Saving a few cents might actually lead to thousands of dollars in costly engine repairs in the future. It is a trade off. You have to think about whether or not you want your car to last.

The best thing to do is to get gas from multiple gas stations. Each brand of gas has different levels of detergent and having a mix of different brands of gas will help even everything out and prevent injector build up. Getting gas only from one brand of gas station is what can cause problems.

Safeway convenience stores are gouging customers. I avoid them and find them very exploitative.

Albertsons might just take a wait and see approach. If these Safeway gas stations are profitable for them, Albertsons might keep them open. If they end up not being profitable, then Albertsons will probably sell them off and discontinue the Club Card altogether. The only reason some customers like the Club Card is for gas rewards. If the gas rewards are eliminated, they might as well get rid of the Club Card as customers hate having to use them to get the sale prices. It is a hassle to find your card or type in a phone number.

Perhaps a clue of things to come. I made a purchase at Safeway today without the club card. The previous message at the bottom of the receipt was something like "JOIN THE SAFEWAY CLUB AND START SAVING TODAY" when no club card was used.

The new message is "TO SIGN UP FOR MORE SAVINGS, VISIT http://WWW.SAFEWAY.COM"

I like to buy Arco gift cards at Safeway using a credit card and then get the lower gas price...

Another data point. When paying with a Safeway Gift Card, the receipt used to show payment type as "SAFEWAY GIFT CARD."

Now the receipt shows payment type as "STORE GIFT CARD."

Things seem to be getting rather generic...

Just a reminder folks, keep this on topic. We're not discussing gasoline quality here.


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Fair warning was given, and sorry but I had to delete several off-topic posts.


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