Safeway renovations in Arizona

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Safeway renovations in Arizona

Post by arizonaguy »

Is there a rhyme or reason to Safeway's "lifestyle" renovations? In my casual observations, the vast majority of Safeway's Arizona stores have been renovated to the "lifestyle" format. However, Safeway has at least 3 stores that I know of that have not: 67th Ave / Peoria, 51st Ave / Olive, and 7th St / Thunderbird. My first thought was that these stores were on the short list for closure.

The 51st Ave / Olive and 67th Ave / Peoria may be some of the lowest volume stores in Safeway's Arizona division.

51st Ave / Olive has a renovated Fry's at it's NW corner, a new-ish Walmart Neighborhood Market at it's SW corner, and then the non-renovated Safeway at the NE corner. Doing a count of cars in the parking lot between Fry's, WMNM, and Safeway; the Safeway always comes out behind. The interior of the store is clean, bit it's pretty sterile (and MUCH brighter than the "lifestyle" stores, and the bright store + lack of customers makes it feel somewhat "eerie". The interesting thing about this store is that while it isn't a "lifestyle" store, the signage on the street has been updated with the current Safeway logo. I can't really see Safeway investing a lot of money into this store..

67th Ave / Peoria. This store has the shortest hours of any Safeway around (which can't be a good sign for its future) being open from 6 a.m. - 10 p.m. This store doesn't do much better in volume (if any at all) than the 51st Ave / Olive location (and like the other location has a Walmart Neighborhood Market across the street. The neighborhood is marginally better than 51st Ave / Olive, but not much. I can't really see Safeway investing a lot of money into this store either.

However, the 7th Ave / Thunderbird store is in a good neighborhood, the AJ's Fine Foods across the street closed, and while it's an older store than most of the other Safeways (a 1970s era ex-Alpha Beta store versus most of the other Safeways which are all 1980s - newer builds) it does good business. This store (of the 3) is also in the early 2000s Safeway decor package versus the 1990s package of the other two locations. Therefore, I'm thinking that this one may receive the "lifestyle" format at some point.

So, is Safeway intent to go with unrenovated stores in less economically affluent areas, or is the lack of renovations a precursor to closings.

Interestingly enough, the last Safeway to close in the Phoenix area (19th Ave / Union Hills) was a store that had been renovated into the "lifestyle" format.
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Re: Safeway renovations in Arizona

Post by jamcool »

There is a Safeway in Surprise (Grand Ave @ Reems) that still uses the pre-Lifestyle logos
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Re: Safeway renovations in Arizona

Post by storewanderer »

Sometimes the reason they don't remodel into lifestyle is because the store is pending relocation or pending a major expansion/rebuild.

But at this point, they are still doing a few lifestyle remodels every year (less than a dozen). So some of these stores may still get remodeled.

Typically though, it is a sign the store is slated for closure.

I've caught a lot of small town stores remodeled into lifestyle very cheaply and these stores should not have gotten that package. First, there is no bakery, deli, etc. in these stores. I thought the focus of the format was on fresh prepared foods (that is what they tell investors). Second, there is no organic produce, no service meat in these stores.

There are a lot of non-lifestyle stores in Denver. One just closed (Ralston in Arvada). A number in OR too. And a surprising number in the bay area (but most of those are slated for rebuild).
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Re: Safeway renovations in Arizona

Post by arizonaguy »

jamcool wrote:There is a Safeway in Surprise (Grand Ave @ Reems) that still uses the pre-Lifestyle logos
Does that store have a "lifestyle" interior? The reason I ask is because the Safeway in Anthem is a "lifestyle" store yet ALL of the exterior logos are pre-Lifestyle.
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Re: Safeway renovations in Arizona

Post by Alpha8472 »

Some Safeway stores that were remodeled into the Lifestyle format still have the old signs. It depends on the location. In some cities, getting permits to change the store sign is a long and difficult process that could take years. Often it is more trouble to get it changed than keep the old signs and do nothing.

In some cities, new signs are limited to a certain size. The original sign is huge, but if a store wants to replace the sign the city would demand a sign that is half as small to comply with new sign regulations. Rather than have a tiny and less visible sign Safeway would rather keep the old sign.

A Safeway near me was one of the first stores remodeled into the Lifestyle format. However, a new sign would have to be made extremely small. Safeway didn't bother replacing the sign. Instead, they changed the sign near the street in front of the store to the new logo and said that it was good enough. This store has a Starbucks inside and they didn't bother adding a new Starbucks sign on the Safeway store because strangely enough there is a large Starbucks sign by the street for a real Starbucks in the parking lot.
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Re: Safeway renovations in Arizona

Post by submariner »

Alpha8472 wrote:Some Safeway stores that were remodeled into the Lifestyle format still have the old signs. It depends on the location. In some cities, getting permits to change the store sign is a long and difficult process that could take years. Often it is more trouble to get it changed than keep the old signs and do nothing.
Also, the first iteration of the Lifestyle format was rolled out before the new logo. Easiest way to identify these is the wall signs... they don't use the "arch" department signs:

Image
Safeway (Marysville, WA) par Aaron Slater, on ipernity
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Re: Safeway renovations in Arizona

Post by arizonaguy »

That last interior, IMHO, looks nice without the drop ceiling.
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Re: Safeway renovations in Arizona

Post by Super S »

There is a Marina store in Lake Oswego, Oregon that was one of the first to be remodeled into the lifestyle format, and this took place a couple years before Safeway adopted its current logo. This particular location also received one of the nicest remodels I have ever seen on a Marina store.

I do know of one in Vancouver, WA, in the Orchards area, which still has the old logo in use, and as far as I know, has yet to be remodeled. This location I believe is a 1980s build, and is located in a strip mall where it does not look like there is much room to expand. It is also across from a 1990s build Fred Meyer, and not far from newer Albertsons and WinCo stores.
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Re: Safeway renovations in Arizona

Post by arizonaguy »

I took some photos (albeit a bit blurry) of the Safeway at 7th St. and Thunderbird in Phoenix.

This is an ex Alpha Beta store that appears to have been built in the 1970s.

It has one of the most unique interiors of any Safeway I've been to.

The full gallery is below:

http://www.ipernity.com/doc/340769/album/456809
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Re: Safeway renovations in Arizona

Post by submariner »

arizonaguy wrote:I took some photos (albeit a bit blurry) of the Safeway at 7th St. and Thunderbird in Phoenix.

This is an ex Alpha Beta store that appears to have been built in the 1970s.

It has one of the most unique interiors of any Safeway I've been to.

The full gallery is below:

http://www.ipernity.com/doc/340769/album/456809
Interesting. It's the "Millennium" package (last before Lifestyle) and yet used the mid-cycle Lifestyle aisle signs
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