Magnolia Seattle Albertsons Redevelopment

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marshd1000
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Magnolia Seattle Albertsons Redevelopment

Post by marshd1000 »

Looks like this Albertsons will be a Safeway when this redevelopment is over! With that, there will be no more Albertsons inside the Seattle City Limits!

https://queenannenews.com/MobileContent ... /468/40463
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Re: Magnolia Seattle Albertsons Redevelopment

Post by pseudo3d »

What a weird, old store, especially considering it looks like it was built by Albertsons (and not picked up from ASC, Safeway, or an independent). From Google Earth it looks slightly larger than stated (19k square feet) but it has two parking lots on either side, with an entrance on both sides. There's NOTHING resembling loading docks except for double doors on one side, and a cramped fenced-in area with a single dumpster and a stack of pallets. For it to survive through the many purges through the years it has to be a very profitable store...
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Re: Magnolia Seattle Albertsons Redevelopment

Post by marshd1000 »

pseudo3d wrote: February 28th, 2020, 12:00 pm What a weird, old store, especially considering it looks like it was built by Albertsons (and not picked up from ASC, Safeway, or an independent). From Google Earth it looks slightly larger than stated (19k square feet) but it has two parking lots on either side, with an entrance on both sides. There's NOTHING resembling loading docks except for double doors on one side, and a cramped fenced-in area with a single dumpster and a stack of pallets. For it to survive through the many purges through the years it has to be a very profitable store...
I'm guessing it is profitable as the only other supermarket on the top of the Magnolia hill is a small Metropolitan Market. The only other supermarkets are down the hill in Interbay, which are a QFC and a Whole Foods Market. So in that immediate area, they are positioned as the middle income store. But there are plenty who have money to spend in that neighborhood!
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Re: Magnolia Seattle Albertsons Redevelopment

Post by storewanderer »

If this was built by Albertsons it is sure unlike any other I've seen...

https://queenannenews.com/Content/Busin ... /468/40517

Looks like the project is having some issues. It may be too dense for the location. Most projects being proposed at the present time all over the place seem to be as dense as possible. Usual activity in a bloated economy before it pops.
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Re: Magnolia Seattle Albertsons Redevelopment

Post by Super S »

The fact that an Albertsons will be replaced by a Safeway hints at eventually phasing out the Albertsons name in Washington.
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Re: Magnolia Seattle Albertsons Redevelopment

Post by pseudo3d »

storewanderer wrote: February 29th, 2020, 12:04 am If this was built by Albertsons it is sure unlike any other I've seen...

https://queenannenews.com/Content/Busin ... /468/40517

Looks like the project is having some issues. It may be too dense for the location. Most projects being proposed at the present time all over the place seem to be as dense as possible. Usual activity in a bloated economy before it pops.
I would say it's more like the typical problems for West Coast development, heavy neighborhood resistance, maneuvering through city regulations, tight footprints...just like how the Oakland, CA Safeway went through years of redesigns and fights before the old store was closed for the last time.
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Re: Magnolia Seattle Albertsons Redevelopment

Post by rwsandiego »

pseudo3d wrote: February 29th, 2020, 6:36 pm I would say it's more like the typical problems for West Coast development, heavy neighborhood resistance, maneuvering through city regulations, tight footprints...
This isn't limited to the West Coast. It's been happening for several years in Chicago and is currently happening in Central Phoenix.
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Re: Magnolia Seattle Albertsons Redevelopment

Post by retailfanmitchell019 »

Super S wrote: February 29th, 2020, 1:27 pm The fact that an Albertsons will be replaced by a Safeway hints at eventually phasing out the Albertsons name in Washington.
5 Albertsons in Washington have been rebranded as Safeway since 2017. Lynnwood (replacing a closed Safeway across the street), Yakima (weirdly enough, a former Buttrey-Osco), Liberty Lake (the Safeway across the street was sold to Haggen, now a Yoke's), Bellevue (got an exterior remodel), and Mountlake Terrace.
I could see the Albertsons name surviving in Kitsap County, where that name has more presence than Safeway; or Spokane, where Albertsons has had a presence since 1951. Both Spokane and Kitsap have some nice early 2000's model stores. In the Tri-Cities, Albertsons has 3 stores, Safeway has 2.
As for the remaning Albertsons stores in WA (stores in the Vancouver, Tacoma, Seattle, and Everett areas,) those stores are located in areas with a larger Safeway presence, so they should convert.
The two remaining Vancouver stores are in Salmon Creek and Battle Ground. Fun fact: The Battle Ground store is one of the very few remaining stores to still have its original Grocery Palace decor.
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Re: Magnolia Seattle Albertsons Redevelopment

Post by marshd1000 »

In some ways it seems like they should ditch the Albertsons name in the Puget Sound region. But while most people should know the stores around here are related by now, maybe they feel that in some areas it is an advantage to have the Albertsons name? I live in Renton, WA and the whole city is basically dominated by Kroger (2 Fred Meyer & 1 QFC) and Albertsons (4 Safeway & 1 Albertsons). There is one Walmart a Target with a P-Fresh, and one independent Saars. Renton Highlands in NE Renton has 2 Safeway’s and 1 Albertsons. They all seem to do well but it would be weird to see the Albertsons there become Safeway as it is so close to the other Safeway stores!
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Re: Magnolia Seattle Albertsons Redevelopment

Post by nwretail »

I've been following this project for a while, and it's exciting to see since it's the first real mixed-use redevelopment in Magnolia. (Which, of course, means it's going to be incredibly controversial with the neighbors who want to pretend they're in the suburbs...) That being said, I'm quite surprised Albertsons is bothering with this rather than just closing the store. As several of you mentioned, it's an ancient, tiny store with a correspondingly ancient interior (I'm not sure how old or what it originally looked like, but it's clearly been a very long time since this store got significant work done to it). It's possible that it's somehow particularly profitable, but it's always been empty when I've gone by.

No surprise that the new store's going to be a Safeway though. I suspect that all of the Western Washington Albertsons will eventually be rebranded as Safeways... in addition to the stores that retailfanmitchell019 listed above, there are also ones in Mukilteo (just in the last couple weeks), Mill Creek, Burien, and Gig Harbor that changed over from Albertsons to Safeway in the last few years (the Gig Harbor one was converted as a replacement for the town's Safeway when that was sold to Haggen, and which is the sole Haggen conversion store still in operation). And that's just the ones I've noticed; I suspect there have been others, especially outside of the Seattle region, that I haven't paid attention to.
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