Safeway San Mateo remodel (non lifestyle)

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magowan
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Safeway San Mateo remodel (non lifestyle)

Post by magowan »

Safeway 970 in San Mateo has been remodeled into the Florida package.

Makes the store look smaller and cheaper, the concrete floor is dreadful.

They added a Starbucks to the front.

The aisle signs have local touches - they’re named after local streets.

This store was one of the first to go lifestyle back in 2003. It was previously in the pre Lifestyle fornat for a couple of years and in 92 went to the grey and neon marketplace package.

Opened in 83 with the bold sans serif lettering package.

Personally the original 83 package and the 2003 lifestyle suited the store best. There’s something about warner toned ceilings instead of stark white and special produce area lighting that makes a difference.
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Re: Safeway San Mateo remodel (non lifestyle)

Post by storewanderer »

Truckee has this interior now too. But it does not have a concrete floor (maybe that is coming).

The Florida decor looked better in Florida. They have clearly cheapened it out here.

I'd prefer the colorful lifestyle or the Pavilions interior. Given how well the NorCal Stores perform it seems like they should be getting the best the company can offer and that is the Pavilions interior.
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Re: Safeway San Mateo remodel (non lifestyle)

Post by rwsandiego »

McDowell Rd in Phoenix got the Florida package and I think it looks great, but it does not have the concrete floor. It is also a very small store and the decor makes it look larger.

When I return home from the holidays I'll be sure to take and post pictures.
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Re: Safeway San Mateo remodel (non lifestyle)

Post by Alpha8472 »

I prefer the colorful decor, but the one with the new fonts. Repainting the Lifestyle decor is not the best looking way to remodel.

Concrete floors can look good such as in the Safeway built in Walnut Creek, California a few years ago. That floor looks almost like granite.
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Re: Safeway San Mateo remodel (non lifestyle)

Post by magowan »

Lifestyle was about more than a remodel.

It upended the sterile grocery store paradigm with warm tones and was as much a lighting package as it was a decor package.

Here it’s regressing to just another decor package.

No specialty lighting or flooring distinctions.

Back to sterile.

At its heart was a lot of research and design agency involvement. Looks like this was just a quick prototype borrowed from another region.

Would have liked to seen a research driven package taking into account today’s shopper trends but with the private equity ownership it’s about extracting cash in the short run and leaving issues for the next buyer.
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Re: Safeway San Mateo remodel (non lifestyle)

Post by Alpha8472 »

Back when Supervalu owned Albertsons, they had a grocery store design business that created amazingly beautiful decor packages for independent supermarkets. The lighting and colors were better than anything Albertsons ever used on their stores. I do not know if they still own this business or if they sold it off.

Supervalu was probably too cheap to use their own design service.

The photos on the website were so nice that I spent hours browsing them. The website is gone now.
Last edited by Alpha8472 on December 28th, 2018, 4:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Safeway San Mateo remodel (non lifestyle)

Post by magowan »

Looks like Albertson's named a lifelong Albertson's exec (Brad Street) to run Norcal about a year ago, replacing a legacy Safeway exec.

I'm guessing the prior exec (Tom Schwilke) is why Lifestyle held out so long after the merger.

Now, with an Albertson's guy at the helm looks like that view lost out. We'll see how the gamble plays out for him. Maybe they're just testing it.
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Re: Safeway San Mateo remodel (non lifestyle)

Post by storewanderer »

I think it was time for the Lifestyle interior to go. It was too dark. It was dated. Drab. Depressing almost.

But you are right in that the Lifestyle interior was "not just another decor package" but a format in itself. This new interior looks like version 20 of the 1995 era Lucky interior that was quickly applied to that chain in the mid 90's. In the case of the Truckee Store I saw literally nothing changed in there except the decor change and maybe a few new fixtures in some places (I don't even remember where)... bakery and deli and meat and produce are the same as before.

The package they've put on a couple of Pavilions remodels in SoCal seems like it would be better suited for NorCal. I would think given the amount of profit NorCal makes combined with the very deferred remodel program (3 years behind other regions) they could open their wallet a bit deeper and give the region better remodels like the Pavilions package. Or the Market Street format and package... if NorCal is able to execute that (some of the bay area stores could do it... not sure about the rest of the region).

The Albertsons management that has been assigned to NorCal (more than just Brad Street) is clearly trying to make some changes. The ads have changed, they look more like Albertsons ads, with stronger retails. The stores seem to be staffed better. Lines stretching down the aisles seem to have stopped. There is now an Albertsons sign on the division office in Pleasanton (don't think I would have put that sign up there... if they want to see the Albertsons name in their region they should re-banner Reno and Fresno to the Albertsons banner as those were the only two non-Lucky markets in NorCal and the only two spots where the name had a decent reputation in NorCal and Vons Fresno and Safeway Reno market are both real failures with a lot of store closures and historically low volumes). Given the previously near-death Save Mart showing some signs of life with its price cut program and store remodels, and Raleys continuing to do its thing (if they were more aggressive they could be a significant threat), along with ongoing expansion of Sprouts and various other smaller formats, not to mention the online services, I think the NorCal Safeway Management has its work cut out for it.
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Re: Safeway San Mateo remodel (non lifestyle)

Post by ClownLoach »

Look at this again. The Florida decor was all pistachio green walls. This one has multiple colors and the green is only in Produce. Introducing Colorful Florida decor!
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Re: Safeway San Mateo remodel (non lifestyle)

Post by reymann »

if the fresno stores get rebannered, it would more likely be rebannered to safeway to cut down on ad costs and the fresno stores have essentialy become safeway for the most part with the ads being in the norcal circular.
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