Safeway (Canada) and Sobeys try dimming lights

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Safeway (Canada) and Sobeys try dimming lights

Post by SamSpade »

... but not for the reason you think.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british- ... -1.5078284
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Re: Safeway (Canada) and Sobeys try dimming lights

Post by Alpha8472 »

Some stores have lights so bright that it gives you a headache. There were some supermarkets that were so bright you would think that they were Kmart stores.

Years ago during the Enron energy crisis, stores turned out half of their lights in California. The stores were still bright including, Safeway, Lucky, Target. Target even turned off their 90s era wall neon.

In the 90s, I once went to a Petrini's or Lunardi's that did not have fluorescent lights on the ceiling. It was very dark and the store had a green glow from ambient lighting. I found it to be very soothing.
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Re: Safeway (Canada) and Sobeys try dimming lights

Post by Super S »

Alpha8472 wrote: April 1st, 2019, 1:01 am Some stores have lights so bright that it gives you a headache. There were some supermarkets that were so bright you would think that they were Kmart stores.

Years ago during the Enron energy crisis, stores turned out half of their lights in California. The stores were still bright including, Safeway, Lucky, Target. Target even turned off their 90s era wall neon.

In the 90s, I once went to a Petrini's or Lunardi's that did not have fluorescent lights on the ceiling. It was very dark and the store had a green glow from ambient lighting. I found it to be very soothing.
Some stores near me turned off lights during the "energy crisis" but it wasn't implemented well with random sections shut off, and in some cases you had really dark sections in some stores during this time. It was very much like how some of the Kmarts left have resorted to shutting off several entire rows of lighting to save money.
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Re: Safeway (Canada) and Sobeys try dimming lights

Post by pseudo3d »

Alpha8472 wrote: April 1st, 2019, 1:01 am In the 90s, I once went to a Petrini's or Lunardi's that did not have fluorescent lights on the ceiling. It was very dark and the store had a green glow from ambient lighting. I found it to be very soothing.
Sounds like mercury vapor, which tend to have a greenish glow especially as they get old. This was usually used for outdoor lighting or things like large gymnasiums, but not unheard of in retail (Woolco, at least the U.S. stores used them in the 1970s).
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Re: Safeway (Canada) and Sobeys try dimming lights

Post by Alpha8472 »

The Safeway Canada stores have a new decor now. The Safeway stores in the U.S. have moved toward obnoxiously bright LED lighting, while Safeway Canada has switched to spotlights and dark mood lighting. They also added large wall murals. It is interesting how they have continued the Lifestyle decor dark theme and still kept the tan color. It looks new and much higher quality than the old Lifestyle decor.

www.comren.ca/project-items/safeway-renovation/
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Re: Safeway (Canada) and Sobeys try dimming lights

Post by storewanderer »

This looks pretty good. They need to do some pretty heavy remodel work across the board on however many stores they actually plan to keep as Safeway.
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Re: Safeway (Canada) and Sobeys try dimming lights

Post by veteran+ »

Alpha8472 wrote: June 30th, 2021, 11:21 pm The Safeway Canada stores have a new decor now. The Safeway stores in the U.S. have moved toward obnoxiously bright LED lighting, while Safeway Canada has switched to spotlights and dark mood lighting. They also added large wall murals. It is interesting how they have continued the Lifestyle decor dark theme and still kept the tan color. It looks new and much higher quality than the old Lifestyle decor.

www.comren.ca/project-items/safeway-renovation/
WOW!!!!!

I LOVE it!!!
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Re: Safeway (Canada) and Sobeys try dimming lights

Post by marshd1000 »

Alpha8472 wrote: June 30th, 2021, 11:21 pm The Safeway Canada stores have a new decor now. The Safeway stores in the U.S. have moved toward obnoxiously bright LED lighting, while Safeway Canada has switched to spotlights and dark mood lighting. They also added large wall murals. It is interesting how they have continued the Lifestyle decor dark theme and still kept the tan color. It looks new and much higher quality than the old Lifestyle decor.

www.comren.ca/project-items/safeway-renovation/
Sobeys also has this decor on a Thrifty Foods in Courtney, BC on Vancouver Island. I was in that store in 2018.
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Re: Safeway (Canada) and Sobeys try dimming lights

Post by Alpha8472 »

It does seem to be a perfect fit for either brand. The tan matches the previous Lifestyle color and it can be used in any other store brand that the company owns.
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Re: Safeway (Canada) and Sobeys try dimming lights

Post by storewanderer »

They might get decor right but they have some pretty serious other issues with how they have run Canada Safeway (into the ground). Their perimeters, private label program, pricing, and store cleanliness are all way behind what Safeway Canada did before Sobeys bought them out. And their FreshCo concept is terrible in comparison to the Loblaw No Frills concept.

I find it interesting after they closed or converted so many Safeways to FreshCo that they appear to be trying to revive Safeway. They probably needed to do that instead of convert so many stores to FreshCo- even stores that were high traffic Safeways they converted around Vancouver, it was a very odd move. The FreshCo is a franchise operation with an "operator" (like Grocery Outlet) not union and uses a fraction of the space and staff that the Safeways used.
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