This picture is from almost the exact same location, and you can see how much the bakery has expanded, to the point where its displays are now in front of the deli, instead of the other way around! In fact, the traditional deli is pretty much gone here, replaced with prepared foods and packaged deli items (moved from the wall next to the bakery).
This is not related to QFC/Kroger, but I found an interesting video from Dallas TV news from 1978 talking about how Safeway's bakery plant in Dallas was shut down due to "insect activity." Yikes!
ReplyDeletehttps://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1128388/m1/
Also, on the same Texas History archive website that the above clip came from, here's a look at a Safeway Marina store in 1982: https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1244550/m1/
There are some interesting photos on that site as well of Safeway stores. Here's a 1960 interior photo of a Safeway Marina in Abilene, TX: https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth58896/m1/1/
Here's a closer look at that snack bar in the corner of the store: https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth58903/m1/1/
Here's the other side of another Abilene Safeway store in 1966: https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth58856/m1/1/
That 1960 store is now a Planet Fitness gym next to a Drug Emporium, a great, large pharmacy store. I've probably mentioned them before: https://goo.gl/maps/18REv4iUSDsqSEpy6
The 1966 store is now a bingo hall: https://goo.gl/maps/F9p3SSaaZkZwHDL68
Anyway, I thought you might like to see these. It's rare to see old photos with that good quality. Oh, and if Safeway has not gotten rid of the bugs in their bread, maybe it's best to buy your bread from QFC, lol.
Oh, here's another photo from the 1966 Safeway. This one shows that they had clothing for sale!
Deletehttps://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth58852/m1/1/
Wow, I love all those Marina Safeway pictures! As you probably know, that's my favorite grocery store design of all time. It's cool to see all those old interior pictures -- Marina Safeways around here looked pretty similar, but had a good bit more wood paneling (I guess to give them more of a Northwest look). I believe they had a pretty significant general merchandise selection too -- crazy to think about, since those stores are so much smaller than today's grocery-only Safeways! The snack bar is fun to see -- makes it feel like there's no new ideas in grocery, with stores trying to bring back prepared foods and eat-in setups!
DeleteHa, good thing Safeway bread around here comes from Bellevue, not Texas! But these days, the bread I eat comes from my own kitchen instead of Safeway.
I figured you'd like those videos and pictures of Safeway Marina stores. It's probably also a good idea that you make your own bread! Perhaps the Safeway bakery in Bellevue is cleaner than the former one in Texas, but it might be best not to chance things, lol.
DeleteHere are a couple of non-Marina Safeway videos you might like that shows off Safeway's 1970s/1980s decor here in Texas.
Here is a 1982 video of a woman who won a 'supermarket sweep' type contest at a Dallas Safeway. As the woman heads to the meat department to fill up her cart, you can see some parts of the store including the deli. You can also see those flip style carts. These were those strange asymmetric ones. I remember those. They also had the Safeway 'S' on the front. Link: https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1248144/m1/
Here is a video discussing Safeway leaving Texas, Dallas specifically, in 1987: https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc983503/m1/
Ha, that's a fun video! It's interesting to see them featuring what must have seemed like a rather outdated store at the time in that video (60s-era decor in 1982)! Or is that a later decor package that just looks like the Marina-era decor?
DeleteI also remember using those carts growing up, though they did seem a bit old-fashioned by that point. Sunny Farms, a local produce store in Sequim, had them until quite recently, probably hand-me-downs from some other grocery store, but they were eventually replaced by more typical plastic carts.
1960s-1970s decor like that would not have been completely outdated by 1982, but it certainly would have been in the late 1980s. Unfortunately, Safeway still had stores like that in the latter part of the 1980s and that probably helps explain why Safeway decided to get out of this market at the time. They would have had to have put in a lot of money to modernize their stores and some of them were just too small to compete with some of the larger, newer supermarkets (though that Safeway shopper in the 1987 Safeway closing clip says she does not like larger supermarkets).
DeleteThe Safeway in that clip appears to be an AutoZone now. It looks like AutoZone has updated the facade in the last few years. Just a few years ago, it looks a bit more like what the Safeway would have looked like.
Current view: https://goo.gl/maps/rQo5u5XoADkxdWnX7
2015 view: https://goo.gl/maps/UXoEBLBL3CDkDv5t7
Check out that old 7-Eleven!
Here's a 1981 clip showing handicapped carts Safeway had before motorized carts were popular. Anyway, in it, you can see some slightly more modern decor Safeway had at the time. Link: https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1282832/m1/
For comparison purposes, here are some 1980s clips showing Bauhaus Krogers. These certainly would have looked more modern than the decor Safeway had in most of their stores at the time:
1983: https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1177915/m1/
1986: https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1152628/m1/