The small-sized text doesn't look quite as awkward over here as in many of the departments, because the wood paneling is shrunk down to match, not going all the way to the ceiling like it normally would. (Though I think that open-ceiling Modern stores were originally supposed to have the accent paint on paint-only signs also stop short of the ceiling structure, something that's been neglected in Safeway's cheap, cookie-cutter remodels.) It's quite unusual to see a Safeway with frozen meat in the meat department, rather than the frozen department (which is why it has the category marker strips typically only found in the frozen section, even though it's on the other side of the store) -- obviously, this makes perfect sense; it's just a little strange to see!
I can't say I've ever seen that Grill O'Clock sign at Randall's or anywhere else for that matter. "It's 5:09 PM somewhere!" What an odd slogan!
ReplyDeleteI think the Lifestyle tile looks good with the Modern fake wood. It's certainly not something I would complain about. The slightly warm beige on the walls give this part of Modern a nice look, but it only really works with nice colored flooring covering as well. Warm decor combined with an open ceiling and concrete floors is an odd combo, but perhaps one better than the warehouse look with warehouse colors.
Yeah, I've never understood those signs, but they were common enough at Safeway for so long for them to just blend into the background for me!
DeleteInteresting! I've always thought that the styles just clash a bit, with the Lifestyle tile having a rustic look that goes against the clean lines of Modern.
That's a good point about the warm colors here. I've seen this version of Modern (the standard one used in the Seattle Division) referred to as "Modern Warm" in some documents, as a contrast to older versions of Modern that didn't have as much color on the walls (though the original Modern stores, those three Florida Safeways, had the same color scheme as the stores around here).
I agree about the flooring too -- the stores that kept their Lifestyle Beige flooring (like this one) and the few ex-Albertsons that got new, fancy vinyl look a lot nicer than the ones that got concrete floors or cheap white vinyl!