In (very) broad strokes, the layout of this store is a bit reminiscent of my local Uptown store, with produce and a couple long aisles in the middle of the store and a bunch of shorter aisles in the back. This sort of layout certainly takes some getting used to, but it's probably less awkward than either having a ton of very short aisles perpendicular to the front of the store, or a few extremely long ones running the other direction. Due to the emergency-exit stairs that the floral department is placed up against (which is why it was able to have a proper wall sign), the produce department drops you out into the middle of the cut-through actionway, across from health and beauty (aisle 3) and cookware (aisle 4), which seems like a bit of a random choice.
Ha, seeing that sign about the reward points reminds me that I have Seattle Mariners reward points on my Kroger Plus card after I used it at Fred Meyer in Oregon! Don't ask me what those would be useful for, especially here in Houston, and I'm not even sure what those Safeway reward points are useful for! Well, at least it isn't a Sincerely sign given how bad the two neighboring ones are, lol.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of aisle cut-throughs at a Safeway (something which is very rare around here with Randall's), I just had a guest blog post at HHR go live about a Randalbertsons...a grocery palace Randalbertsons! I don't know how many Lifestyle v2 Grocery Palaces you've seen! Anyway, I've probably shown this store to you before, but it does have Albertsons' cut-throughs. Check out how Randall's did the aisle markers with the product listings inverted from the other side of the cut through. Is that a usual Safeway procedure for cut through aisle markers? Also, Food Lion might not mean much to you, but check out what trouble they got themselves into with this location! Link: https://houstonhistoricretail.com/2023/08/09/randalbertsons-its-your-boomerang-albertsons-store-because-the-locals-rejected-food-lion/
Huh, does Randall's not do points? They're a long-term Safeway thing, dating back at least to the 00s, and originally were used just for discounts on gas, but were expanded in the 2010s to also let you get discounts or free items through Just For U. I don't know what those Seattle Mariners points are for, though!
DeleteI believe you've shown me that store before, but it's nice to see a full tour! That's definitely not standard procedure for cut-through actionways -- normally Safeway will list just what's in each half of the aisle on each aisle marker, and that's the whole reason there are two aisle markers in the middle actionway anyway! It's quite weird to see them repeating everything on both markers. Anyway, I've got a Grocery Palace to Lifestyle v2 conversion that will be showing up here one of these days... though it's nowhere near as weird as that store! The Proto-Lifestyle wall tile and pharmacy sign outdoors are a very strange sight at a Lifestyle Safeway!
Randall's does have points, but I'm not entirely sure what they are good for. At one time, Randall's gave points for gas rewards at Chevron-Texaco, but that was discontinued a few years ago and not replaced with another program that I can tell. I assume the points are good for fuel rewards at a Randall's gas station, but those are few and far between in Houston. In fact, I only know of two Randall's in Houston with gas stations! I think Randall's/Tom Thumb gas stations are more common in Austin and Dallas. Most of the Randall's locations that had gas stations have closed or become an El Rancho. So, yeah, Randall's gas rewards are pretty useless here in Houston.
DeleteHa, I knew that Randalbertsons was a strange one! I'm glad we were able to document it.