Save Mart is the other major California regional supermarket chain (alongside Raley's), and also owns Lucky California thanks to having bought Albertsons' northern California stores in 2006. As the name implies, they operate in the midrange to discount end of the scale, unlike Raley's upscale operations.
I know this set probably should have been a Safeway, following my standard alternating pattern, but I didn't feel like starting two Safeway sets so close together. Plus, while I've been trying to hide it, I've been feeling pretty depressed ever since my giant road trip (long story), so I've decided that I'm going to just post things that make me happy rather than trying to provide a balance of different brands, geographical locations, and store types as I've traditionally done. I'm sure things will get back to normal eventually.
This will be a combination comment with thoughts on the other photos posted today. Wow! This store looks totally awesome! Unlike the Raley's, I can't wait to see this one, lol. There's a lot here which reminds me of some old HEBs and Albertsons/Tom Thumbs I shopped at in Austin in the 1990s which were both stuck in the 1980s. This also reminds me a bit of some artistic Fiesta Marts which had the wood paneling like that. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the store!
ReplyDeleteI actually visited Fresno, CA for a few days back in 1990. Unlike some of my other travels back in those days, I actually remember exactly where I was staying so I did look it up to see how close it is to this store. I was staying on N. Blackstone near the Walmart that used to be a Mervyns and Manchester Mall. That's not too far from this Save Mart, but not super close either so I doubt I ever went to the Save Mart or saw it from the outside, but who knows. The area the Save Mart is in looks really nice and upscale so maybe Save Mart tried harder to make an upscale store here? Or maybe this was just how Save Mart did things back then, I don't know.
Huh, I didn't even know you did a Safeway every other topic. I guess that shows how closely I'm paying attention! Oh well, at least there is the weekend Safeway series about the new store so we'll get our Safeway fill, lol.
That's a bummer to hear that you have not been feeling well. You know my e-mail address if you ever want to talk about it or anything else. You ought to post what you like and not worry about keeping a pattern. I think I speak for several retail enthusiasts when I say that we enjoy the stuff you post regardless of what it is!
Yeah, this is a seriously cool place, and it just gets better from here! I'd be hard-pressed to pick a favorite store out of all the ones I visited on this trip, but this is absolutely up there towards the top!
DeleteI'm not sure how I feel about the area here -- there are some seriously nice neighborhoods, like the one built around an artificial lake or the one where the houses have airplane hangars attached (which is seriously cool), but the Sunset Square shopping center itself is quite run-down, and the fact that it's gone 40 years without a single remodel would seem to imply that things aren't going great despite the lack of much competition. But maybe in the early 80s, they were expecting this to be a better area than it turned out to be -- I have no idea. I haven't seen pictures of any other Save Mart with this same fancy decor, but ones that were actually successful would probably have been remodeled long ago.
Yeah, a year or so back I decided that I would alternate between Safeway and everything else for my short set slot (weekend sets). That already became a bit complicated on this trip, since I visited various other stores that are basically Safeway (Pavilions, Vons, etc.), but then if I count them as Safeways, I wasn't sure how to handle Albertsons anymore. But my backlog is still crammed full of Safeways, so I'll have to figure out what to do about that some day!
Thanks! It really means a lot to hear that from you, and Retail Retell too.
^^ What Anonymous said!
ReplyDeleteThanks again! 🙂
DeleteOf course!
DeleteDitto! I hope you are doing better now!
ReplyDelete