Peeking in

This view should give you a better idea of how the "essentials" jail department works: Unlike in some Safeways (and many QFCs, Fred Meyers, Targets, etc.), the individual products aren't locked up; instead, it seems Safeway is relying on the enforced use of the dedicated checkout to cut down on theft (along with the security people who spend a lot of time around this part of the store). Some products are only available behind the counter, though this sneaky picture doesn't really show what ones they are and I didn't feel like actually going into this section thanks to the aforementioned security presence. (Strangely, it doesn't appear that the liquor products are behind the counter -- I wonder if they're in locked cases despite being in the secure area.) It's interesting how they actually brought in a brand-new checkout with Modern's black laminate rather than reusing one of the existing ones -- despite the downsizing and this addition, I don't think they actually removed any regular checkouts in this remodel, surprisingly.