The whole rest of the back wall is home to the meat department -- there's no pharmacy at this store, which is quite strange for a 2000s-built Safeway. (This store was built into an existing shopping center with a CVS next door, so maybe there was a non-compete agreement in the lease -- most Safeways from this era wouldn't have that problem because they were standalone stores or anchor tenants in a new shopping center.) I'm glad to see that this store got woodgrain flooring around the perimeter to replace the Lifestyle Beige vinyl, rather than the cheap white vinyl that the Seattle Division always used.
Ha, even if this store had a pharmacy, I'm sure it wouldn't be along the back wall as that is a Northwest special! Well, there is that circa 2010 Randall's which also has it, but I think they just took the blueprints for that one from a Northwest model Lifestyle Safeway, lol.
ReplyDeleteWhile the beige walls here aren't quite Lifestyle beige, I think this beige probably looks nicer than the somewhat yellow-y beige that Lifestyle used. Well, I know beige isn't an exciting color, but it is a nice, calm color and it has more warmth than grey. It is a nice color when used in a classy supermarket and that certainly fits this Safeway with it having a nice drop ceiling with recessed lights and a proper floor. This is probably as close as Modern is going to look to Lifestyle, not counting instances where Lifestyle elements linger on at Modern stores, and with that, I think this is about as good as Modern is going to look! I know there might be fancier versions of Modern, but they don't look as classy as everything we're seeing here.
Lifestyle-era California Safeways sometimes used the Northwest layout too -- it's not as ubiquitous there as it is around here, but it's not that rare either.
DeleteIf this store had kept the Lifestyle wall tile, this would be a very Lifestyle-esque scene!