This store was never great to shop at, but from an aesthetic perspective, I definitely think it looked nicer than its replacement. But that should be no surprise -- as much as I like Ultra-Premium, Lifestyle v2 is one of my all-time favorite decor packages, and while it often didn't translate well to older stores, I think it looked pretty nice here. The warm colors, low ceiling, and still-somewhat-dim lighting give this scene a very cozy feel. (It never felt particularly cozy in person, though, thanks to how busy it always was!)
This does look better than the new Safeway, from what we've seen so far of both at least. The Lifestyle flooring and warm colors give this an upscale look. The ceiling is low, though better finished than the new Safeway. I'd be quite bummed if this was my Safeway and it was replaced with what it was replaced with, though this store would probably have plain Modern now if it survived and that wouldn't be as nice as Lifestyle v2!
ReplyDeleteThe old store definitely looked nicer, but in terms of overall shopping experience, I'd say they're about equal (in that I didn't like shopping at the old store, and I don't like shopping at the new one either!). The old store looked quite nice, but since it was so old and small, it didn't have a great selection of pretty much anything, and completely lacked a bakery (which was more of a big deal for me back then when Safeways bakeries weren't as overpriced and mediocre as they are today), and it was always cramped and crowded. The new store fixes some of those problems, but it's still always crowded and the layout (particularly when it comes to the center store items) is just bizarre. So I'll stick to the Lower Queen Anne store, which is even uglier inside (and has an even weirder layout, though I'm used to it by now) than the new Upper Queen Anne one but at least is rarely busy.
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