The High Quality High Standards sign in the deli feels a bit ironic considering how many of Safeway's products (store brands and fresh department items) have gone massively downhill over the past few years. Admittedly, I haven't actually bought anything from the Safeway deli in years, due to their high prices and severe understaffing, but I'd be pretty surprised if it has somehow been immune to the decline in quality that has impacted every department from produce to dairy. Things like this and the obvious local-pandering make me feel like Safeway is going on the defensive after the Seattle area turned against them in recent years -- though it doesn't appear that they're even pretending to do anything about the biggest perception problem, which is that they're simply way too expensive. (Apart from a few specific items, like eggs, I don't think that perception is accurate, but it is widespread based on posts online and talking with my neighbors, so it seems like it's about time for Safeway to do something about it.)
Ha, it's been a good long while since Safeway has attracted much negative publicity here in Houston via Randall's. Granted, they attracted so much negativity in the 2000s after they bought out Randall's that they are pretty small players here these days so any dialogs about them would be at the local level in neighborhoods where there are Randall's. Kroger seems to be the one drawing the negativity these days. One of my local Krogertsons got a new spoon cart logo, replacing a sign which was one of Kroger's later installations of their previous logo. I doubt the spoon cart will grab too much negativity at that location, but just this week, the River Oaks Art Deco Kroger got a spoon cart and, boy, people sure are mad! Not just the expected retail enthusiasts either.
ReplyDeleteWith that in mind, as long as Kroger is the main competition that Safeway has in Seattle, I don't think people will get too upset at what Safeway is doing. Fred Meyer probably is cheaper, but that only helps people in areas where they are near a Fred Meyer. Kroger's store brands are probably a little better than Safeway's (Kroger does a good job in this area), but at least in Houston, the service departments are better at Safeway than Kroger.
All this said, I'm not sure how Safeway is 'local and loved'. Maybe that would work in the California Bay Area, but Seattle? Even in California, 'Local and Tolerated' is probably more accurate, lol.
Nothing says high quality and high standards like missing punctuation and fake brick! It is decent looking fake brick at least and the fake concrete floors are nicer than actual concrete floors. Meh, as you can guess, I'm not upset that Randall's has been sticking with Colorful Lifestyle v2 rather than these modern decor packages with inane and empty slogans and strange fake decor elements. Say what you want about Lifestyle, and it had some iffy areas (Colorful Lifestyle resolves some of that), but it was classy and made the stores feel higher end and comfortable...maybe aside from the lack of lighting. Some of these newer decor packages just feel like modern urban decay, though here again, Kroger is worse about this than Safeway. Hopefully Randall's will continue to understand that their customer base wants class and not 'young and trendy'. Safeway is in a different position in Seattle, and maybe 'young and trendy' is a bit more of a cultural fit with Seattle anyway.
I feel like Safeway has been going downhill ever since the Albertsons merger, but it seems like the attempted Kroger merger is what really turned people against them. Of course, Seattleites don't much like QFC either, complaining about basically the same things they complain about at Safeway, plus the obnoxious anti-shoplifting things Kroger keeps doing. Fred Meyer seems to be more well-liked, but personally I hate shopping there because their stores are always crowded. (Though at least they do a better job of managing checkout lines than Safeway or QFC.) The only stores that are really well-loved around here are Costco and Trader Joe's; some people also love Grocery Outlet, but that one's divisive and I'm definitely not a fan. And since I live in a fancy neighborhood, a lot of my neighbors really like Metropolitan Market, but they're just too expensive for me!
ReplyDeleteAround here, I'd say Safeway's service departments (with the possible exception of produce) are far worse than QFC, and to a lesser extent Fred Meyer. The bakery and especially deli are the last places where QFC still feels like the upscale store it used to be. That being said, I'm spoiled for choice in my neighborhood -- if I want good bakery items, I go to Metropolitan Market or a real bakery, both of which are closer than QFC and not much more expensive than Safeway.
I'll also say that since Safeway has been in this area for so long, they used to feel somewhat local, at least compared with places like Walmart or Target or even Kroger (despite keeping the local brand names, they lost a lot of love by taking away much of what made QFC or Fred Meyer special). Obviously they aren't a local company, but there was a time when they didn't feel like a distant mega-corporation the way they do now. That's why all this branding feels like a desperate attempt at regaining that perception.
I don't know why Blogger isn't letting me use the reply function in either Firefox or Chromium. It seems to only let me make a new comment thread. Anyway, oddly enough, the Albertsons merger and subsequent elimination of the Safeway Houston Division, which put the Houston stores under the Dallas Southwest division, actually improved matters for Randall's! A lot of frequent problems, like chronic out-of-stocks and expired merchandise on the shelves, were significantly reduced after Dallas took over. Some of the Lifestyle era additions in the delis and bakeries did subside here though, but they're still pretty good compared to what Kroger and HEB have.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I had the same problem. Anyway, "chronic out-of-stocks and expired merchandise"? Sounds like the Houston Division moved to Seattle! They've gotten somewhat better about the empty shelf problem recently, but I'm constantly finding near-expired (or even past-expiration) dairy products without Safeway even bothering to mark them 50% off, and my parents report the same thing all the way over in Port Angeles.
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