A while back, I was talking up some of the stores I visited on my California road trip, particularly the Pacific Palisades Vons, as being the most scenically-located grocery stores I've ever visited. The Leavenworth Safeway is definitely on that list too, especially since I was here in early spring when there was still snow on the mountains! And the fancy design of the gas station structure only adds to the charm of this scene.
Although I don't think it has a gas station, the Mammoth Lakes, CA Vons has a pretty nice backdrop too: https://maps.app.goo.gl/oouasfKqvRNEgkhe8
ReplyDeleteWhat makes the Mammoth Lakes Vons somewhat remarkable is that it is in a small mall and I think the Vons has a mall entrance. Ok, that is a bit remarkable itself, though there are mall Shaw's out in the Northeast so it certainly isn't anything unprecedented in the Albertsons chain at least. What is remarkable, and what makes the mall entrance somewhat logical, is that the Vons Pharmacy is actually in the mall! It seems like they moved the pharmacy out to the mall to free up some more room in the store. Anyway, it is quite unusual to see that! Link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/199217062@N06/albums/72177720326215358/
Of course, with the Krotesque concrete floors that Vons has, and the pharmacy too, I think this Safeway is better off!
Speaking of California Safeways, you probably remember the story of Boris Yeltsin visiting a Randall's in Houston in 1989 and being highly inspired by it to implement reforms back home. Well, it seems the US government had Nikita Khrushchev visit the San Francisco Marina Safeway during a diplomatic tour of the US around the time the Marina Safeway was new. I suppose the US government thought the Soviets would be suckers for nice American supermarkets or something! Hopefully we don't send any foreign leaders to a bad Kroger or an HEB. That might lead to nuclear war or something, lol.
Yeah, I saw those Flickr pictures! That's quite an odd store, with the pharmacy and Starbucks completely separate from the main salesfloor. Safeway did several similar "creative" expansions of shopping center-based stores in the Lifestyle era, but all of the others that I've seen have a direct connection from the salesfloor to the expanded area. I wonder if they make you pay for everything before heading over to the other part of the store.
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