Safeway... the hipper grocery store.
My local Safeway grocery store, is by far, one of the most warm, and modern groceries that I have been to yet.
Walking in, the store feels packed full of goods, yet, all the same, open and spacious. The lighting is the first thing you may notice. Instead of the normal tube lighting, they have spots and direct lighting.. even the condiments have their own special lighting, to help even the ketchup glimmer. Why is this so amazing? What’s so special about a grocery store? The fact that they are like any retail establishment, you can easily compare places like Best Buy and Safeway, and yes, apples and oranges here, but in reality, they are more like Gala and Red Delicious. They have different colored skins, they taste different, but essentially are the same type of establishment. One just sells food, and the other, electronics.
So why this store? The normal grocery is filled with non-caring kids, who work there as a way of income, and perhaps, a friendly butcher and fish monger, but the first thing I noticed about the people working there today, was the sheer level of customer service. While I was there, I was asked no less then three times, how I was doing, and if they could help me find anything. Three times! I have never had that level of services, even at places that proclaim that they are customer service orientated. That combined with all the food choices, I was honestly going to grab a cart, instead of the basket, and do some more shopping. They hooked me, hook, line and sinker… I ate it all. Before I digress, I also have to mention that they also have smaller more efficient carts. In the past, you would only see the chasms which were grocery store carts, instead, they have smaller, shallow carts, half the size. They would they do this? it’s a easier cart to push around, and that means, I can get to what I need, faster, and I don’t need to reach into the metallic pit of the cart, to check out what I have.
I felt modern, just pushing that thing around.
I only walked out with a loaf of bread and a bag of chips, but there was a serious line of people at each of the checkouts, and I could tell that they were all generally happy to be there, the workers and the customers.
Is your grocery store, like this? If not, take a short drive to the Safeway Grocery store, on Greenwood and N 87th in Seattle. You’ll most likely ask yourself, how come your local grocery isn’t as blessed?