Safeway

I know, it’s a review for a chain grocery store. But as any DC area resident knows: not all grocery stores (even among the same chain) are created equal, and this one’s nice. It’s a big store, so the selection is nice and varied, and everything is clean. The layout is pretty intuitive, so you don’t waste too much time trying to find what you need. I hate grocery shopping, but I don’t mind coming here. The Redbox is an added bonus.

It’s a Safeway. It’s open ²⁴⁄₇ now. There’s a Redbox. They sell food. They sell lottery tickets. They only have stairs on one side. Minus one star. Good night.

Usually love this place but today saw a bunch of deli workers right outside the building still wearing their sanitary gloves while smoking. I found it disgusting since it made me question the store’s hygiene practices.

This Safeway has horrible customer service.
My first time here and as I walk up to start grocery shopping, I greeted the cart-​man and he doesn’t even greet me or say anything. Then, as I’m in the elevator, the cart-​man rushes through to get in, so I held the door open for him and he doesn’t even say thank you… When the elevator reached Safeway’s entrance, he rushes to be the first one out with all his carts just so he can go back in the elevator. This man has no COURTESY or MANNERS. How did he even get a job? He is so RUDE!!!
As I started shopping, I asked for help looking for an item and the staff here is so unhelpful. They don’t even care to try to help me. Seems like It was a bother to them when I asked them for help…
Oh, and don’t even try to go to the Starbucks in Safeway unless you are desperate. They don’t have anything. They don’t have breakfast sandwiches, neither do they have essential Starbucks ingredients such as chocolate chip sprinkles. For the holidays, they don’t even have the stickers for holiday drinks (the buy 5, get one free sticker)

It was very disappointing to find that this Safeway didn’t sell Challas for Rosh Hashana. This was surprising especially for their Bethesda flagship store. I asked if they would call their other store but they didn’t have the number handy. Eventually they found it but they too didn’t have Challas. Was Safeway sleeping on the job? — Absolutely! Perhaps they will get it right in 2015.

The deli counter rocks. Seriously best hot sandwiches around. Pizza is pretty tasy (and fast, and cheap) too!

Now that I’ve used the grocery store on the regular I’m a little more aware of the some of it’s chronic flaws. The produce section could use some work. I don’t know how many times I go to grab some onions or apples and the selection is pretty beat-​up looking.
There also seems to be a general lack of caring about certain aspects of the store. Like walking in and finding zero carts available. Why? Because they’re all out in the parking lot. There weren’t any when I walked in, and when I left an hour later they were still all out in the parking lot.
Lastly, on almost every trip I make, there’s some item that rings up higher than labeled/​advertised. I’m sure the folks at the customer service desk refund whatever the difference is, but by that point in my shopping trip, I just want to go home and don’t feel like waiting to get a $ 0.50 refund.

Three and a quarter stars. Their produce tends to be more okay than not, and overall inventory is a far cry better in quality than the Safeway by the Metro… hooray for canned Taste Nirvana coconut water with pulp. Layout is reasonably logical: bread and deli to the right, produce and most other refrigerated goods to the left, meat/​seafood in the back. They don’t have all the meat cuts I fancy, but bulk deals and clearance deli items are nice. Cheap bagels but must be eaten within days. Service counter hours favor peak traffic time. Shelf restocking happens in the last hour before midnight close.
I’m only bothering to write this one for the fantastic staff. Cashiers never complain about my fistfuls of coupons on top of Just For U savings, or strict aversion to taxed bags. (New product mailer coupons for locals!) While crippled I received two offers of help between the checkout to parking garage. Deli counter guy had great spatial awareness– I’ve seen bartenders with less of an idea of who showed up first! Super nice about offering multiple sample tastings, checking slice thickness and weight, exchanging choices, and introducing me to a hearty bone-​on ham.

Frequent low levels of service. Produce is sometimes tired looking. Today I walked away without buying the one item I needed. Only two checkout stands open. Long lines. Express lane closed.

Solid. This Safeway has its act together. When you compare to the Giant down the street it’s like going to heaven. (Seriously, how are they in business?)
Even with the parking below, this location makes things work. Escalator up and then elevator down with your groceries. Safeway’s staff is first rate. Very helpful.
This is a smaller grocery than the mega-​stores you find out in the far flung burbs. (Does Bethesda still count as Burbs, or is it just the outskirts of the city? – guess it depends on perspective). But I like this location a lot.
If you remember several years ago when this was a 1960’s era location with little parking and crumbling infrastructure you might feel like things are soooo much better. Given this, I have NO idea why people shop down the street at the big, new, Giant on Arlington?
This Safeway has a reasonable selection of everything, and it’s rare that I am can’t find things. On two separate occasions the meat guys have called me later in the day to tell me they got what I needed. The Pharmacy is first rate with little line. (Giant Pharmacy is like traveling back in time to the old Soviet Union – line up and wait forever! I’d rather be sick).
The Safeway APP is great, and I think their prices are as good as you will find in the area on most things.
This location does a good job keeping the store neat, and the shelves stocked.

Never had to wait in line unlike giant which is always a nightmare.

I go to this Safeway all the time because it’s walkable (or a 2-​minute drive if I’m feeling lazy) from my house. It’s very easy to park; even at peak grocery shopping times, the garage has plenty of spots. They frequently have $ 5-​$ 15 off coupons in the paper, which I always seem to forget at home. I also think the store is a bit smaller and seems more manageable than Giant.
However, I do think prices are bit higher than Giant, and they don’t have the scanner you can walk around and shop with like Giant. I hate having to scan a card to get savings, and my phone number never works (even though I’ve submitted the paperwork at least twice now). Also, it’s sometimes really hard to find extremely normal things; they end up being on aisles I would have never thought to look.
Probably the worst part about my shopping experience is checking out. I typically use the self checkout because there are never lines and because I’m anti-​social. However, the scale is so incredibly sensitive that you can’t place your re-​useable bags on the scale, yet not sensitive enough to know when I’ve placed things in the bag… quite a paradox. It can end up taking a while to check out if the attendant isn’t there to override all the times the register freezes up because it thinks I’m stealing chips.
The employees are nice and the store seems relatively clean. However, I’ve picked up an expired, moldy product that was still on the shelf. The manager gave me some free items in exchange for having to come back, but I’ve been checking dates pretty obsessively since.

Use the coupons they have in the paper. Ignore the dirty looks and growls from the cashiers those coupons save you money.

Brand new store!

I went in today to check out the new Safeway and was pleased in some ways and not in others. The parking lot is MUCH improved compared to what was there before. As another reviewer said, there are two levels of parking — one below ground and one at street level. The store is on the second level. The parking lot is well-​designed, not cramped, and there are attendants to direct you (although parking is free). I was expecting to see something new and different, such as a fancy prepared food section or something. But it’s just like any other Safeway on the inside. The best part about it is that there’s now a Starbucks inside. It’s not just a café that serves Starbucks coffee, either — it’s actually a Starbucks, so you can use your Starbucks card and/​or coupons there. The only annoyance was the elevator. I parked on the bottom level of the parking garage, and took the elevator up. The elevator is SO SLOW. It felt like forever waiting for it. I took the stairs on the way down, but they only take you to the street level parking area and I couldn’t find the stairs down to the lowest level of the garage, so had to wait for the slow elevator again.
Overall, HUGE improvement on the old Safeway building, but no different than any other updated Safeway. Love the Starbucks inside. Hate the elevator.

So, word on the street/​internets is that the powers that be at Safeway saw my review and decided to blow this one up and build an all-​new one in its place.
Booya!