Safeway

I’ve been a Safeway fan since moving to California from the Midwest just 5 years ago. I have shopped at the store near my home until they closed it last year on Ygnacio Valley Road in Walnut Creek, almost exclusively. However, I am moving to the North Bay and went into this store and thought I would grab a Starbucks on the way in. After waiting 7 minutes with no one showing up at the counter, I tried to get the attention of a worker in the department next to it with no luck (they appear to have looked right through me). I finally waved at a clerk who was walking to the front and when ignored me, I walked up to him and asked if anyone was working at the Starbucks counter. His response, as he began to wipe the floor was, «I’m sorry, I wouldn’t know» and he kept on wiping the floor. I repeated what he said twice and he ignored me. I walked out and proceeded to get my coffee from Peet’s in the same shopping center where I left a nice tip and then went down the street to Andronico’s and spent over $ 200 on grocery items. I have decided that I will not step foot in that Safeway ever again nor will I shop at any Safeway for the rest of 2016, nor will I set foot in any Starbucks for the rest of this year as well. It’s a small gesture and may not mean much to two big businesses as a single customer unless you count up all the grande lattes I drink in a single year and all the groceries I purchase and multiply that by the number of other customers who have likely experienced what I did today. Potential loss in sales for both establishments combined, North of $ 7000 annually and I am only «one» customer. You don’t want or need my business? You want to treat me as if I’m invisible and you couldn’t care less if I spend my money in your store? Well, Someone else does.

Since Albertsons purchased Safeway the store has gone downhill in dramatically. Is there even a manager at the store?
I have requested multiple times (4X) an item that is regularly stocked at the Corte Madera Safeway and only once have I found it at the SA store. Sadly, I am no longer supporting my local grocery. There are too many other options that are more pleasant and do a better job at listening and simply doing their job. How difficult is that?

I still hate shopping here in spite of the fact that they have decent stock at better prices than the market closer to my house. I always come out of there extremely irritated at the slowness of the checkout line. They are slow because the checkers stop what they are doing to carry on a conversation with the customers in front of me. I see that somebody made exactly the same comments on here a couple of months ago. When I go shopping my goal is to gather up what I need and get out of the store as quickly as possible. I was so mad yesterday that I had to bite my tongue because I was ready to make a really sarcastic remark to the woman at the till. I knew I would have felt bad about being rude, so I contented myself with giving her a withering look. It is completely unacceptable to me to be kept waiting while they actually stop work to talk to the customer ahead of me. I think there is really poor management there and absolutely no idea of customer service.

I just visited this safeway and I don’t usually notice little stuff but this visit I noticed how organized, fresh and fully stocked the deli case was. The salads were all full and obviously just made. I’m not use to safeway stores looking so inviting. It was really nice. I complimented the employee Sabrina on her work. She was an awesome employee. It’s very rare to have employees there be so nice and outgoing. We talked about her work and kids. She was an absolute delight to be served by. This location needs more employees like her. She greeted me the minute I walked up to let me know she would be right with me. I didn’t feel like I was bothering her like sometimes when I go there with other employees.
I will be switching to this location instead of the B Street location I usually go to.

this upscale Safeway has the notion it can force u to buy 6 items of a brew before u save an extra 10%. except there isn’t much choices here. (not much more than a regular liquor store). brands the usual (3) suspects.
brew: Sierra Nevada South hemp 2015 «harvest hop ipa”(4.99)
–smooth brew. nothing bitter. great for floral hop drinkers.
3ish stars. not my type. expect fireworks…
on draught:
–store has the usual deli, sushi, meat. coffee bars. a wells fargo bank too.
–2 stars for limited selection in beers.

I shopped here for years and it has gotten increasingly worse as far as customer service. The checkers have gotten increasingly «chatty» to the point where you have to wonder if they even care about their job. It is especially bad in the morning times. You would think it wouldn’t be so difficult to get in and out, friendly banter is fine, but when you literally stop working and talk — I mean, that’s just unacceptable to me. And then they act personally hurt when I do not engage in conversation with them, as I need to get to work and have already sat through several full on conversations they had with the customers in front of me. I know I am not the only one who feels this way. I think the bigger problem is lack of leadership and an unwillingness to properly staff the store. It is quite apparent they are facing money issues, hence the constant lack of staff. Too bad, really. It could be a decent store. And the meat and deli people — unlike the good old days — seem very unwilling to help and always act as if I am an interruption from their work. At least, unlike the checkers, they are not «chatty cathys».

OMG — a store that actually packs my own brought in bags with my groceries. Thank you Safeway! I don’t understand the stores that sees that you spend money in their expensive stores but refuse to pack your bag (like Scotty’s). As a visitor to the area for work, this bag buying is a bit much for me.
The Safeway Staff happily packed my and this has made me a repeat customer. the deli/​warm food areas is pretty good for a traveler for me.
I’ll be back!

Maureen (who I believe is the store manager) is absolutely fantastic!
I came in looking for a way to keep ice cold for the day because I had forgotten my cooler! She was absolutely exceptional, heading into the back and creating a makeshift cooler for me, along with recommending the nearest store where I could buy dry ice to keep the ice from melting!
And on top of this already exceptional service, she even helped carry everything out to my car.
I’m so impressed! She could have easily just said «We don’t have anything, sorry» but instead spent the time to make sure I was taken care of!

Over the last couple of years, this has become a decent place to shop. Where they used to have stocking problems, it’s better, most things are in stock. A new self-​checkout area has eased the line lengths a bit. And the staff are generally pretty cheerful, although it’s clear they work very hard.
The wine section is sizable, and they have some of my favorite table whites available at good prices, with a six-​bottle discount. I can get fresh flowers and some organic produce here also. All in all, a good Safeway.

One star is being generous. Just moved to area and sadly, Safeway is the closest grocery store to me. I thought, cant be THAT bad, can it? Indeed! Every visit (tried 5 times) was so unpleasant from the filth on the floors, to the fantastically incompetent and aggressively rude tellers to the 1970s food choice. GLADLY go the extra mile to United, Good Earth, Whole Foods and pay more to avoid this disgrace for a store. Shawn is the manager there-he’s worthless.
Hopefully whole foods or trader Joes can come and put this place out of its misery. PLEASE!!!

For Marin standards I would say this grocery store is subpar. The floors are always sticky, the butchers are constantly using profane language within earshot of the customers and deli department is always slow. However, the register staff are friendly and fast, the floral shop is always well equipped for whatever seasonal holiday is upcoming and the shopping carts are clean. Overall, it’s a place to go when you are in a hurry and know what you need.

The current two star rating for this Safeway is not only inaccurate but it is highly misleading !!! As a mother of 2 I am constantly in and out if grocery stores (mainly Safeway) and I can assure you that this is one of the better Safeway locations that I have visited. The store itself is pretty darn clean, the shelves are amply stocked and the staff seemed proactive and productive. I was really impressed by their wide selection of gluten free and organic products. They have a more wide selection of brands and product to choose from and over all if I am ever in the area I would be sure to shop here! I also want to add that the cashier who checked me out was very pleasant and willingly indulged in a light conversation with me while she rung up my hefty order. I love awesome customer service !

Whenever I go to the deli it is poorly staffed and they make you wait FOREVER, the deli is horrible there and the sushi is extremely overpriced, it’s 3 star quality at a 5 star restaurant price not impressed with this location

Go here if you like mediocre prices, unmotivated employees, and rotten organic produce. Bonus: automated self-​service checkout that requires several employee interventions…

The grocery store is fine but the lines!!! Oh my gawd. It’s just not worth the stress. I even attempted to do self checkout. That was a big mistake because I had produce. The clerk was bouncing around trying to help everyone in self checkout and ther was a lot of waiting. In the 20 minutes it takes me to checkout at safeway I could run to andronicos and back. While I like saving some $$ its really not that worth it. Safeway!!! Are you listening??? Get more checkers. You are losing customers.
Oh and the staff are all really nice. I feel so sorry for them because they are constantly dealing with frustrated customers.
Safeway your business model needs tweaking. Whatever happened to threes a crowd?

Went in for a few things today not feeling too hot, and my cashier, Angela, was just too awesome for words. The lady in front of me was kinda slow but Angela made sure to make her feel comfortable, and when it was my turn she did the same to me, just a sweet human being that probably made a lot of us feel better about life today. Wish we could clone her and sprinkle her around the county.

Long checkout lines at nearly anytime of day. Shelves not stocked on a more than weekly basis. Little to no help at the customer service counter. Baggers that are not very fast or efficient. I have even had a bagger knock over fried chicken onto the counter and then pick it up with his bear hands, from the not so clean counter area, put it back into the container and then into a bag like nothing happened. Are you freaking kidding me. Employees that don’t appear willing to pitch in when the store is super busy.
Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your view, the people that shop at Safeway are super patient with the many things wrong at Safeway. The prices are the only thing that keep someone returning to this store.

If I could give Safeway zero stars I would, and for multiple reasons. For the last couple of months every time I go into Safeway the lines are backed down the aisles. This is so irritating when you just want to pick up some quick items for dinner after work. I have to give all the patrons credit because everyone has been really patient, but I don’t know how long we can put up with 15+ people in line. Once in awhile when the lines are backing up the manager calls for another checker, but watch out because that checker will be super upset and will complain about needing to take her break the whole time.
Last night I went in and a lot of sections were completely bare or under stocked. Really Safeway? The entire pudding section in the refrigerated section was bare, zero, not one single pudding.
Here is what angers me to my core about Safeway. The way the checkers and managers treat their workers with developmental disabilities. I work in Special Education so this really kills me when I see the way they treat their fellow co-​workers. One day I had to restrain myself from choking the manager when he berated the poor developmentally disabled guy in front of at least 20 people and then yelled at him to just leave. Ughhhhhhh, it burns me up. Safeway gets a lot of kick-​back for having disabled people on their staff so you would think they would actually treat them like humans. I understand the guy makes mistakes but instead of treating him like scum you could pull him aside privately and help him learn from his mistakes. Promote independence, not ignorance. This might come as a shock Safeway but people who are disabled have feelings too. I am writing letters to every single person in management about this issue.
Shop anywhere else but this Safeway, they seriously need to get their act together.

OK Update! This Safeway’s Gluten-​Free selection is getting smaller and smaller. But that is not the worst, the customer service has gone down in flames!
One day I went after a long day to pick up some cupcakes for my daughter’s birthday. The bakery was closed, it took them over 15 minutes for someone to come help me. When this «manager» got there, she was rude and seemed annoyed by me!
What happened?! This is supposed to be one of the «High End» Safeway stores, but they have become «Low Grade»
Come on Safeway! I want to like your store. I don’t want to shop at Mollie Stones or Woodland, but at least their service is excellent.
I guess it’s true, you get what you pay for…

This review isn’t really focused on the grocery store part, even though I do enjoy this safeway for grocery shopping.
The café sandwich artist is AWESOME. He is the reason I will come back and get sandwiches here more often. He makes good sandwiches, he takes his time and does it nice. They taste good, they look good, they are fresh. He is super nice and friendly too. It’s cool to have someone who actually cares about customers. Go get a sandwich from this guy!