Safeway

Worst Safeway ever.
at the Deli I waited to be helped and wasn’t greeted for several minutes while 3 workers behind the counter were standing together talking to a customer and laughing– they were all obviously friends and only one of them needed to help her. Finally one of them came over to help me, I tried the potato salad– didn’t like it. Then I tried the Italian pasta salad– wasn’t feeling it either. Asked to try the macaroni salad and the woman told me I couldn’t sample it because I was only allowed two samples…
So ridiculous. So I left. Would rather go anywhere but here again

I went there at 10:30pm on a Friday night, and there was one register open, and a long line of people. I just wanted to buy one thing, and I’d have to wait 20 min? That’s ridiculous. Why can’t they have the self-​checkout open? I’ll never walk back into that store again.

The store is small which isn’t the problem. The guy at the check out as well as the girl bagging were by far the rudest people I have ever encountered living in Santa Cruz. Shame.

Worst safeway you will ever shop in. Always huge lines, one cashier, maybe two if you’re lucky. You’d be better going the extra few miles to another location or another store all together.

Gahhh. Only one line open and 9 people waiting at 8:30pm. A few have full carts I have 5 items. Correction, 4 items. I put back the ice cream because it was melting. It took 40 minutes to get checked out. That staff are friendly despite how overworked they must be. HIRE MORE STAFF!

I wish I could leave less than one star. Lets start with the parking lot, filthy. The carts are filthy, the entrance at the doors are scummed with dropped food and there are birds trying to get the garbage.
The store did not feel safe, the parking lot had a lot of lurking folks and many of the vehicles looked like they had been parked there for weeks, with folks living inside them.
Why not just close this store, and we can just go to Mission St, or 41^st. Why would anyone want to shop here. The frozen foods, are caked with ice due to poor refrigeration. The staff look exhausted, I could go on and on and I won’t, lets just summarize that I will not go to this store again. It is a shame, I live in the neighborhood.
Safeway management should know that this is not a store to be proud of.

I’m a regular at the Safeway on Mission St., but visited this one since I was in the area and had yet to get my week’s groceries. There are many reasons why I won’t shop here again:
— poorly-​lit parking lot with loiterers who hollered inappropriate cat-​calls and remarks
— molded fruits (oranges, strawberries, blackberries)
— inadequate selection of produce (2 varieties of apples, 1 type of orange, etc.)
— more expensive than the other Safeway?!
— outdated layout, sorely in need of renovation from the 80’s design
— puzzling entrance (one-​person doorway each way)
— insufficiently staffed
I’m surprised an enterprise like Safeway would allow a store to fall below their norms in this manner. One positive thing – helping staff (took a while to find one) was very kind.

I would like to start off by saying that Carolyn is probably my favorite cashier ever! She is always friendly, polite and helpful– I always try to jump in her line when I can and when I see her around town we exchange a pleasant «hello».
Unfortunately, most of my interactions with other employees at this store have not been as pleasant. My main concerns come from the times I have used WIC checks here. I know that WIC has different procedures that may be more complicated than paying with cash, cards or even regular checks, but in my experience there seems to be a lack of training in proper procedures for the program.
My cashier today seemed to be new, and didn’t know how to ring up with the WIC checks. I waited while she switched places with another cashier, who rolled her eyes when she was called over.
This particular cashier who came to ring me up has displayed similar behavior when I have paid with WIC in her line before– eye rolls and a lack of communication with me other than asking me to sign the check. She gives me the checks to sign before writing the amounts on them or checking my WIC folder (proper procedure to confirm identity and prevent fraud). When I asked her about this she said to «just sign them now because I was holding up the line.»
I am in communication with my WIC office about my experiences. I feel that lessons on proper WIC procedures as well as proper customer service and communication would be very beneficial for this store.

It’s a Safeway. It’s not as though I expected something special or unique. Just to be able to buy some things without that being an uncomfortable disaster. Too much to ask? Apparently at this Safeway yes.
First I was buying some juice. A spent a few minutes picking one. Unfortunately a manager (I assume) was using that aisle to tell another employee they weren’t behaving acceptably. Is there no where else that could be done? I was trying not to listen, but they were very close to what I was looking at and it was so uncomfortable I just decided forget the juice.
Got a few things, checked out, but as soon as I stepped outside there was a pit bull tied up outside the store. It had a bunch of collars, spiked collars (not the decorative kind, the kind that go into the dog’s neck). The dog was not in good shape, and the collard were clearly too tight.
I wasn’t sure there was much I could do to help the dog, I went to my car. Just as I got there the dog (100% no question on their property) started to bark and cry. So I went back into the store. First employee completely blew me off, sent me to «customer service.» No one at customer service. The dog is loud enough you can definitely hear it from all of the checkout lines. Went to a checkout person with no one in her line. She asked if I was Ok. Had the dog perhaps scared me? Seriously? She thought I would come back into the store to tell them I was afraid of dogs? Finally she said, well, you can call the police if you want.
Thank you for a lovely morning, Safeway…

This Safeway is dirty under staffed always out of on sale items and staff is unintentive and forget They have customers to help fruit never fresh shame on Safeway

Be sure to check the «sell by» date ! We purchased two rolls of Marzipan got them home opened one and noticed they were dry and crusty. When I checked they were 8 months out of date ! To be fair the manager was apologetic, gave us a refund and additional store credit for the inconvenience so he definitely did his best to make things right, but better not to have the inconvenience in the first place. Hopefully they will do a better job of checking stock more often in future. Dec 2014

Wow, bad reviews for safeway. This was like every other safeway I have ever passed through. The cashier was especially nice so kudos friendly cashier!

This makes the mid 1980s Food Lion from Kaiserslautern Air Force Base look classy. This is where Honey Boo Boo shops for ingredients for the butter mix on her skettis. I have known a singular joy in life and that is the time spent on earth when I am not in the morasse of filth and ineptitude that constitutes this wretched place. This place routinely runs out of BREAD. Yes, bread. A tweeker threatened my girlfriend in here for allegedly hitting on her man, a dentally challenged chemically dependent gem of a catch, I’m sure. This place is so ghetto, they sell 6 year old bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau and mark them up cause they think they’re better as they age. The cashiers eye you with a desperate, crazed look as they slave your purchases down the belt with defeated wincings. Inevitably, you will encounter a domestic dispute in progress from one of the many mobile «dwellings» that infest the
parking lot, reeking of Drano and Sudafed.
My rent is too damn high to have this utter shithole in my neighborhood. Dear Santa Cruz, I know you are really self important, but please rope this place off with a hazmat team and implode it as soon as possible. Or lower my rent.
Oh, and no, I don’t want to donate a dollar to the diabetes fund and have you announce it on the PA system. There are thirty four people in line behind me with shin splints and varicose veins who don’t want that either.

Probably one of the smallest Safeways I’ve been too. I like coming here because it’s on the way to the beach in case I need to stock up on supplies. They have plenty of firewood, marshmallows, and other bonfire supplies.

It may not be the worst Safeway ever, but it’s definitely in the top two.
The only way I’d even consider stepping foot in this shithole of a store is after 9:00 p.m. when my go to stores Staff of Life or Whole Foods are closed and I genuinely NEED something. Unfortunately after 9:00 p.m. is also the absolute worst time to come to this store since all the 13 year old miscreants are hanging out in front shoulder tapping, shit-​talking, and causing little old ladies to clutch their purses a little tighter. The security guards are useless, they’re always talking to friends and never tending to the problems in the parking lot.
I’m not sure what the Safeway Corporation is thinking by keeping this store open. While the Mission Street and 41^st Avenue store have gone through multi-​million dollar makeovers, the ugly, pock-​marked step sister on Morrissey Blvd. rots away in her mid-​60s derelict carcass. If this Safeway was a woman, she’d wear stained puff paint sweatshirts, eat TV dinners every night, enjoy meaningful conversations with her cats, reek of vodka, and watch every episode of Hoarders because she identifies.
I seriously wish someone would call in a drone strike on this hideous building. I truly believe a Hellfire missile is the best and only solution. C’mon Safeway, get with the times and do something about this depressing repository of genetically modified foodstuff… its embarrassing!
FYI, they do have a RedBox out front though and that comes in handy from time to time.

This store was actually frightening.
The staff was helpful and very friendly, but due to the pack of gang members lurking outside I won’t rush back here anytime soon.

Worst chain grocery store in Santa Cruz. The only things this place has going for is a friendly staff, and location.

This is the Safeway that we always go to, not by choice, it’s just the closest one to us where we live right now. It’s extremely sketchy at night, you never know who is there, people on drugs, homeless, police arresting someone or being called because of a disturbance. The lines are not too bad, just don’t go on the weekend, because then you’ll be waiting forever, even though they have their not more than three rule.
The clerks and employees are great, very friendly, and always helpful, it’s just the general store and its location that is lacking. If this rating were for the employees alone, I’d give them a 5!

Real low on the Awesome scale
This safeway is incredibly old and run down. I have had no bad experience with the staff but the general tidiness and state of the facility is pretty bad. Canned food askew, veggies old and not well presented, no butcher shop or bakery, these are the typical things you will find when you head over to this safeway.
However getting into the safeway may be a bigger issue. To get in you have sneak your way past the homeless people who are always there asking for food or money. There is also a decent amount of drug activity in the parking lot. YES safeway is a one stop shop for those of you looking to for a good time on a Sat night. Get your liquor and your illegal drugs all in one place. But if you are an average joe not looking to score a hit and just want to grab some quality food head to one of the many options down the street.
This is the lowest rated safeway I have gone to.

For some reason my review from three years ago is no more. SIGH.
I have been shopping here for the past five years or so and I have never had a negative experience minus some ricotta cheese (which I got a refund for with no issues).
I come early in the morning or around dinner time to avoid the chaos of mid morning/​afternoon rush.
They are super helpful and always ask if everything is okay (but not in a creepy I am watching you sort of way). The men and women at the check out in the morning are always cheery. maybe its the cigarettes and caffeine in the morning or perhaps it is because I avoid when the crazy customers come in…
I usually come in when they are switching out products so other than the ricotta incident I haven’t had the same experience as the other Unilocalers.