New Designs for a Safeway Remodel
Once upon a time, we had a rather lively thread in the Exit133 forums about the Proctor Safeway remodel and its 125 foot blank wall. Well, a new design has been circulating about and things have improved. According to The News Tribune, the new design will include, in addition to street-facing windows and 10,000 square feet, a bakery, Starbucks, and a larger sushi selection. Folks seem a bit more happy with the changes.
Here’s the original plan:
Here’s the new design:
Link to The News Tribune
Previously on Exit133
Filed under: tacoma-business, proctor
31 comments
S Sassy McButterpants July 23, 2008
That’s definetly an improvement, and I am sure the residents of Proctor will enjoy this prettier version of the fancy Safeway.
Meanwhile the Safeway in Hilltop remains the worst Safeway in Pierce County- not even selling french bread.
What the hell?
E Elliot July 23, 2008
I shudder to think of how much money Safeway spent on this rather obvious design that should have been there to begin with.
Then again, the fact that Safeway has such a mediocre store in the fancy part of town (right accross from a really nice MetMart) leaves me thinking that maybe the corner offices at Safeway HQ aren’t stocked with the finest fish in the sea.
S Sassy McButterpants July 23, 2008
I don’t even care what it looks like, I just don’t understand why every Safeway I’ve ever been to has French Bread but Hilltop’s Safeway. It’s very inconvenient. Even the Spanaway Safeway got spruced up and given a fancy bakery and deli.
E Erik S July 23, 2008
Heh. Sassy. Cracks me up.
But we must all remember that there is at least one nice thing about the Hilltop Safeway. It reminds me of the U-District Safeway in Seattle.
Loaves of bread with one day left to go that were trucked in from Safeways in ritzier neighborhoods. Seafood case all full of pre-packaged styrofoam trays of fish heads and miscellaneous net scrapings. Makes me yearn for the carefree days of my youth.
K kc July 23, 2008
fireplace? wait…. met market will need to have a fireplace. Let the market wars begin!
M Melanie July 23, 2008
My 13-year-old son calls the Hilltop Safeway the “Not-so-Safeway”.
Why is the Proctor Safeway going to have a Starbucks when there is one just a block away (and the one near work is closing…but I digress)?!
This new Safeway sounds a touch like a Metropolitan Market jr. It’s in need of an upgrade, but…
S Safeway Boycott July 23, 2008
How about a Tacoma wide Safeway boycott until they address the “not-so-Safeway” on Hilltop. That thing is a blight to the community. Totally under staffed, ugly inside and out, poor quality products and no french bread! BOYCOTT!!!
J Jbal July 23, 2008
Ugh. I’m with Sassy. It makes me sick that they would remodel that store and leave the one on Hilltop with broken doors, wilting collard greens, and the worst wine selection in history. It goes way beyond lack of baguettes.
Everyone on my fine Hilltop block gets in their car to go shop at Top Foods instead of risking life, limb, and salmonella at the Safeway.
E Elliot July 24, 2008
Oh man, I was just sitting here minding my (extremely important and aweinspiring) business when I felt a cold chill… Sure enough, upon checking back here, I found the culprit: Someone (Erik S) mentioned the U-District Safeway. I used to live a few blocks away from that, basically between it and Trader Joes. Given that you can’t buy a bag of flour at TJ’s, I was often in a position to have to go to that Safeway. Needless to say, I went an entire year without flour.
C crenshaw sepulveda July 24, 2008
I’m thinking that Safeway should abandon the Hilltop Safeway and sell the building to Trader Joe’s. People will flock to a Trader Joe’s and this would be a great “anchor” store for the Hilltop area. Until the Save A Lot opened up Safeway was the only game in town on Hilltop. Now there is competition I would not feel too bad if Safeway left the hill. Sadly Safeway has a tendency to sell their buildings to people not in the grocery business. Anyone remember the McKinley Safeway? It is a church now. Still I can not think of a better location for a Tacoma Trader Joe’s. Right down the street from St. Joe’s and also down the street from TG. Maybe TG would consider changing their initials to TJ to help the cause.
T tct2326 July 24, 2008
I ranted about the Hill’s Safeway a couple of months ago, & all I got back was weak excuses about why the Hill should’nt get a Safeway. I agree with the Sassy One. That Safeway has’nt changed since I was a kid stealing Willy Wonka Nerds where the Pharmacy is now. Shameful. I guess it pays to be a lighter shade, or just with some $ in your pocket.
E Erik K July 24, 2008
“It pays to be a lighter shade”????
T Thorax O'Tool July 24, 2008
I have fond memories of growing up in the ‘hood, going to the Hilltop Safeway back in the 80s and getting those Hostess Lemon Pies. At least you can wear red or blue now and not get shot at.
My parents live by there still, and I frequently see much shoplifting and all around ghettoization there. Maybe if Safeway did something similar to the plans for the Proctor location, it’d help clean up the neighborhood.
I would like to see a nice Safeway. Forget Trader Joe’s. They’re too pricey, especially for the average family in hilltop.
A A-Dub July 24, 2008
tct2326,
It can’t pay that much to be a ligher shade or having some $ in your pocket since the Procter Safeway (along with Hilltop) is one of the last stores to be remodeled. Safeway started remodeling their stores a few years ago. If it had to do with color or money, Procter’s Safeway would have been the first one done. The reason why Procter is being remodeled right now instead of Hilltop is because Procter’s Safeway has a very strong competitor across the street. This has nothing to do with race or the amount of money in your pocket (everyone uses toilet paper), but everything to do with competition. If the Hilltop store had a competitor across the street, I guarantee the store would be in the remodeling process. So the idea of throwing a Trader Joe’s in Hilltop to compete with Safeway is a great idea.
T TDB July 24, 2008
The new design looks great…much better then the original design. Now the city needs to paint some pedestrian stripes so you don’t get killed crossing the 10,000’ wide N.A.S.C.A.R. track separating the two competing grocery stores…
A altered chords July 24, 2008
Cren – Safeway should sell the store to Trader Joes?
1 major problem w/ that.
Trader Joes would need to buy it.
They actually look at demographics and make decisions based on them just like Safeway does.
TJ’s next possible store will be in Olympia. Heard that on the inside.
H holden July 24, 2008
How is Safeway going to deal with the loss of all that parking space? When Thriftway went in there was talk about somehow removing 25th Street (the Fire Department entrance street) to allow for additional parking.
T TDB July 24, 2008
holden-
The Safeway parking lot is never full…maybe the extra cars flocking to the facelift will park on the street and slow down the traffic on Proctor.
B bigbadcoz July 24, 2008
I talked to a Safeway regional manager about the hilltop store a few years ago. He told me that the store is too small to remodel and that the lot is too small to expand the store.
He said to do anything with it would require tearing it down and building a parking garage with other retail on the first floor perimeter and the actual store on the second floor.
Safeway will not abandon or sell a highly profitable store. It practically has a monopoly in the area and there has been many investments in the store to make it cost them anything. I have a feeling that when the time is right they will tear down the hilltop store and do it right.
The Proctor store reminded me more of the U-district store. I used to shop at both regularly at different periods in my life. The biggest difference is that I never ran into Chip Hanauer in a Tacoma Safeway in the pop isle.
J Jesse July 25, 2008
I was in the Hilltop Safeway once and asked the clerk why it was the crappiest Safeway I had ever been in. He said that Safeway is waiting for building codes to change so they can build up as building a bigger store on that lot is impossible due to size of lot. Basically, Safeway can not remodel that store but they would build another one in a downtown style – many stories with condo’s or whatever above it. He basically said that they are trapped there for the time being as there isn’t enough population to move it closer to downtown in a downtown multi-story stle and they don’t want to and can’t make the Hilltop store bigger because of the lot it’s on.
J Jake July 25, 2008
You can currently build about 4 stories (45’ height limit) on the Hilltop Safeway site and there are no setbacks so you can build to the lot line. So hopefully with the height limits changing they will be able to build a bit taller and get a nice urban mixed-use building in there.
J Jake July 25, 2008
Also, the Proctor District Safeway is the same zoning as the Hilltop Safeway. Don’t you think if they were interested in building a more urban mixed-use store they would do it in Proctor first?
C crenshaw sepulveda July 25, 2008
Safeway closed down its downtown Olympia store not long ago. It wasn’t Safeway’s finest store, not unlike the Hilltop one in some ways, small, dingy, and way out of date. I believe the city of Olympia is looking to build on the stie.
J Jesse July 25, 2008
Jake – I don’t think it would make sense to have a 4-10 story Safeway/complex in Proctor or on Hilltop. They are generally reserved for downtown settings where real estate and density is really high. Since the current Hilltop Safeway isn’t really downtown where a 4-10 story structure would fit in well, I don’t see having a new Hilltop Safeway any time soon. I would look for it to close and relocate closer to downtown by the condos when the real estate market gets better. Just me guessing though.
M Mofo from the Hood July 26, 2008
This would be an amazing transformation from the original bright white stone facade building that my friends and I walked through when it was being framed, around 1966-67. When the store opened it included a bakery plus a sit-down style snack bar that served prepared food and beverages.
That building replaced the former Safeway which had a sandy color stone facade, and it stood across the parking lot with its back to the fire station. When that store was demolished so too were some houses that stood on the northeast corner of the lot.
BONUS TRIVIA. Two former northend Safeway’s identified by the corporate store paint color of light-medium green. The building signs were horizontal rectangles with red block-style capital letters painted on a yellow field: The southwest corner of 6th & Proctor (Still operating as a convenience store). The northwest corner of 6th & Pine (Now Schuck’s Auto Supply).
H hilltop guy July 27, 2008
I make a point to ask the clerks at the hill top Safeway when they expect to remodel the store. The answer up until a month ago was 2008. They now talk of the city’s opposition to their proposed new store. Apparently the city expects housing incorporated into the project, and the amount of parking is always an issue in this city.
S Sassy McButterpants July 29, 2008
You know, I don’t know much about history… or mixed use zoning… or any of that stuff. I just know this: When a young woman stops in to a Safeway in AMERICA in 2008 and can’t get French Bread, something is wrong. Especially when I’ve traveled to Safeways far and wide and have not found a single remaining Safeway anywhere that doesn’t have it.
I’m not asking for store expansion or doublesided fireplace or to make it through the checkout line without being asked for change by someone or any of that crap.
Just a small selection of fresh baked goods. Thats all!
They don’t take up that much room.
M Mofo from the Hood July 29, 2008
French Bread under $2.00, HOT at 4pm daily, Albertson’s.
A altered chords July 29, 2008
Sassy – When the French declined to support of the US invasion of Iraq, Safeway may have begun calling their “french” bread “freedom” bread.
Ask them if they have any fresh baked “freedom” bread.
T Tad July 29, 2008
i think the new design is a big improvement over the original remodel plan.
with that said, i think that space could be used much more efficiently. maybe turn it into a mixed-use center with housing and/or green space?
K kris July 29, 2008
We nick-named it “un-safeway”, but I still frequent it on my way home from the YMCA. Stick with the frozen or pre-packaged items.
If Stadium Thriftway can find the room to expand, I can’t understand how the Hilltop Safeway uses their size as an excuse not to. It would definitely send a positive message to the neighborhood.