Safeway International

[Dave]

Back in the 1970's, when Safeway was still a big player in Richmond, VA, they opened a store on West Cary Street that was called "Safeway International" (in common usage, folks called it the "Intenational Safeway").

As I recall, it had "Safeway Intenational" spelled across the front of the store in script letters with smaller S meatball logos. The store was somewhat bigger than the normal Safeway of the time. It had a bakerey in the front of the store and a deli and a large international foods section (perhaps 15% or 20% of the entire store), and a much larger than usual wine and cheese selection.

Safeway also ran small ads in addition to their usual weekly tab with sale items only available at this store. When they used double truck ads before the advent of tabs, they'd set aside a corner of the ad for "International" sale items.

My understanding was that the Richmond store was their first (maybe only?) in this format.

The shopping center it was in was called the "International Shopping Center" after the Safeway (it was rather small and unless you count People's Drug Store and Shoney's, not very international except for the Safeway).

The location is now a Kroger. It's a good one from a retail standpoint as it is in a prime spot to draw a diverse crowd - it's the most convenient area for what is perhaps the wealthiest neighborhood in the metro area as well as the most bohemian/hippie/artsy (for lack of a better term) neighborhood.

Anyone else familiar with this type of Safeway?

[Groceteria]

Per DC Grocery, there was also one in Washington at 1110 F St. NW. Picture is lifted from that (excellent) site.

[Dave]

I found out a couple of tidbits about Safeway International from a 1990 newspaper article. The International stores carried about 43,000 items as opposed to about 26,000 items in a "regular" Safeway. The format was consaidered so much a success in Richmond that there was talk in 1990 of using the theme on other stores in Richmond - this never occurred, and Safeway pulled out of Richmond in 1993.

[TheStranger]

I was perusing my university's archive of the Chain Store Age magazine (in their library) and came across this tidbit: a January 1965 article about the opening of the Washington DC Safeway International, complete with exterior and interior photos!

(In the coming days, I'll have more CSA photocopy scans up on various other supermarket and store-related topics.)

Here goes:
Pages 4 and 5 in the magazine: an interior shot, very different from any other Safeway I've seen before.
http://dtcwrt.earlracing.com/stores/csa/swyintl4.jpg
http://dtcwrt.earlracing.com/stores/csa/swyintl5.jpg

Page 76: Exterior shot, note the intriguing take on the Circle S sign.
http://dtcwrt.earlracing.com/stores/csa/swyintl1.jpg
Page 77: More interior shots.
http://dtcwrt.earlracing.com/stores/csa/swyintl2.jpg
Page 78: Shots of the cheese section and "exotic" fruits like guava and plaintains (both of which I wouldn't consider exotic today and are easier to find at your average supermarket).
http://dtcwrt.earlracing.com/stores/csa/swyintl3.jpg

[Groceteria]

Wow. Nice stuff...

[TheStranger]

Here's a nice complement to that: from Chain Store Age's May 1966 issue, an ad for Eastman UVEX plastic film (Eastman of course being the company known for Kodak cameras), specifically highlighting its usage in Washington DC Safeway signs, including the "double-circle" at Safeway International. (This is a black and white photocopy of a beautiful color advertisement.)

http://dtcwrt.earlracing.com/stores/csa/uvex.jpg

[Transit Road]

I'm thinking that the Safeway at 1525 Wilson Boulevard in (Rosslyn) Arlington, VA was at one time a Safeway International location.

I remember that the prices were extremely high and that the store carried bear meat during the time that I lived in the area during 1988-1989.

[rich]

In 1990, Safeway Interntaional was gone from DC. They di a lot of store closings right around then, so its elimination may have been part of a bigger restructuring. That's about when the very small Safeways in DC (DuPont & West End) became "Town House" stores.

[TheStranger]

Here's a 1965 ad for Safeway International:

http://flickr.com/photos/tinybanquet/450953393/

[Groceteria]

Ad from The Washington Post, 4 November 1964, the week after the grand opening, mentions that there's a "complete Safeway food store" underneath:

http://groceteria.com/forboard/international.gif

[Groceteria]

A little more info since I had a few minutes today and now have access to the Washington Post archives going back to the 19th century:

The Safeway International on F Street closed in August, 1976. As mentioned in the post above, there was a "regular Safeway" directly underneath it, with an entrance on 12th street. That one stayed open when the International closed, and may be the one Rich mentions above that closed around 1990. At the same time, a Safeway Townhouse on 18th Street also closed. The company blamed Metro construction and the fact that it was increasingly difficult to get downtown.

Apparently, the International concept was integrated into a new store in McLean that opened shortly after the International in the district closed.

[rich]

Metro construction would have been an issue in the early 70s (the area around 12th & F is by the "Metro Center" stop). By '76, the main issue would have been the continued, long-term decline of DC's old shopping district, which centered on F St, bet 7th & 14th (with stretches of 7th and 14th also being important). Safeway was long gone by 1990.

[Groceteria]

Unless I've missed the answer somewhere, does anyone known if the DC Safeway International (and the adjacent "regular" Safeway) building is still standing? I can't get a good feel from Google Maps.

[rich]

I was downtown today and there is no trace of the F Street Safeway. The entire block (and it's a big one with a significant grade was razed at some point in the last 10 years and now has a single, multi-story building, with a variety of commercial street level uses. The block on 11th Street above F St. (just N of this block) has been saved, although it was crumbling for many years (there was an old Lerner Shops store in the middle, with its old signage still present). The old facades and some of the old buildings are being reused for new development.

[Ephrata1966]

I'm thinking that the Safeway at 1525 Wilson Boulevard in (Rosslyn) Arlington, VA was at one time a Safeway International location.

I remember that the prices were extremely high and that the store carried bear meat during the time that I lived in the area during 1988-1989.

I just looked at that store in Google Maps. Very odd location for a Safeway. I heard there was a Safeway (and CVS) in the Watergate complex. This probably looks like it.

How much higher were the prices? Randalls/Tom Thumb "Flagship" prices they say are high, as well as Genuardi's.