Business & Tech
New Castro Valley Safeway to Open in Late March
Safeway will open a new store in the building where PW Market was located before its closure last October.
When will you be able to begin shopping at the new Safeway store in the 580 Market Place?
March 23, according to Susan Houghton, a spokesperson with the Pleasanton-based grocery retailer. An official grand opening ceremony is planned for April 15.
The new store is located on East Castro Valley Boulevard, less than two miles from the existing location on Redwood Road. It will occupy the building left vacant by PW Market when the grocery chain went out of business last fall.
When the store opens, Castro Valley will join several other suburban Bay Area cities that have two Safeway stores, including Dublin, Livermore and San Ramon.
Pleasanton is also opening a second store later this year, and San Leandro has not two but three Safeway locations.
"As many Castro Valley residents know, our existing store is pretty busy. A second Safeway should help alleviate that issue," Houghton said via e-mail.
"We believe anytime a vacant building can be occupied, it is a good thing for the city and community," she said.
The new Castro Valley and Pleasanton stores are part of six stores that Safeway, a national Fortune 100 company, is planning to open in the Bay Area in 2011. Other locations include Burlingame, Campbell, El Cerrito and Los Gatos.
The Bay Area is part of Safeway's Northern California division, which operates more than 270 stores and is preparing to open a total of 11 new stores this year — more so than in recent years.
Safeway finalized a lease agreement with Weingarten Realty in mid-January, confirming months of speculation the company would beat out other grocery chains, including Whole Foods and Mollie Stone’s, for the Castro Valley property.
The building is slightly smaller than the existing Safeway store in town, about 40,000 square feet with 35,000 square feet of usable store space.
The Safeway on Redwood Road is 41,000 square feet.
Houghton said about 80 people have been hired. The store's employees were chosen after Safeway held two job fairs in early February, each of which drew about 1,000 applicants, Houghton said.
She would not say if any former PW Market employees were hired, only that the company welcomed applications from all qualified individuals.
While Safeway will be using some of the existing furniture and equipment left behind by PW Market, the store will be modeled after many of its existing locations.
"Our stores pretty much follow the same design — it is a ‘lifestyle’ concept," she said.
The store will offer full service meat, deli and seafood counters and a bakery, plus a large array of organic and natural foods.
She said because of the limited space, the company will not install a Starbucks in this store.
For some Castro Valley residents, the addition of a second Safeway location is a missed opportunity to bring in another grocery store to provide more choices for residents.
The only other major chain grocery stores in town are Trader Joe’s and Lucky.
But Houghton said Safeway tries to cater to the needs of its customers.
"We are constantly evaluating our product offerings, and if there is a specific item a customer is interested in, we encourage them to let us know. We try to carry the items our customers want," she said.
