New Bradlee Area Safeway Grand Opening Set for Friday

After hosting a VIP reception and ribbon-cutting Thursday night, the new Safeway grocery store will be unveiled to the public Friday morning when it opens its doors at 3526 King St. in Alexandria.

The new store hours will be 24/7, according to the Safeway Web site; a store employee said Wednesday the store will open at 8 a.m. on Friday for the grand opening.

The store will offer 12 hours of grand opening specials on Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., including $9.99 Kendall Jackson Chardonnay wine, $1.69 a pound chicken breasts and a 24-pack of water for $2.49. The store will also be giving away a free year of groceries; you can enter by using your Safeway club card between Friday and Sunday.

The invite-only event Thursday night will feature celebrity Chef Huda, who recently won the Food Network’s “Cutthroat Kitchen.” Safeway will also be making donations to local charities.

Anyone who has to fill a prescription at the store should fill it by 4 p.m. today (Wednesday); the pharmacy will be closed Thursday in order to move into the new store from a trailer where it’s been operating from while the new store was being built.

Pharmacy hours will be Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturdays 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sundays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Free samples of Safeway products will be available at the opening Friday and through the holidays.

The reported $11 million “Lifestyle Safeway” features surface parking and was built on the site of the previous Safeway, which opened in 1982 and closed July 13, 2013.

The new ”podium format” of the store includes an earth-toned décor, subdued lighting, custom flooring and unique display features to impart a warm ambiance that enhances the shopping experience.

The new store is still hiring for some positions, according to an ad on craigslist.org.

Some of the highlights of the new store include:

• a hearth oven for baking bread
• expanded deli
• a gourmet cheese department
• a beer and wine department with a wine steward
• extensive natural and organic products including organic produce
• an extensive health and beauty aids department
• pharmacy
• a fresh-cut produce station, featuring fresh-cut fruit, salsa, guacamole and fresh-cut vegetables

Planning documents with the City of Alexandria note the store’s size at 61,323 square feet. There will be 228 parking spaces with 125 covered by the store; the store will be on the second floor. The previous store was about 44,000 square feet.

You’ll be able to get to the store on the second floor by using an elevator, stairs or an escalator. An outdoor terrace will be a spot where shoppers can stop for a cup of coffee from an in-store Starbucks or a bite to eat. Shoppers will use an elevator (not a “cartveyor” as early reported) to get their carts from the first floor to the second floor, according to Safeway spokesman Craig Muckle. Shoppers can also take an escalator.

In addition to the larger produce, deli, seafood and wine departments, shoppers will also see a larger floral department.

A previously planned Bergmann’s dry cleaners was nixed. Instead, in the same lot residents will see a Floyd’s 99 Barbershop. The barbershop is looking to hire barbers and hair stylists.

Next door to Floyd’s will be a Verizon store, according to Muckle.

Last year the spokesman said just before the store closed that ”as much as we hate to go away, it’s painful for people, we understand that, we will come back with a lot of fanfare.”