Groceries. It’s a word we’ve heard a lot lately. How and where you decide to shop for your weekly groceries is influenced by a range of factors, including price, convenience, choice and overall experience. What does making these decisions look like at Safeway grocery stores in different parts of our city? I decided to find out.
The Experience
DC’s Wards 7 and 8 are the city’s most densely populated. Consisting of over 28 neighborhoods, they collectively house over 160,000 residents east of the Anacostia River but conversely have access to only five full-service grocery stores (outlets that provide fresh produce, household and packaged goods, a pharmacy and other value-added offerings within a single footprint). This means that shopping for groceries in Ward 7 – where I live – can sometimes be a chore and why pejoratives like “food desert” are often thrown around in community conversations.
My local Safeway is located within the East River Park Shopping Center at 322 40th St NE, less than a mile from my front door. It opened in 1988 and is owned by Albertsons Companies Inc. Safeway merged with Albertsons Companies in 2015.
In 2017, an article in this newspaper exposed irregular closing hours, insufficient and spoiled inventory and other unacceptable conditions at my local Safeway, which led to then Ward 7 Councilmember Vincent Gray (D) paying a surprise visit to the store. While many of those complaints were addressed, residual issues persist. I frequent my local Safeway because it’s convenient and I’d rather spend my money supporting grocery stores East of the river, but my second choice is the Safeway in Capitol Hill in Ward 6, at 415 14th St SE.
Casual hawking occurs regularly outside the entrance of the Safeway at 322 40th St NE. Sanitary products and toiletries are arranged on folding tables set up on the muddy median outside the entrance of the store, which is also where a CCTV system is permanently set up to ensure the safety of Safeway customers and suppliers, according to the pre-recorded message played on loop. Petty theft seems to be a persistent issue at not only this Safeway but others throughout the DMV. Patrons will be familiar with preventative security measures such as checkout turnstiles that open only when receipts are scanned, guards posted on duty at entrances and exits and various goods (sanitary and bath products, medicine) locked away in cabinets.
Center Safeway.
Both my local Safeway in Ward 7 and the Safeway located in Ward 6 follow a similar layout: Fresh fruit and vegetable displays greet you at the entrance, followed by the deli section, meats, seafood and dry and frozen goods. The most jarring difference between the two is probably the wine, beer and spirits aisle. Dual aisle access has been blocked in the Ward 7 Safeway, while the same aisle in Ward 6 encourages free movement and is located near to a cornucopia of charcuterie and cheeses.
At my local Safeway, spoiled and expired produce (sometimes offered on sale) and rusted display shelves are sadly some of the regular sights.
The Policies
When I reached out to Dana Ward, Director for Communications and Public Affairs for Albertson’s Mid-Atlantic Division, to request feedback on some of these disparities, she clarified that concerns related to information possibly affecting the company’s public trading profile meant she was limited in terms of what she could cover. “When it comes to anything about theft, we can’t go into detail.” she confirmed.
What accounts for the differences in stock and display at these two Safeway locations? Why, for example, does my local Safeway not supply a wider range of organic beef products?
“For the most part if you walk into a Safeway, you’ll find the same things,” Ms. Ward told me. “We have to figure out what the neighborhood is asking for. We try to tailor our stores based on the data of what customers are purchasing in specific areas. Our merchandising team is constantly evaluating what’s being sold in each store. It’s based on the data of what people are buying and what they’re asking for.”
Why, I asked Ward, are customers exposed to rusted, dirty shelves and expired or spoiled produce at my local Safeway in Ward 7 when I’ve never seen similar sights at the Safeway in Ward 6? “Store managers should be checking cases and other equipment to make sure that they’re operational and calling it in when it’s not.” she confirmed. “When it comes to a remodel schedule, in our region we have 295 stores, so we try to get every store on the schedule at some point. It depends on when the budget’s there. We’re constantly evaluating DC and what we can do better.” The official response to expired goods on shelf? “Safeway adheres to stringent food safety procedures and does not sell products beyond their sell-by date.”
The Benefits
The current administration’s evolving tariff strategy and its effect on supply chains and food prices means that grocery stores like Safeway are under increased pressure to stabilize fluctuating food prices. All Safeway stores accept SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits and payment on EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) cards for both in-store and online purchases.
Signing up for Safeway for U™ means you get points on every purchase (redeemable for grocery or gas purchases) and discounted prices on items (Signature and O Organics brands, for example) at checkout. I use these frequently during my weekly grocery visits. Safeway and the Safeway Foundation also recently partnered with DC Central Kitchen to provide culinary skills training to aid job creation in this pressured sector. The Capital Area Food Bank and Safeway offered food aid to furloughed and fired Federal workers a few months ago.
The Alternatives
Farmer’s markets, community food gardens and food access and education are rebalancing some of the historic food injustices that are so prevalent in neighborhoods like mine in Ward 7. FRESHFARM has serviced the DMV since 1996 by providing access to fresh, nutritious, locally-grown fruit, vegetables and cereals sourced directly from regional farmers, 60% of whom are BIPOC.
Availability is seasonal and all produce is grown organically. FRESHFARM has Pop-Up Food Hubs (PUFH) at my local Safeway, the Cesar Chaves Public Charter School and the Kenilworth Recreation Center in Ward 7, in addition to the Anacostia Community Museum and THEARC in Ward 8.
I signed up for their Market Share Personal Bag but if you have a larger family the Family Bag might work best. You can collect monthly in-person or have your bag delivered to your door and use your SNAP benefits or Senior Produce Dollars to pay. The FRESHFARM Produce Plus program means older residents can purchase produce at a discounted rate.
Sign up or find out more at www.freshfarm.org
All information and prices included in this article were sourced over two months of research and might not reflect current or future pricing or information.
