Somewhere behind all of that scaffolding lies the soon-to-be-former Largo Albertsons or soon-to-be-opening Largo Safeway, depending on how you look at it. Today, thanks to AFB contributor Dave M., we'll get to take another quick look around the Largo Albertsons for some updates on the progress of construction and what's changed since last time.
According to Dave, interior work is complete here. The only remaining construction is the exterior work you see above. Other than new signage, I really don't know what they're doing out here, or what the finished product will look like. As for already finished product, let's start heading inside to see some of that...
The new carts have arrived with the Safeway branding on them. In addition to new full sized carts, Safeway is also adding new mini-carts "reserved for our future [Safeway] shoppers", which you can see below:
Now for some interior pictures:
The more I see pictures of the new interior, the more I like it. My fears of it making the store seem too dark did not come true, and honestly the new look does wonders for modernizing these older stores. In the above picture is "The Citrus City Cafe", located near the front entrance (they probably could have picked a better color for "The Citrus City" part of the sign, as the white on white is hard to read). The one thing about this look that I really like is how overborad it goes with local touches. "The Citrus City" is an old nickname for the City of Largo, dating back to the late 1800's when the city of Largo was one of the largest citrus producers in the state. The nickname has somewhat faded into obscurity in these modern times, mostly because I don't think a single citrus grove exists in Largo anymore, much less anywhere else in Pinellas County for that matter (maybe I'm wrong about that though, but I don't know where there would be room for one anymore). The cafe also includes some old pictures from around town, and some sayings on the wall about friends and togetherness.
I don't know if this area has an official name, but it looks like some kind of lounge/sitting area. This store is so big, they probably had more space than they knew what to do with it, with this being a result of this store's unusually large size. Over on the side wall is a community bulletin board and a map of Florida showing where Largo is, as well as a chalkboard community calendar.
Some of the new signage and cases in the produce department.
The rather sizable organic foods department. It's nice to see they didn't skimp in this area.
And finally some new Safeway promotional signage, probably over by the bakery since it's advertising Key Lime Pie.
Thanks again Dave for sending in these pictures of the Largo Albertsons! In 29 days, Albertsons Florida will become Safeway Florida, a sad yet exciting event as one era ends and another begins. AFB will be here to inform you of any news or updates regarding the remodels and the transition into Safeway as the work begins to come to a close.
So until the next time,
The Albertsons Florida Blogger
What a transformation! The new décor is awesome, and I love the extent to which they've incorporated local stuff. The norm, of course, is to be completely big-box and unlocalized; the best I've seen near me has been local pictures. The community bulletin board, obscure nickname signage, etc. is going overboard - and I think it's great! Supermarkets that connect with their communities, I should think, have a much better chance of garnering a customer base and being successful within them. It's sad to see Albertsons go, but I can't wait to see inside the redone stores, how Safeway does, and what might come in the future.
ReplyDeleteEver since the last Albertsons LLC interior, they've been trying pretty hard to push local flare in their stores. I think this new interior incorporates that part of Albertsons with a look that feels more like something out of Safeway. Like you, I'm a big fan of local details in stores. It makes the shopping experience seem more personal when you see the city name all over the place. It's like the company seems to care about where their stores are. I guess the more they try to set themselves apart from Publix in that respect, the better.
DeleteMost of the recent reviews of the three soon to be Safeway stores on Yelp seem to be fairly positive, however there are some who are concerned Safeway might overprice themselves into obscurity. I'm trying to plan a trip to one of the stores soon to have a look for myself and see what Safeway is going to be all about. I'm hoping for the best.
The Altamonte Springs store is coming along the interior is almost complete. The outside is still a work in progress. Looks very nice and should give Publix some competition. I wonder if we will hear about more FL stores at the grand opening later this month. It's going to be hard for Safeway to make a dent into Publix's marketshare with only 3 stores.
DeleteIt's beginning to get close to the end as far as the remodels go. I believe all of the three Albertsons/Safeway stores have a Publix directly across the street from them. Hopefully these remodels will attract some of the Publix shoppers to try out the new Safeways. I know I've been saying this since this news first broke, but if Albertsons is going to spend $10 million dollars on three isolated stores, there has to be something in the works as far as adding more stores. That seems like a lot of money to spend to upgrade stores in a region where they have hardly any power or presence anymore. There are plenty of empty Winn-Dixies and Sweetbays Safeway could take advantage of with a little bit of remodeling should they choose that route.
DeleteIt looks a lot more like Acme's new decor than I was expecting! I wonder if all Albertsons chains are starting to shift to that look.
ReplyDeleteAlbertsons and Safeway have about 5 or so different looks going on right now throughout all the different divisions. They really need to pick one for all of their stores and stick with it, whether it be this one (probably the most likely if they were trying for a unified look), or something else. There's a good chance this exact look may end up at Acme one day.
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