Safeway | Glasgow, DE

2400 Peoples Plaza

Welcome to the Glasgow Safeway!

Hey, we're at a Safeway! This store is the only Safeway in the Philadelphia area, as well as the only former Genuardi's still connected to Safeway (unless you count the Barnegat store, now an Acme, sister to Safeway since 2015). The presence of Genuardi's in Peoples Plaza dates back to before they were acquired by Safeway, however. They first moved into the center, and into Delaware as a whole, in March of 1995 with the acquisition of two Thriftways (one here and one in Bear). By 1997, they had built this new store, doubled in size and conforming with the standard Genuardi's store design. Safeway acquired Genuardi's in 2001, and, in 2004, all three locations in Delaware were brought under the Safeway name. The Bear Safeway closed in 2011, followed by the Wilmington store in 2018, making this the last Genuardi's-turned-Safeway in operation. Let's see if we can find any ingredients for life in here!

We're entering on the right side of the store through one of the large towers. 

Just through the entrance doors, we find a Starbucks. I don't know if the Starbucks was added by Genuardi's or by Safeway, but the "FOOD COURT" signage on the front of the building on this side of the store dates back to Genuardi's.

Poetry is in bloom in the floral department. Like the Rehoboth Beach store, this location has the woodgrain variant of Lifestyle v3.

A freestanding produce department is to the left of the grand aisle. Before the remodel, back when this store had Lifestyle v2, there was a wall separating the produce section from the aisles.

Prepared foods and the fresh deli are on the right side. This definitely was not the layout the store opened with as a Genuardi's. Pretty much every Genuardi's had produce on one side of the store and the deli/bakery on an island on the opposite side of the store.

The bakery is still pretty much right next to the deli. It's pretty big, too. A lot of space for all those oven fresh and irresistible goods.

Fresh (packaged) meats and a combined seafood and butcher block counter on the back wall. 

Dairy is in the last aisle of the store. This was probably where the produce aisle was in the Genuardi's days, but I don't know that for a fact.

Customer service is here in the front of the store. There was previously a WSFS Bank branch here, with customer service on the other side of the entrance doors (which you can see on the far right in the photo). The customer service sign on the wall is pretty bare-bones compared to Rehoboth Beach.

Well, you're welcome!

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2023

The remodel was probably sometime in 2023. Note how this store has DriveUp & Go signage, just like Rehoboth Beach. As I noted in that post, Acme has the service as well, but doesn't advertise it on signs outside.

2018

The WSFS sign is now gone, and the Signature Cafe sign has been swapped out for DriveUp & Go.

Nearby competition

2.4 miles away: ShopRite of Four Seasons

We took a look at this store last week. It first opened in late 2001, not long after Genuardi's was acquired by Safeway, as a SuperFresh. They closed in 2007, but A&P reopened the store as a Pathmark from 2009 to 2012. ShopRite took over in 2013 and has operated in the building since.

3.0 miles away: Food Lion of Elkton

When you join us next week, we'll be at a Food Lion. As you can see, this is a pretty typical location, having opened in 1999 as the anchor of the small Elkton Crossing center. Inside, it has the latest Food Lion decor.

Thanks for joining me on this tour! I've always liked Safeways, and this one seemed pretty nice. It seems to be well cared-for, considering Safeway put in its latest decor and redid the layout at some point (not necessarily recently, though), and it was decently busy. It's also quite interesting to see this store, considering Genuardi's went out of business 12 years ago now and their parent company is still operating out of one of their stores. Have a great weekend, and I'll see you next week when we're getting our lion's share! Sincerely, The Retail Connection.

ShopRite | Glasgow, DE

 

700 Plaza Drive

Welcome to the Four Seasons ShopRite!

Hopefully you aren't sick of ShopRite yet, because we have one more to visit! We'll be spending the next few weeks around the Delaware-Maryland border, starting with this ShopRite. The store first opened as a SuperFresh in 2001, anchoring the Four Seasons Plaza. SuperFresh closed in late 2007, and owner A&P reopened it under a different banner, Pathmark, on March 27, 2009. You can view a Flickr album from Pathmark themselves with photos of the store shortly after opening by clicking here. Pathmark wasn't a big hit, and closed in 2012. The Kenny family, which owns all ShopRites in Delaware, took the store under their reign and reopened it on August 24, 2013. They've been the most successful in this location, and obviously the store is still open today. So, let's see what it looks like!

The floral shoppe is just to your right when you enter this store. The decor here is the same as Brandywine Commons, and I believe is included in all Delaware ShopRites. On the other hand, the layout is basically identical to the Millville and Vineland stores, both of which are in New Jersey. I was surprised to see that, as I would've thought they would've kept the SuperFresh/Pathmark layout.

Prepared foods and the salad bar are across from floral, and cafe seating is tucked into the corner.

The produce department is on the other side of the grand aisle. I took a very similar photo in Vineland.

The deli, bakery, and seafood counters complete the grand aisle.

The meat department is in the back of the store, as is common with most supermarkets. I wonder how many stores have meats in a different part of the store.

A look down aisle 16, which has various household products. The aisles in this store are very clean and streamlined.

Dairy and frozen foods are in the last few aisles. The vertical TV hanging above the aisle is pretty interesting.

A look at the front of the store, with checkouts and customer service.

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2018

I've always liked this design of SuperFresh, though my favorite is this one. Also, that "cafe" sign to the left looks weirdly old, even though it must have been added by ShopRite. Pathmark definitely didn't have a cafe, and SuperFresh probably did, but the signage would've been more like this.

Nearby competition

2.1 miles away: Safeway of Glasgow

This will be the store we take a look at next week. It opened as a Genuardi's in the late '90s, relocating from an older store in the shopping center, being renamed to Safeway in 2004 along with the other Delaware Genuardi's stores after Safeway acquired them three years earlier. After the closure of the Wilmington Safeway in 2018, this is the only one remaining in the greater Philadelphia area.

4.6 miles away: Food Lion of Elkton

We'll be crossing the border into Maryland for the first time with this store. It opened in 1999 as the anchor of a small shopping center, a setup not unlike what you would probably find in the middle of nowhere in North Carolina.

This was quite a nice store! The decor, layout, and selection were all good. The store wasn't unnavigably crowded, but it seemed to be doing good business. Thanks for joining me, and I'll see you next week at Safeway! The Retail Connection: Check out happy.

ShopRite | Clementon, NJ

1224 Blackwood-Clementon Road

Welcome to the Laurel Hill ShopRite!

From one Zallie's ShopRite to another. Last week's store is only located about two miles away, but feels worlds different. It originally opened in 1974 and has had several different tenants and remodels over the years. ShopRite didn't come along until 2007, and operates quite a modern store there today. The same cannot be said about this location, the ShopRite of Laurel Hill. It opened in 1973 as a Shop 'N Bag, being the first Zallie's supermarket, and became ShopRite in 1980. Sure, the sign on the exterior has the current ShopRite logo (though it didn't until 2018 - and, as we'll see, not all of the exterior signage has been updated), but that's it. The inside is still totally '80s. Not for long, though, as work is already ongoing to convert the former Clementon Kmart down the road into a new, state-of-the-art Zallie's ShopRite, not unlike the one we saw last year in Woolwich. 42Freeway has a lot of great information about the ShopRite situation here in Clementon, so please check out that article! But, for now, let's enjoy the current Laurel Hill ShopRite for what it is: a snapshot of the '80s.

The European breads section and the bakery are on your right when you walk in. I'm kind of confused by the decor here, because it's decidedly not modern or recent, but it looks newer than everything else in the store. I think it could be an upgrade from some point in the '90s.

And across from the deli, you find the deli department and the prepared foods kitchen (or "food court"), both of which are incredibly retro. I don't know what's more '80s-looking: the all-lowercase "delicatessen" or the urgent "THE FOOD COURT". I love the italics and the bright neon.

The produce department is in the back of the grand aisle. The second half of the "fresh produce" sign is burned out, but the ceiling makes up for that.

The seafood counter and the meat department are in the back.

Kind of an odd setup here. You can either go straight and through the meat department, or go to the left and go down the aisles. We'll do the latter. Both paths end up at the dairy department on the right wall.

A look at aisle 10, international foods. I like the old-school look of most of this store, but the aisle markers are pretty ugly. So are the category markers, although those are newer based on the logo and slogan.

Dairy's in the last aisle.

Checkouts are in the front. The checkout lanes themselves seem like they could be new, but the lane lights probably date back to when the store opened.

Also along the front end are the pharmacy, floral, and the customer service counter, all with glorious neon. The mirror treatment in the floral section was a common feature of ShopRites of the '80s.

As we leave the store, here's the ShopRite sign on the right side of the store. This logo was phased out in 2002.

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2023

As you can see on the far right side of the photo, the old ShopRite Pharmacy logo is still up on the road sign. If you're wondering why the sky looked like this, it was because of the smoke from the Canadian wildfires last year. I have asthma and I could barely go outside during that time because of how bad the air quality was.

2013

Still sporting the old logo on the facade here.

Thank you for joining me on this tour! I enjoyed seeing this ShopRite and comparing it to the one we saw last week. Despite being owned by the same family, the two stores couldn't be more different in terms of layout and aesthetics. Knowing how the Zallie's ShopRite in Woolwich turned out, the new location in Clementon is going to be great. I believe there are plans for this store to become a storage facility of some kind after ShopRite is all moved out, but I don't believe that's 100% confirmed as of now. Thanks again for coming with me, and I'll see you again next week!