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As a massive assembly of earthmovers and bulldozers prepared to churn the dirt behind them, Safeway executives and civic leaders broke ground Thursday for a new 58,000-square-foot “Lifestyle” supermarket at Bernal and Valley Avenues, next to the northbound I-680 Bernal Avenue off-ramp.
The new store, here in Pleasanton where Safeway has its corporate headquarters, will offer the latest in marketing innovations and products, often before they are rolled out across the company’s national market, company representatives said.
It will be the newest of 270 Safeway stores in the company’s Northern California division, which like its corporate parent, Safeway, Inc., is headquartered in Pleasanton. As Safeway’s new Lifestyle-designated supermarket, it will have expanded meats, seafood, bakery and wine departments from its conventional stores, featuring a large section of organic products and a large sandwich bar and customer seating area. More than 200 employees will staff the new store.
Yesterday’s ceremony came exactly 70 years after Safeway opened its first Pleasanton store on Main Street in February 1941.
Safeway plans to have the store open by Thanksgiving, along with an array of restaurants, small retail shops and other services that will be part of the Pleasanton Gateway Center. The 12-1/2 acre complex is part of a 39-acre site owned by South Bay Construction since the entire 510-acre Bernal parcel was purchased by a coalition of developers in 2000 from the city of San Francisco, which acquired the land in the 1930s. San Francisco’s public utilities agency continues to own the water rights under the property along with a 3-acre undeveloped site o Old Bernal Road across from the Pleasanton public library.
“I have to tell you that to be able to have this type of economic stimulus on this end of town and then the Staples Ranch property breaking ground at the other end is evidence that Pleasanton is back,” said Mayor Jennifer Hosterman, who led off remarks at the groundbreaking ceremony.
“We are back,” she emphasized. “We are going to recover from this recession and we’re going to recover in a very strong way.”
Because of its larger size and product offerings, including large organic foods and fresh vegetables sections, the Lifestyle store also is expected to attract shoppers from other cities who now go to Whole Foods in San Ramon.
“Whole Foods, step aside,” Hosterman said to the laughter of more than 50 community and Safeway leaders sitting in front of her. “Pleasanton is going to have a store that is just going to knock your socks off!”
Facing Valley, the store will back onto the northbound I-680 off-ramp. Driveways will be positioned along Valley Avenue and one on Bernal will link with the Koll Center driveway on the other side with a full-phase traffic signal to allow turns into and out of both centers in either direction. Although larger and newer than the Pleasanton Safeway at Valley and Santa Rita Road, that popular store will remain open.
Finance Director Wagner said the fiscal impact to Pleasanton will add $123,000 to the city’s general fund in the store’s first year of operation and $285,000 a year after that.
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Artist’s sketch of new Safeway Lifestyle store now under construction in Pleasanton at Bernal, Valley avenues near I-680. -
Susan Houghton, Safeway’s Director of Public and Government Affairs, welcomes company executives and civic and Pleasanton city leaders Thursday at groundbreaking ceremonies Thursday for new 58,000-square-foot “Lifestyle” supermarket at corner of Bernal and Valley avenues adjaent to I-680. Photo by Jeb Bing. -
Safeway, city and business leaders scoop up the first shovels-full of dirt as work gets under way on a new 58,000-square-foot “Lifestyle” supermarket at corner of Bernal and Valley avenues adjaent to I-680. From left are Scott Trobbe, South Bay Development Company; Kevin Lovell, District Manager, Safeway; Rick Pickering, Vice President – Retail Operations, Safeway; Plesanton City Councilman Jerry Thorne; Pleasanton Mayor Jennifer Hosterman; Don Wright, Senior Vice President, Safeway and Chief Executive Officer, Property Development Centers; Dave Zylstra, Chief Operating Officer, Property Development Centers; Jim Reuter, Vice President – Development, Property Development Centers; Dave Moreno, Vice President – Construction, Property Development Centers, and Joe Kinn, Construction Manager, Property Development Centers. Photo by Jeb Bing. -
Kevin Lowell of Safeway, speaking at groundbreaking ceremonies Thursday for new 58,000-square-foot “Lifestyle” supermarket at corner of Bernal and Valley avenues adjaent to I-680, notes that it was 70 years ago–in February 1941–that Safeway opened its first Pleasanton store on Main Street. Photo by Jeb Bing. -
South Bay Construction executive Scott Trobbe speaks at groundbreaking ceremonies for new 58,000-square-foot “Lifestyle” supermarket at corner of Bernal and Valley avenues adjaent to I-680. South Bay is selling 12-1/2 acres of the 39-acre site to Safeway, with plans to develop the remaining acreage with office buildings or possibly some residential units. Photo by Jeb Bing. -
Pleasanton Mayor Jennifer Hosterman speaks at groundbreaking ceremonies Thursday for new 58,000-square-foot “Lifestyle” supermarket at corner of Bernal and Valley avenues adjaent to I-680. Safeway says store will open before Thanksgiving. Photo by Jeb Bing.
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I am so happy to see this coming to Pleasanton. It will make our great town even better. Thank you!
Looking forward to the new Safeway coming to our side of town.
But unhappy about the city councel not allowing the gas station.
It isn’t fair to shopper’s a chance to save on gas..Why is the Shell
station getting special treatment? They have allowed other establishment’s to open close to other similar ones.
Will still go to Dublin to spend my money at the Safeway Station!!
I agree with Mae. The Shell (now Chevron) needs competition. How can one business dictate whether a competitor is allowed to open nearby. That doesn’t sound legal to me. We all need to push hard for the Safeway gas station.
Looking forward to seeing something other than an empty field where the Safeway site will be.
Concerning the gas station… I think Raley’s has more to worry about with Safeway being so close. The gas station is so crowded at times I can’t get gas. The Safeway store should be allowed to function because the Corner gas station can’t support the community properly. It’s too small and shares parking and traffic from the Jack in the Box and the Car Wash and the Convenience Store, all Jammed into one location. How did THAT get passed?????
What is up with limiting our gas station…? Our family was looking forward to giving Pleasanton our gas money instead of going over to Dublin or Livermore. In the hometown of Safeway, why is it they can’t stand up, put in a gas station and let us choose where we want to go. I will never go to that station because of that. Unless perhaps someone can explain.
I wish Safeway would FIRST fix the store we already have. I HATE shopping there but, I like the prices. If I have to, most of the time I run into unpleasant workers. The lines are always long, due to lack of clerks.The carts are FILTHY!!! I will not use the kiddie one because several times I have found them with food inside. It wouldn’t take much for them to have someone check on them once in awhile! When my arm was hurt it took forever to get service out.Once at night they just shut down all the lines to get the days totals. Meanwhile myself and several people were forced to wait in line for over 10 minutes! Than when they opened up the lanes, they only had two people helping. They do this every night around 10 so beware! Too bad it wasn’t a bigger Trader Joes or Whole Foods moving in. They do customer service right!!!!
what can we do to get a gas station there? Is it too late?
I agree with Jill.
Jill,
You and I have had very difference experiences shopping at the present Safeway on Santa Rita. I find their prices outrageously inflated, but I also find the employees are very courteous and helpful. I do agree with you that they need to do something about their shopping carts being dirty, however I have to admit it being difficult to keep up with dozens of carts when they have a Jamba Juice and a Starbucks inside. That invites consumption of beverages while shopping, and unfortunately most people’s mommy’s apparently never taught them to pick up after themselves.
Safeway’s main issue however, as far as I see it, is the lack of enforcement about people parking in the fire lane. With a parking lot where there’s never lack of spaces, I find it outrageous how many lazy people think it is OK to break the law and park in the red zone, just because someone is sitting at the wheel while another person is just going quickly for an item, or go to the ATM, or go get ripped off at Starbucks.
Not only this is a huge liability for Safeway, but it is illegal and it shows lack of respect for other drivers as it blocks the flow of traffic, as it makes the main through way in front of the building a one lane instead of two.
The management at Safeway should really look into this abuse.
Wow Occasional Safeway Shopper —
Do you think you can be anymore negative????
Also, Safeway has no control who parks in the “Fire Zone.” If people are lazy ( as you say ) Safeway has no control over that either.
You might want to get your facts straight before accusing and blaming someone.
The reason why the Council axed the Safeway gas station is that Danville Petroleum – owners of the Chevron station across the street – has contributed thousands to the campaign coffers of Hosterman, Cook-Kallio, and Torne over the years. These legalized bribes determine public policy in Pleasanton – and everywhere else, for that matter. Check the 460’s.
Danvile Petroleum,
You are 100% correct. The Three Stooges’ (Hosterman, Cook-Kallio, Thorne)agenda is almost entirely determined by payola and campaign contributions. It’s just a crying shame that Pleasanton voters keep these Stooges in office.
Since that gas station has been converted to a Chevron, they added about a 4 cent incerement to the gas prices compared to when it was a Shell. And, since the Pleasanton government limits the number of gas stations in Pleasanton, the prices here are close to the highest in the state.
Voters need to wise up and vote The Three Stooges out. Better yet, they should be recalled.
“We are back,” emphasized [Mayor Hosterman].
The Hippie Mayor is crowing like she had something to do with any economic progress in Pleasanton. If you believe that, I have some prime beachfront property in Kansas to sell you. Mayor Hosterman is a twit.
Sue,
Saying the employees are pleasant and helpful doesn’t sound negative to me. I also forgot to mention that they always have plenty of checkout lanes open. Try and go to Lucky and compare.
Their price are, however, very inflated. Other than their weekly specials, paying what they call their regular prices is absurd.
As far as people parking in the red zone, are you saying Safeway has no control over it? It’s THEIR property and it isn’t public space. There are laws and ordinances for a reason. Why would people break the law when it is clearly marked “FIRE LANE – DO NOT PARK AT ANY TIME”? Either people are lazy or they don’t think the law applies to them, just the “others”.
Sue, you sound like you’re one of those people who park in the fire lane to go get one of those $4 bad cup of Starbucks coffee.
Love Safeway and can’t wait for this store to open. All grocery retail prices are high (learn to shop specials), every store’s carts are dirty and every store has clerks that have bad days. Really can’t blame them given they have to deal with the public all day. I actually think Safeway clerks are very helpful. Same for Raleys.
Red zones-it’s a problem all over town. Schools are the worst. Self absorbed people thinking the laws don’t apply to them. So much for this great character of ours.
Huge disappointment on the gas station. Hosterman’s position is that she didn’t want the tanks to leak into the water table. Apparently only Shell/Chevron’s tanks across the street can do that.
… and we should start counting the days until Safeway closes the store on Santa Rita. It’s bound to happen, because that is two SW stores too close together, and we can only hope that something like Whole Foods opens in its place.
I stopped shopping at Safeway, even though it is the closest market to my house. For the products I prefer to purchase, even Whole Foods has proven less expensive. That and Trader Joes and I’m covered. The clerks at the Safeway are actually very nice. The fact that Safeway has implemented the self-checkout aisles has permitted them to reduce the number of clerks (and open aisles). The clerks are not very happy about this, but it is part and parcel of Safeway’s corporate approach. I can’t bring my business to a store that behaves that way. On the other hand, at least Safeway is a union shop, while Whole Foods is not…
Anyway, I predict the Santa Rita store will close shortly after the “lifestyle” store (and what an obnoxious name that is) opens on Bernal…
Nah, I’ll still shop at Raley’s. This is the business that could be affected, but I’m loyal to Raley’s and Gene’s. I don’t mind paying a little more for quality produce and meats. What you’ll see at “lifestyle” is the same ‘ol overpriced Safeway brand crap in some ‘green’ packaging. Boo Safeway! It should have been a TJ’s or Whole Foods. But money talks in this town.
The best I remember the gas station was removed by Safeway prior to the project being presented to the City Council.
I see traffic backing up from the 680 interchange as a problem…that is going to be a very congested stop there…oh and summer and fair time!
I think Safeway will have a big parking lot so I don’t see the congestion being a problem. There will also be driveways off of Bernal and on Valley. I am loyal to Rayleys too but for convenience sake, I will probably shop at both. Raley’s has employed great people and their prices are reasonable as well.
Is someone having a dream that if we vote out “the three stooges” that the new stooges will not accept campaign contributions that will influence their decision making? How do we all enter this dream world?
The Safeway carts are deeply grimy. Like years and years of embedded grime. The newer black carts are left out to graze in the parking lot cart-corrals all day. Employees never bring them back in because they don’t fit in the cart train. I’m happy for the carts that they get to be out in the sun all day, but finding a grimy cart with wheels that work, that doesn’t have garbage in it and that’s not stuck inside another cart is a challenge.
What’s fun is how Safeway separates things so you have to search all over for them. Like, the taco seasoning isn’t next to the other taco stuff, plastic garbage bags aren’t next to other types of plastic bags…it’s always fun to search! They think they’re making you buy other things while you’re search, but they’re really making you go to Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods just to spite them (and realize they have better food!)
I will stick with Raley’s, thank you. Excellent service, good prices, cheerful and personable staff and very clean carts.
And they have a program just like SW where they contribute back a percentage of sales to the schools here in town, which is very important to me.
Safeway is a great deal if you have the discipline to stick to the specials. TJ’s for everything else : ).
Meanwhile, when will they get someone (a small version of TJ or Whole Food or fresh and easy or whatever) into the big space at the Vintage Hills shopping center? I would love to see that filled before they build a new store from scratch.
What does Mrs. Hosterman have against Whole Foods? This isn’t a political campaign. There are other areas of Pleasanton that would like to have stores closer to their homes. Why alienate a good quality store?
I wanted to express my frustration at not having a gas station included in the development. I see others have already brought this up. We have no discount gas stations in town. None. Why would that be? I wonder besides me how many people make a point of buying gas at Costco or Dublin Safeway. There is something going on and it is not good. Safeway wanted the gas station but pulled it from their plans when Bernal Corners opposition was supported by planners and City Council. Now Bernal Corners has been sold to Chevron. I would like to see if there were new commitments made to protect against competition. I don’t understand it but am outraged at what appears to be cronyism or worse. I suggest City leadership owes a complete accounting as to why the gas station was denied.
The other day I saw this person park in the Fire Lane and go inside, come out with a cup of coffee, wearing a jogging suit…
…so much for exercising…
Safeway is okay in a pinch – the store is hard to move through and I hate the stupid club card. Gene’s is wonderful for friendly staff and quality meats. Raley’s rocks – great selection of healthy foods, isles are not pack with displays that make it hard to shop, and NO CLUB CARD. They even empty your basket for you. Love the customer service there. I go out of my way to shop there. Have not tried Lucky’s yet, but I am looking forward to the new Safeway, if it lives up to the “Whole Foods” competitor hype. I do not care for the Whole Foods in San Ramon. I am used to a Whole Foods that is much larger, easy to negotiate the isles, and has a much better selection of foods.
I could care less about the fire lane parkers at Safeway, but I do take offense at the shoppers who light up a cigarette as soon as they exit. Ug.
I May live just a couple of blocks from the new Safeway, however I will continue shopping at Raley’s.
Construction was recently halted. Does anyone know when construction will continue?
I’m thrilled and all the people coming home from work on 680 South into Pleasanton should be too. What an easy stop for me. I think it will hurt Raley’s. I can’t wait.
I didn’t realize this place was so big until I saw it under construction. It is an eyesore. I probably won’t shop there. I can stand huge stores like Walmart. I don’t need to save a few cents on stuff I don’t need anyway.
Why all the fuss about a gas station? Are you kidding? 4 cents a gallon difference is 48 cents a tank for my car. I won’t cross the street to save that. If you people can’t afford the gas get a smaller car or ride a bike, walk, whatever.
Safeway was a poor choice. Their lack of organic foods offer no other market in Pleasanton. For families, like ours, who are deeply committed to eating organic only and avoiding cancer causing pesticides and GMOs, there really isn’t anywhere to shop except Whole Foods, and that means driving on the freeway. Pleasanton is far behind.