‘Shopping – Race to the Checkout’
courtesy of ‘David Blackwell.’
Great googlie mooglie! With all the interwebz chatter about the grand reopening of the Social Safeway at 1855 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, one would think this was the greatest development in DC since sliced bread, and as one of those local residents, who has been supermarket less for almost a year, and therefore semi-breadless, it is indeed a long awaited event! And no, Whole Paycheck (aka Whole Foods) does not count as a supermarket, even though I do love their produce and two-for-one pizza Tuesdays.
This Safeway is going to be, quite frankly, TheBomb.com. Not only will it be Safeway’s most state-of-the-art, greenest, opened 24 hours, full-service grocery store to date, but it will also feature: a wine cellar complete with a wine steward, a specialty cheese department with certain varieties flown in fresh daily from Europe; a sit-down sushi bar; brick-oven pizza; Italian-style gelato bar; an upgraded Starbucks coffee bar; indoor/outdoor seating area featuring a fireplace, HD televisions, complimentary WiFi, and open balcony overlooking Wisconsin Avenue; a SunTrust Bank; a Bergmann’s Dry Cleaners; and wait for it……..A NUTBAR!!!!! offering a wide selection of warm, ready-to-eat nuts that can be flavored or ground on site to create spreads and butter. OMG!!!!
Social Safeway 2.0 is set to open its brand spanking new, glorious, long awaited doors May 6th. From the looks of the construction site’s live webcams, there’s a fair amount of fixing up to do in the next month and a half month. Giddy up Safeway! Giddy Up!
A born and bred New Yorker, Rebecca made the big trip “down south” to DC in 2006 and hasn’t looked back. She spends her days strategizing/planning/ideating how interactive products can help her clients and change the world. In her free time, she explores DC’s ever expanding bar, restaurant and small business scene, plays a crap ton of soccer, attends concerts that contribute to her sleep deprivation and embarks on local adventures. Read why Rebecca loves DC or follow her on twitter.
Can’t. Come. Soon. Enough.
Yay for the new Social Safeway!
Um,yeah, I’m pretty damn excited about this. I work very near there and my lunch hours shall be full o’Social Safeway exploration! NUTBAR!!!!
Having experienced the first year of the Sexy Safeway in Chinatown, the NUTBAR is actually pretty lackluster. At Whole Foods they trust you enough to bag your own loose goods, nuts included. Unless there’s an attendant at the nut bar (never when I’m there), you can’t get your nuts and you can’t grind your own nut butter. The one awesome thing is the stuff they grid and set in the fridge so you don’t have to wait for them to do it for you. Even more awesome is the peanuts with a few chocolate chips thrown in, so you can make your own chocolate peanut butter!
This is obviously great news to really, really lonely people. Having this intimate of a relationship with a grocery store is just sad.
@Avi it’s not just a grocery store, it’s a world of excitement.
Does anyone else know how this can be the “greenest” Safeway when they are flying in cheese everyday from Europe? I know most food in the grocery store travels a long way to get there (on average 1,500 miles) but this seems excessive. Plus, Ryan is right about the nutbar in Chinatown. It’s pretty much a waste of space. But I’m glad you don’t have to go breadless anymore!
yessssssssss!
@Avi – You wouldn’t understand. You probably never shopped there. That’s fine. But the accessibility that this Safeway will offer to people, is something exciting, and a thankfully, a return to normalcy.
Now, I go back to being sad and lonely.