A new Safeway grocery store opened this past week at 1800 Rockville Pike across the street from the Twinbrook Metro and part of the Galvan at Twinbrook Apartments. It will soon be joined by Smashburger, Shobha (hair salon), Floyd’s 99 Barbershop, Dunkin Donuts, Pie 360 (pizza), Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop, and Ethan Allen. The new Safeway enriches a corridor of grocery stores within a half-mile of each other, including Fresh Market, Trader Joe’s, Target, Giant, and My Organic Market (MOM).
On-street parking is limited and metered (free on weekends) so most people will prefer parking in the underground garage via Bouic Avenue, where the first two hours are free (this location is adjacent to Metro, so nearby parking is always restrictive). There’s another entrance for underground parking on Chapman, but that’s for the apartment residents.
There’s usually not much to say about the opening of a new Safeway store because they’re so common across America with the usual produce, meat, seafood, bakery, deli, pharmacy, florist, salad bar, sushi, and Starbucks but this one has a few differences that might interest you:
- open 24-hours every day. Security guards were posted at the entrance and in the garage this morning; not sure if this is temporary or permanent.
- a new layout with fresh produce along the entire front of the store. I understand they want to have the fresh stuff up front but it’s not an efficient circulation pattern for customers.
- special sections for Kosher, gluten-free, and organic foods. A Kosher Chocolate Factory will be at the store on Sunday, December 13 at 3:30 p.m., suggesting they may be offering special events throughout the year.
- bulk sale of nuts, seeds, grains, and more. Available loose so you can buy as much or little as you need.
- some aisles, particularly those with small items like medicines, have lighting on individual shelves to increase visibility.
- a room with tables and chairs near the entrance for customers to talk over coffee or use wifi. Not sure why it’s called the Hungerford Room–it’s no where near Hungerford. Halpine, Montrose, or Twinbrook would have been more appropriate.
- a Team Room selling shirts, mugs, and souvenirs from local professional sport teams.
- no beer or wine sales, due to the crazy restrictions of Montgomery County. You’ll have to go to Olney if you want to buy beer and wine in a Safeway.
It seems that the half of the employees have been re-assigned from other Safeway stores and the rest are new. And while this Safeway store has just opened, the store on Randolph Road and Parklawn recently closed and the one on Veirs Mill in Twinbrook will close soon.
For other related news, see:
- “Brand New Safeway Opened in Twinbrook” in Rockville View (December 9, 2015)
- “County’s Largest Safeway opens on Rockville Pike in Montgomery Community Media (December 9, 2015)
- “Safeway Plans to Open in December near Twinbrook Metro” in Bethesda Magazine (November 13, 2015)
- “Safeway-Anchored Project by Twinbrook Metro Ready for Ground-breaking” in Washington Business Journal (September 26, 2013)
Max for Rockville 