“Man oh man, I’m sure glad that we have a Safeway Club Member loyalty card!” writes reader Richard. Even if you have a card, dearest readers, you’re going to miss out: the sale ended on Saturday. [More]
Colorado Dad Goes Out For Ice Cream, Thwarts Robbery
By May 21, 2013
Staying with her dad for the weekend, a Colorado girl wondered why it took so long for her dad to run to Safeway for some ice cream. When he got back, she asked him what the delay was all about. “I had to break up a robbery,” he said. Yeah, right. But unlike when your dad kids about being a superhero, it was true! [More]
Hey, Look, Basic Math Can Be Really Useful!
By April 10, 2013
The retail environment takes a huge toll on people who can’t do math. Sort of. This Safeway display is fairly typical: identically-sized packages of the anti-histimine loratadine (generic Claritin) sit side by side, with one price a little higher than the other. Look more closely: those boxes are the same size because the pills are impossibly tiny. One bottle offers more than twice as many as the other. [More]
Safeway Doesn’t Want You Photographing Their Terrible Cakes For That Blog About Terrible Cakes
By November 13, 2012
When a store bans customers from snapping photos for online derision, we can’t help but take it personally. That would pretty much put us out of business. Cake Wrecks is a blog that’s in the business of mocking photos of terrible, terrible decorated cakes designed and executed by purported professional bakers. You know, like an Easter bunny with its tail shoved in its mouth for no clear reason. [More]
Report: Safeway Overcharging Even After Court Order
By November 2, 2012
Supermarket chain Safeway and its Vons stores have been sued twice in the last decade by the state of California for overcharging customers. Yet, in spite of a court order that penalizes the stores each time it’s caught overcharging, a new report says that customers say it’s still going on. [More]
Is Customized Supermarket Pricing Gleaned From Loyalty Cards Creepy Or A Good Thing?
By August 10, 2012
Whether you’re one of those shoppers with way too many grocery store loyalty cards or just a few, swiping those at checkouts could be doing far more than just giving you a few cents off your favorite cereal. Stores like Safeway and Kroger are building up their research on how their customers shop, developing customized pricing on the things you like the most. So is that a creepy invasion of privacy or worth it if you save money? [More]
Safeway Says This Tiny Pile Of Sad Chicken Covered In Gloop Is Supposed To Be A Gourmet Meal
By August 1, 2012
We aren’t sure in what world a paltry pile of pale chicken covered in some kind of gelatinous gloop accompanied by a whole lot of rice with bits vaguely resembling vegetables could be considered part of any “Gourmet Club.” But Safeway said its “Safeway Select” branded Orange Chicken meal is fine frozen dining and showed a lovely picture on the package to that effect. Consumerist reader Doug in Seattle sent in evidence to the contrary after he purchased the family pack meal. [More]
The Safeway Hot 100: No Refund Until You’re Proven Innocent
By July 2, 2012
Michael’s fiancée sent him to the grocery store late one night. He came home with the wrong moisturizing cream, which happens all too often during shopping expeditions based on someone else’s instructions. No big deal. They just brought it back to Safeway the next time they visited the store. He paid cash, but it was still all sealed up and had a Safeway sticker on it. Only the cream’s price tag and popularity with shoplifters meant that the store’s Loss Prevention staff would need to review surveillance tapes to make sure that Michael hadn’t stolen the item. [More]
Safeway Reinstates Employee Who Stopped Man From Beating Up Pregnant Girlfriend
By May 23, 2012
Last week we told you about the California Safeway employee who had been suspended after intervening in a fight between a man and his pregnant girlfriend. Now there’s some good news to report, as the grocery store chain has given the employee his job back, along with pay for the weeks during which he was suspended. [More]
Safeway Suspends Employee After He Stopped A Man From Hitting Pregnant Girlfriend
By May 16, 2012
We’ve gotten multiple tips from readers expressing disgust at Safeway, after an employee in California was suspended without pay for intervening in a domestic assault situation inside the store. The police called the worker a hero for stopping a man from hitting his pregnant girlfriend. [More]
Safeway's New 'Easy Scoop' Ice Cream Easier To Scoop Because There's Less Of It
By May 14, 2012
Safeway’s Lucerne house brand ice creams have been repackaged, and now come in a round container branded the “Easy-Scoop Package.” That’s a nice redesign, and round containers are easier to scoop from. Only, as reader Ryan points out, maybe the ice cream is easier to scoop now because there’s now a half-quart less of it. [More]
Safeway Says It Is Moving Toward Crate-Free Pork Suppliers
By May 8, 2012
Safeway is joining the ranks of other food providers, announcing that it plans to stop using any pork suppliers that put pregnant sows in cages as part of the production process. Animal rights groups call caging or crating pigs inhumane. [More]
There Are Now 900,000 Fewer Pounds Of "Pink Slime" Being Produced Each Day
By March 26, 2012
With several supermarket chains — including Kroger and Safeway — opting to stop selling ground beef that contains “lean, finely textured beef,” the ammonia-treated filler affectionately known as “pink slime,” the company that pumps out the stuff has had to suspend production at three of its four slime-making facilities. [More]
Safeway To Stop Selling Ground Beef That Contains "Pink Slime"
By March 21, 2012
It’s been a bad year for “lean finely textured beef,” better known by the less-tasty moniker “pink slime.” The ammonia-treated beef trimmings that have been used as ground beef filler for decades is quickly becoming a pariah at U.S. grocery stores like Safeway, which has announced it will no longer sell the stuff. [More]
Safeway Security Guard Bans 4-Year-Old From Store For Eating Dried Apricots
By November 28, 2011
Three decades later, I still have a very vivid memory of the day I learned about shoplifting. My mom was in the checkout line at Acme and I was eye-level with the candy rack and oh man did that Rolo look tasty. So I took it, because that’s what I thought you did. I was wrong and was told so by my horrified mother when I offered her some chocolate a few minutes later. She took me back in, paid for the Rolo and explained to me about shoplifting. I’m just lucky I didn’t pilfer that treat from the Safeway in Everett, Washington. [More]
Child Seized After Fainting Mother Forgot To Pay For Sandwich
By October 31, 2011
A Hawaii couple was tossed in jail and their child taken by protective services for 18 hours after the mother forgot to pay for her sandwich at Safeway. [More]
Safeway Catches Alleged Shoplifters With Tracking Device On Getaway Van
By February 22, 2011
Management of a Portland, Ore. Safeway was sick of getting ripped off by the same couple over and over again, so its security staff placed a tracking device on the van driven by the alleged shoplifters. Now the couple, accused of swiping more than $5 million worth of goods from the Safeway over several years, is in custody. [More]
Safeway Pharmacist Accidentally Gives Abortion-Inducing Drug To Pregnant Woman
By February 8, 2011
If you never thought to double check that bottle you pick up from the prescription counter, here’s a story that will probably stick in your head the next time you’re getting a ‘scrip filled. [More]
