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Safeway, former ABCO, at 7th St. and Thunderbird in Phoenix

Posted: 23 Mar 2013 13:15
by TonyG
This store has to be one of the most unique Safeway locations in the state of Arizona. Unlike the other former ABCO Desert Market locations that Safeway purchased in 2001, this store looks like it was a late 1970s / early 1980s build (as opposed to the other ABCO Desert Markets which were all 1990s or 2000 builds).

It appears that when Safeway bought this store, they decided to renovate it on the cheap. The interior walls appear to be adorned with Safeway's early 2000s decor package (with a similar color palate to the lifestyle stores but has several of the pre-2005 logos on it and department signage similar to: http://groceteria.com/forboard/sw-fresh.jpg), but other than the interior walls and the overhead signage over the aisles (which are actually is the same as the signage in the lifestyle stores like: ), this store looks stuck in the late 1970s / early 1980s with very old flooring, very old freezer / refrigerated units (only 1 aisle has newer units), very old fluorescent lighting, a pharmacy that is in the left rear corner of the store, and very old and worn shelving units. I'm not convinced that this store was ever renovated while it was an ABCO.

So, any history buffs out there. What is the history of this store? Is it a former Lucky or something else?

What's also interesting is that it is within 2 miles of "lifestyle" legacy Safeways (7th St. and Bell Rd and 32nd St. and Thunderbird) and there was an older Safeway about 2 miles away at 19th Ave. and Thunderbird that closed in 2005 (potentially Safeway bought this store and opened it in 2001/2002 as a replacement for that store).

Here's a photo I found online of the exterior: http://www.loopnet.com/xnet/mainsite/Ht ... inal=False

Re: Safeway, former ABCO, at 7th St. and Thunderbird in Phoe

Posted: 24 Mar 2013 18:47
by tbmjdf
It was originally an Alpha Beta store when it opened around 1976.

Re: Safeway, former ABCO, at 7th St. and Thunderbird in Phoe

Posted: 30 Mar 2014 16:12
by Logan13az
Over on 7th Ave and Missouri, there's a Basha's that's identical to this Safeway. I found out that both stores were formerly Abco's, the exeption being that the Basha's was recently remodeled.

Re: Safeway, former ABCO, at 7th St. and Thunderbird in Phoe

Posted: 12 Jan 2015 01:00
by bigbubby
I wondered what the story was with that Safeway. It seemed like a Safeway that time forgot. It still looks like that now, I was there last week.

Re: Safeway, former ABCO, at 7th St. and Thunderbird in Phoe

Posted: 23 Oct 2015 19:08
by pseudo3d
Heard this store was being remodeled (the facade is already torn out, I believe) but I'm not sure if it will be remodeled to the Lifestyle template (ugly AND already pretty dated) or a variant of the new Albertsons décor. Would be interested seeing a Safeway look like an Albertsons inside. Man, we have ACME stores that look like A&P, Safeway stores looking like Albertsons, world's gone mad...