It is with heavy heart and a great degree of sadness that I have to share the news that the local Safeway store will be closing in approximately two weeks, as its parent company Albertsons has given up its Florida locations to the ubiquitous Publix.
Safeway has been this family's grocery store of choice since it rebranded itself as a Safeway a back in early 2016. When we moved here in *2014*, we did visit when it was an actual Albertsons, seeing as how we were well familiar with the Jewel brand having arrived here from Chitown. What sealed the deal for us though, was not the Chicago connection but the fact that this Safeway carried products found in central PA -- from whence me and mine originally came.
Turkey Hill lemonade and tea (and ice cream -- although never the peanut butter/vanilla ice cream we craved) ... Lebanon bologna (from Seltzer's itself and not some Dietz and Watson imitation, as the Winn Dixie has been known to carry) ... Utz potato chips ... and even Gazebo Room dressing ... ALL were available here. And ALL are likely to not be carried by the replacement store. (Rumor has it that the location will become an organic Publix store -- especially seeing as how there is already a full blown Publix right across the street ... although speaking of rumor, it ALSO has been said that they are not being that nice to the employees who woke up one day with an employment expiration date of their own.)
As such, we did what we had to do ... we stocked up on $25 worth of authentic Lebanon Bologna and extra bottles of Turkey Hill tea (that's why God made freezers). If you're wondering, there are already a half dozen bottles of Gazebo Room in the cabinet ... and there will be another trip one last time to "Utz up" the pantry.
The place where we've been walking around the last few weeks trying to process our sorrow, you (and the central PA things to which we had access) will most definitely be missed.
OH SAFEWAY MY SAFEWAY, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?:
https://therealdeal.com/miami/2018/06/30/publix-acquires-the-last-3-safeway-supermarkets-in-florida/
THOSE POOR EMPLOYEES AREN'T GETTING MUCH HELP (ALLEGEDLY):
https://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2018/07/16/oakland-park-grocery-store-to-shutter-lay-off-152.html
THIS WILL SOON TAKE ITS PLACE (ALLEGEDLY):
https://greenwisemarket.com/
