A Safeway to shop (Safeway)

Member Name: cmh4135

Product:	Safeway
Date:	31/12/01 (201 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: excellent quality produce

Disadvantages: can be a little more expensive, the self scanning needs to be improved!

Safeway supermarkets seem to be trying to brighten up their image and project themselves back onto the stage as serious players in the supermarket game. Once the bastion of all that was bad with cheap and cheerful inner-city supermarkets now Safeway is presenting a more upmarket image.

I have a Safeway store close to where I work (Barbican) and a new store has opened up where I live in Woking.

Safeway's have ditched their loyalty card scheme (that went a year or so ago) ABC Card in favour of store-wide discounts that everyone is entitled to. Along with this they have created for themselves a new, bright and exciting image. Fresh fruit and veg are presented in lit barrow-type displays, butchers counters and deli-counters have been introduced along with expanded bakeries. New take-away style food counters have been added selling pre-cooked chicken, ham and ribs, pizzas and oriental food. The store in Barbican even has a sandwich counter where you can have your sandwiches made to order. The atmosphere is now not at all down at heal and is instead much more pleasant. There is a quality feel to the stores.

Floor space in the stores is often limited (Barbican was never very big and the new Woking store is far from huge) and as a result available products are often limited. Shelves are not stacked with row upon row of the same product, instead there is a little of everything. Safeway have developed a system whereby if a product has truly run out they will add a dot to the bar code on the shelf, thus, if a product is not on display and there is no dot on the barcode, chances are they will have some "out the back" and a member of staff will be more than happy to get it for you.

The Woking store filled an immediate need in the community. Whilst there is a branch of Sainsbury's in the town centre it is far from large and the large store is about 3 miles away. Tescos have a store about 6-7 miles away. The new Safeway, ci
ted just outside the town centre, had to break into the established market and it has accomplished this with ease.

The meat and fresh produce is far better that Sainsbury's. I have yet to have a "just OK" piece of meat, it has all been full of flavour and very fresh. Safeway also stock less "own-brand" products (although they do have a Savers range) and so you can often get some of the more obscure items here.

The pricing policy is what really makes the difference and is far better that Sainsbury's or Tesco's. Products are generally priced in line with competitors and are occasionally a penny or two more expensive. However, there are around 30 or so products that are on offer every week at heavily discounted prices. The discounted products are actually everyday items and not just the luxury stuff and so everyone benefits. The other week there was an offer on bananas at 39p/lb, eggs at 29p for 6 and Ski yoghurts at £1.50 off a 12 pack. For beer lovers a 24 pack of Peroni comes at £10 off, and wine at £1-2 discount. Fresh bread is often on buy one get one free and there are offers on frozen foods and cleaning products. Purchases are limited to three per customer but they do not stop you going with another family member and buying 6 or going back the next day!

Store-wide promotions are run every now and again, we had one on Italy where there were major discounts on all Italian products and over a Bank Holiday weekend there has been a major promotion on alcohol !!!! Christmas saw seasonal offers which were very good (again, particularly alcohol!).

This is also the place to come for petrol. The pump price is cheaper than any around and if you spend £40 in store you get a voucher for 5p off every litre of fuel valid for the next 7 days! Well worth it if you have a big tank.

The Woking branch also has a restaurant attached to it and unlike many supermarket cafes this actually feels like a re
staurant. There is even live music and outside garden seating!

As the Woking branch was new and they wanted to attract custom there were a number of opening offers that were well worth it. Free meals in the restaurant (we had dinner one Friday night, three courses for two people and it cost us £2.00 (the price of the drinks!) instead of the bill price of £30). Bottles of wine, cases of cola (cans) and chocolates were all given away free with spends of £30 in the store.

Customer service in second to none and if there is a price query (which has happened to me twice) I just got the item for free! On one occasion at the beginning there was a promotion on pre-cooked chicken which meant that it was cheaper than the uncooked version. Only problem was they ran out of whole chickens so suggested that I have some chicken pieces instead for the same price. When I got to the till I presented the voucher but noticed that I was charged the full price for the chicken less the discount on the voucher. When I queried this I was told that the counter had made a mistake and that they were not authorised to do this. I said that I did not want the chicken in that case and the manager authorised the voucher anyway so I got £2.50 off the bill. On my way out of the store the manager came running after me and gave me the chicken that I hadn't bought by way of apology. I got a free dinner and money off my shopping! Bargain!

Every week we get a leaflet drop on a Tuesday telling us what products are on offer starting the next day (Wednesday) - this makes planning a shopping trip easy!

Safeway are introducing self-scanning policies in many of their stores. They will supply you with four plastic crates and a swipe card which you can use to collect a scanning gun from a rack by the doors. You then scan the barcodes on each of your products yourself and they don't have to unpack your shopping at the checkout. You just pay and go. The only except
ion to this is that you may be picked for a random rescan by the checkout staff (it is the computer that choses you rather than the staff member) in which case you do have to unpack all your shopping and have it scanned in the conventional way. The woking store have been running this scheme for about a month. There have been a lot of teething problems and it is no where near as reliable as the Sainsbury's version. The scanners seem wont to break down or not scan certain products and the boxes that you are provided with are less sturdy than the Sainsbury's versions. Still, Safeways do seem to be checking things and actively trying to make improvements.

The only complaint I have with the store is that they do have a very poorly laid out car-park which is too small to navigate if cars are travelling in opposite directions. There is also a lack of trolley parks (although plenty of trolleys by the store). The packing area at the end of the checkouts is also a little too small.

…oh yes, and they NEVER have a large box of regular Tampax!

I have switched to Safeway's for all my shopping now. My bill is reduced and the produce is better. I just hope it stays that way!


UPDATED 030102

I thought that I'd update this opinion as I have just had a rather nasty experience. I went into Safeway today and when I tried to collect a scanner it told me to go to customer services. Turns out that I had been banned from using the Shop & Go system as faulty scanner used on my last shopping trip failed to pick up about half of my shopping. I had had my shopping reinstated on the broken scanner after it went blank on me but apparently it didn't work so technically I had to be banned. After a long discussion with the store manager I managed to get reinstated but now feel that I have to prove myself to the system that I am not a thief. Leaves a rather nasty taste in your mouth.


CLAIRE's BOTT
OM TEN TIPS for grocery shopping


1 - Make a list of what you want and stick to it, deviating only if you see something very good, or they are out of what you want - it will prevent your bill from escalating.

2 - Use your freezer, it is often cheaper to buy fresh produce in larger quantities which can then be spilt and frozen.

3 - Make the most of special offers, if your regular washing powder is on offer it won't go off so bulk buy.

4 - Select produce with the latest sell/use by date it will be fresher.

5 - Think what you are going to do with a product, if you want a beef stew no need to buy rump steak but if you want a steak don't get stewing steak.

6 - Load the conveyor belt carefully so that you can easily separate your shopping.

7 - Pack heavy items first to prevent damage.

8 - Look out for money off coupons in papers and magazines and do fill in those shopper surveys as you will often be sent coupons as a thank-you.

9 - Select frozen produce last and consider taking a cool bag to stop it melting.

10 - Please be considerate - if you don't need them don't park in the disabled or child-friendly spaces, don't block the aisles with your trolley and don't barge….there's no food crisis yet!

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