I don’t know what it’s like in other parts of the country, but here in Washington you either shop at Safeway or Giant. My family is a staunch Giant family. The battle between these two supermarkets is akin to the Kirk vs. Picard fight or the Mac vs. PC war.
Today I stopped on the way home to pick up a simple packet of McCormick Beef Stroganoff mix. Safeway was right there on the way, so I stopped in – the first time I’d been in a Safeway in years. Right off the bat, I was assaulted with a horrible smell in the place – do they ever clean it? When I finally found the right aisle, they didn’t have the McCormick mix. I got the Safeway brand.
Another shocker: Safeway, one of the largest grocery chains in America, does not accept American Express. And on top of all that, the employees at Safeway are surly, mean, grouchy, disheveled, and just no darn good at customer service.
Despite the rising prices, I’ll be back at my clean, well-stocked, and friendly Giant Food. Also, because the Safeway stroganoff mix was really bad.
Across the street from my condo are both a tiny Giant (and a separate Giant drugstore) and a tiny Safeway. Neither of them, unfortunately, are well-stocked, but they are close. The Safeway is a half-block closer, yet I’ve found that my other friends in my building and I seem to share distaste for the Safeway, too, and prefer the Giant.
In the past, we’ve heard some homophobic comments from the employees there. And 9 times out of 10, on the occasions I have stopped in there anyway, they’ve rung up something incorrectly; I have to carefully watch the display. And the last time this happened, the manager argued with me about whether I should get the difference refunded from what the computer rang up and what the sign showed as the price, even when I walked her over to the location where the sign was posted. She then sighed loudly the entire time she counted out the amount to return to me.