Many Safeway supermarkets used to be shaped like this in the 1960s.
The iconic west Albany building constructed in 1966 as a Safeway store now has a new use. On a bike ride a couple of evenings ago I stopped there to take a look inside.
As I reported in February, the building was leased by a nonprofit ministry, Adult and Teen Challenge Pacwest, in order to move its “Superthrift” second-hand store there from Second Avenue.
The move has been completed, and the store opened last month.
This architectural style of the building became typical of Safeway stores in the 1960s. It was known as the “Marina” style after a store of this type opened in the Marina District of San Francisco in 1959.
A website on Safeway architecture through the years describes the style: “Far removed from the shoebox-like buildings that had defined supermarkets to that time, this new store was an aesthetic marvel: A curved roof with wings on either end, arching gracefully over a glass facade. The aesthetics carried over to the interior, where the soaring roofline was repeated in an arched ceiling supported on laminated beams.”
Before Safeway closed the west Albany store in 1999, I would often stop there before work in the mornings to snag one or two of their bakery’s tasty baguettes.
I had not been in the building since it was a dollar store some years later, so I was glad to find it open just before 7 the other night for a quick look around inside.
As I think the photos show, and you’ll find if you visit the place, the store has a great variety of pretty useful stuff. Though not, of course, baguettes. (hh)
The soaring roof is supported by laminated beams.
The store features a great variety of clothing and household goods.
Words on the wall explain the operation’s reason for being.
As I have said before, I chose to remain mad at Safeway for moving to 14th Street near the mall. Safeway helped downgrade Albany by having all the grocery stores in the vicinity of Fred Meyer. North Albany’s grocery store doesn’t fit into the mix because no one in Albany proper wants to deal with the bridge traffic to go there and pay higher prices to boot. (Thanks for the history lesson on the style of the building!)
Teen Challenge has done a great job. The store looks nice and clean. We were looking for two smaller TVs (24 inch for outside deck and den) and found them for a total of $43. They’re Samsung and Sylvania and both work excellent! We’ll be back! And thanks for the history lesson, Hasso!
Having lived in southwest Albany most of my childhood, that was OUR store. We shopped at the Pacific Blvd store weekly (had shopped exclusively at Cecil’s Market before the Safeway) and loved its size and variety. It was enormous for its time (my first experience with automatic doors) and very stylish. I even remember a small carnival in the Safeway parking lot every year, I think it was in the spring. But time moves on and most things change, even grocery stores.
I remember when that store was built (and the one that was there before). In the days when we had only 1 car, it was on the way to Dad’s work. If Mom needed the car for the day, we took Dad to work and sometimes stopped there. If I recall correctly, the Spudnut Shop was in a separate little strip there—that was a real treat.
I’m glad to see they’ve found another use for the building.