Asparagus! 2261

"Gregory Morrow"

I have shopped in the Safeway you mention if I'm in the neighborhood and happen to think of something I need. But not very often. That store is incredibly small by today's standards. But I guess for those in the immediate neighborhood, it's a convenience that's nice to have. There is a big Whole Foods market that opened a couple of years ago a few blocks east on P St. between 14th and 15th, so there are more options now.

My Safeway is the one in Southwest, at 4th & M. It's considerably bigger than the Soviet Safeway, but much smaller than the typical suburban supermarkets built recently. Soon it will be the ONLY open business in the office-shopping complex it resides in. The office portion closed several years ago, and most of the stores have vacated since. It's a wasteland right now. Such is urban redevelopment. This complex was the headquarters of EPA, but they moved out. The redevelopment was to begin when they got a letter of intent for their new lead tenant's headquarters, Fannie Mae. But then the Fannie Mae financial scandal broke and they backed out. So the complex sits, mostly empty, awaiting the wrecking ball.

Things are looking up though. DC is booming, and this part of the city was recently "discovered". The new baseball stadium for the Washington Nationals is really going to happen now, ground breaking just a few weeks away. The new stadium site is about 5 blocks east of this moribund office-shopping complex.

Speaking of Safeway owning other chains, they used to own a Safeway chain in the UK from the 1960s to the 1980s, but sold it after emerging from a leveraged buyout. I did a quick look and saw Safeway UK doesn't exist anymore... it's been bought by Morrisons a couple of years ago and renamed.

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