Disgusted at Safeway

[Anonymous]

I am really close to the Safeway in Adams Morgan but I still drive to the Harris Teeter because it's so much better. No expired food, more helpful staff, better selection of the foods I like, and the prices are just fine. Safeways all over seem to have poor service and low quality products. Even the social Safeway on Wisconsin has a pathetic fish counter compared to HT. I only buy prepared foods like Indian curry or frozen dinners at Trader Joe's; the produce is just awful.

Only three months until the neighborhood farmers' market opens back up....can't happen soon enough.

[Anonymous]

I've also given up the Adams Morgan Safeway in favor of Harris Teeter, though I've run in twice this past week to buy Children's Motrin and Tylenol because it's the closest source. Both times, the endless checkout lines helped me remember why I don't go there anymore under normal circumstances!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: The reason we have to endure crummy supermarkets (except for Whole Foods or Trader Joes) is that there is apparently some agreement with the workers' union and some of the other big food store chains that they won't open stores inside the beltway. So, no Wegman's, Food Lion, etc. I think there is a Harris Teeter in Columbia Heights--which is a wonderful chain, but too far for me.

Wouldn't that be racketeering? I highly doubt that the workers' union keeps the other chains out. Harris-Teeter is throughout the DC area (several inside the Beltway in VA), and it is not unionized.

The real reason we don't get a Wegmans has to do with economics. They need a very large area and real estate is pricier inside the Beltway (not to mention the lack of large swaths of land). Not easy to find that much space, and with grocery store margins as low as they are, well - it's a tricky proposition.

I'm not sure it would amount to racketeering, but I do believe it would run afoul of the antitrust laws....But, there is an agreement between at least one of the big food chains and the workers' union that the food chain will not open any stores in the District.

But you are absolutely correct about it an economic issue for some of the better chains to come into DC. I know that Harris Teeter has looked at other sites in DC but the space and development issues (we have lots of what I call NIMBY's here--not in my backyarders--who protest lots of urban improvement projects, such as the decrepit Giant in Cleveland Park).

[Anonymous]

King Farm Safeway in Rockville has same problems, OP. We have left things in the cart and just walked away due to long lines.

However, I have also found not so fresh food at Whole Foods (used to call it Not So Fresh Fields). Namely goat cheese that has an off taste...

[Anonymous]

We've had problems with Whole Foods too. Namely tortillas and bread loaves that got moldy a day or two after purchasing. Their bananas have also been crazy this year too - either very green or very ripe - nothing in-between.