Retailer Update - Safeway on Bernal Ave.

New Safeway store on Bernal Avenue in Pleasanton

When I read an article years ago that Safeway was to open a new "pilot store" called Safeway Lifestyle with an emphasis on organic and other specialty items (such as gluten free), I was ecstatic. Besides the fact that this store is seven minutes from my house, I was excited about the prospect of doing all my shopping under one roof. If you're a GFCF eater, you know that shopping at one store would be pure luxury. Having gluten and non-gluten eaters in my house, I have to hit at least five to six stores to get all my shopping done. I read that this Safeway store was intended to be "direct competition" to Whole Foods Market which is why I decided to brave the crowds and go to the grand opening party last night.

Safeway's red carpet entrance for the grand opening

Well, I have to say that Safeway knows how to give a "grand opening." They literally had a red carpet at the entrance and gave away goody bags filled with free product. The store was filled with food samples including wine. A pretty decent band kept every one's spirits high while shopping and singing along. The store was a "mad house." Being that I don't like crowds, I was eager to get out of there but did manage to scope out the GFCF and organic items.

I do have to admit that this store does have the widest array of GFCF and organic products that I have seen in a Safeway store. They actually had a "gluten free" section carrying products such as Ancient Grains, Glutino, Pamela's, Bob's Red Mill, Enjoy Life, Bakery on Main, Gluten Free Cafe, Glutenfreeda, King Arthur GF Flours, Schar products (harder to find), DeBoles, Arrowhead Mills and a few others. Most of the GF dry items were in the area below although some are distributed throughout the stores such as the San-J GF tamari sauce that stood next to the soy sauces in the ethnic food section.

Safeway's gluten free dry food section

The gluten free frozen items such as Udi's, Rudy's, Glutino and Food for Life were in the same section as featured in other Safeway stores (near the frozen vegetables). For some reason, Safeway separates the French Meadows line of GF frozen foods and places those items in a freezer near the bakery. It is the most complete line of French Meadows products that I have seen in one store. I love their frozen cookie dough product. It comes in really handy when my older kids bake cookies from the Pillsbury pre-made dough. We can throw a couple of the French Meadow cookies in the oven for Sam and he's happy.

French Meadows GF Frozen Foods near the Bakery Department

The organic produce section was larger than most other Safeway stores although it cannot hold a candle to Whole Foods Market.

Safeway's Organic Produce Section

The organic produce prices were higher than Whole Foods Market but then again Safeway can run some really good sales. I found organic raspberries and strawberries for $2.50 a carton and they were in pretty good shape for out of season fruit. I also found a nice big bag of organic lemons which can be hard to find at times. The price was high though at $5.49 a bag.

I also noted that they carry many refrigerated non-dairy milk options including a Safeway brand coconut milk.

Safeway Brand Coconut Milk in the refrigerator section

Safeway's selection of refrigerated soy and almond milks

The store is very nice and larger than most. It has a Starbuck's coffee shop where we ordered a non-dairy (soy) kid's hot chocolate (no whipped cream). I forgot to ask if the chocolate they use has dairy in it (which I will do next time). It did not cramp our stomachs so that's a good sign. I love the fact that they serve the kid's hot chocolate at the perfect temperature for a child to drink. It must have been a parent that came up with this idea.

Although a nice store (and close to my house), this store will not take too much of my Whole Foods Market grocery money. Sprout's Farmer's Market in Dublin did a better job with that! It will be nice to have a Safeway a couple minutes closer and have a few more GFCF, organic options. I understand they will have fuel at some point in the near future and I've also heard that Chipotle is considering opening a restaurant in the shopping plaza. I can only hope for a Mariposa Bakery shop. Now that would be nice!

NOTE: Sorry for the lousy photos. I only had my camera phone and it was so crowded, I kept getting pushed around when I was trying to take photos.