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March 2024 by Christina G.
This has been our neighborhood grocery store for years. I can hardly go there anymore because it has become so inaccessible. I use a cane, and walking is painful. The store recently removed the perpendicular center aisle. I cannot walk the length of the store over and over to access grocery items in different places on different aisles. Today there was one out-of-service electric scooter and two already in use by other customers. The store was inaccessible to me. The list of items behind locked cabinets is ever growing: most OTC meds, soap, coffee. I understand it's about loss prevention but it's trading one loss of business for another. I would happily buy these items there if they weren't locked up. I will never, now that they're such a pain to access.
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March 2024 by P_ P.
I was skeptical about coming to this store because of the bad reviews. But this store was the only Safeway near the el Cerrito Bart station, so I had no choice. I came here for something to eat for lunch because I had a gift card. I walked in and seen one security card at the door and I expected him to say something about my backpack I was wearing because of the reviews but he didn't give me a hard time. I wanted a sandwich so I walked to the sandwich making station but a lady said they were closed, so I had to pick a pre made sandwich. I then went to get some chips, I couldn't find any small bags of chips so I asked this lady putting boxes away but she said she didn't work here. Which pissed me off just a little because she was obviously lying. But I eventually found the chips I wanted. I headed to check out but none of the lines were open, just the self checkout, which I had no problem with. Ambiance wise: The self checkout is kind of hidden because there are rows of snacks and drinks surrounding the area. Overall It's not that bad, it's just the employees come off as having an attitude like they don't want to be there.
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March 2024 by Arthur D.
As most of these reviews can attest, this store is garbage. Every year or two I stop going there for a few months because it is such a bad experience but I inevitably get pulled back in because it is so close to my house. The management needs to be replaced so those of us in the neighborhood have a functional grocery store. I won't bother going much into the insane security theater at this Safeway because so many others have already done so. If you're going to lock up half the store, you absolutely need to have sufficient staff to unlock it when people want to buy things. They do not. If anyone shows up at all when you ring the bell, it is after an excruciatingly long time and many audible requests over the PA. I suggest they train the multiple excessive security guards to do some of that work. The service desk is often unmanned and if you stand there for long enough, one of the checkout people has to leave their post to help you. Where is the manager? Who is running this store? Carts are a problem. During the pandemic, they stopped placing carts outside the door in the place they used to go. The manager and some employees claim they put carts out there, but I haven't seen any in YEARS. When I complained, they forced an employee to fish one out of the cart corral for me, but that is not acceptable. Employees (again, maybe a security guard) should be retrieving those regularly. Today I saw an employee roll probably a dozen carts right through the front of the store into the back somewhere. It took several minutes to get the security guard to let it slip that the carts were probably being used for Uber Eats. So that's where all the carts go! If that's what you want to do, fine, but the store needs to get more carts so its shoppers can use them to ... shop. And the manager needs to quit lying to the public about what they're doing with them. What the hell! I honestly don't shop for a lot of items, but they are consistently out of stock or more likely just unstocked. Gatorade is hit or miss and I might find distilled water once a month if I'm lucky. It may be that those items run out early in the day, but if that's the case, they need to be quickly restocked so you can sell more! That's literally the entire business model of a grocery store: stock items that sell well so they can be sold. Brownies also seem to run out every day while stale-looking cookies and mini cupcakes are always there in stacks. Again, if something is selling out, that means you should make more! I don't understand why this Store is allergic to making money. In conclusion, please fire all the managers and turn the El Cerrito Safeway around. It is an embarrassment to the brand and a thorn in the community's paw. The employees seem miserable and the customers are speaking pretty clearly with these reviews.
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March 2024 by Doug S.
I stopped going there. Most of the store is behind lock and key. I used to go there regularly, but they would have something like 12 registers, and only 2 or 3 of them open with someone on staff ringing people up, and a 45 minute wait. Then there's employees standing around talking. The bathrooms are always filthy. It's just sad. I don't want self checkout, I want customer service with a smile.
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January 2024 by Mark M.
Finding someone in the bakery to place a special order is near impossible, either by phone or in person. Checkout lines are long forcing customers to use the self-checkout. Even the entry to the parking lot and the entry to the building are poorly designed. The problem is that we need worker cooperatives to open grocery stores nearby so we can put Safeway out of business. Drive them out of town. Horrendous experience. These corporations don't give a damn about customers.
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January 2024 by Peter H.
Two people were incredibly helpful today. The one whose name I remember was Ceylona. lovely lady. Very empathetic and some good advice about don't overload your homemade pizza or everything will slide off!
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January 2024 by Ian G.
2024 update: now that this Safeway has turned into a jail, I encourage anyone with a car to drive 9 extra miles to a Safeway paradise in Hercules. PLEASE do not reward Safeway for this depressing hellscape of a store. The Hercules Safeway will spark enough joy to make up for any extra driving -- it is a paradise. My last and FINAL visit to the El Cerrito Safeway, not only was coffee locked up like the crown jewels, the store will not simply hand shoppers coffee, you have to choose a checkout lane and meet the coffee bag there. I chose the checkout lane in Hercules!
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January 2024 by Tanis L.
The Safeway on San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito became my home Safeway location when I was living in Albany. There was a closer location on Solano Avenue, however I preferred the ambiance/design and offerings at this location more. In part that was because it was larger and in part because of the flavors offered of particular brands/products. Frequenting this location, one drawback I found was that the donuts were not put out until a certain time of day, and a little later than I had anticipated. I still loved the bakery section, both in-house and other bread brands. Workers at check-out were friendly and the parking lot was large. On one occasion, I left my car with a hand engraved metal water bottle in it. After shopping, I went back to my car and found the water bottle gone. I had not really thought of that water bottle as being in the category of "do not leave valuables in vehicle", but I learned my lesson. Produce tended to be fresh and the meats section offerings for the most part were well stocked. The hygiene/bathroom supplies section evolved during my time shopping here, including some of the items such as toothpaste being on the shelves behind glass/plastic and requiring an employee/key to open. The lines tended to be longer a little later (such as 7 p.m. on weekdays) than some of the other nearby Safeway locations.
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January 2024 by Meli P.
Worst store ever, shut it down! Come on we can do better. Waited over 20 min for a pickup order the day I was supposed to pick up. Called the store with no answer. Had a broken leg so I couldn't walk in and pickup. I tried again the next day, they kept putting me on hold and took another 25 minutes to bring order out. Never again.
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December 2023 by Jennifer Black
Really nice store. Lovely to go late-night to avoid crowds, though frequently the stocking-before-close can really be in the way, with a lot of items strewn on the ground that pose tripping and slipping hazards.That said, a really nice staff, great 50% off section, and generally strong array of choices.
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December 2023 by Lisa Fodor
Always has the freshest foods especially cut up fruits. Great hours at the El cerrito location.UPDATE: So this location is a really beautiful store, until you enter the restrooms. I dont understand why any public restroom needs to stay so filthy. They should be checked I believe it's every hour to ensure it's cleanliness and to help prevent the spread of germs and disease, but it's always so dirty and gross. It didn't have seat covers, toilet paper all over entire bathroom floor, and I don't really want to know what was smeared all over both stall walls. It's inexcusable for restrooms to be available to the public in such conditions. Safeway brings in enough money on the daily to be able to afford extra bodies in the store to cover things like this where it can be kept clean all day every day, but they are too cheap to do so. Customers are lucky enough to have more than one cashier at peak times, so I guess that's where the store falls short. Safeway, please clean your restrooms more often! II wanted more pictures but too many people needing to use facility.
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December 2023 by wonder gods (Breezy nights)
Good morning Safeway. Please talk to your security guard to behave in a professional manner.Maybe you should move the fruit blow stand away from the entrance gate because the security guard got confused thought I was gonna exit the wrong way and started yelling.. I was simply getting a fruit bowl. That’s very disrespectful.Also why the sandwich place open so late ? I was there to get me a breakfast burrito but the lady said they are open at 7:30 am.I feel like this was racially motivated by them.The light skin security guy.,
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December 2023 by Mykela98
Everything was good except for the young girl in the deli that told me only one person can cook food. After her going back and forth with me about it, another employee (not the one person she was talking about) conveniently came and made my food with no problem.
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November 2023 by Randy Alas
Today me and my freind went to Safeway and I went to go get chowmein and the lady who served me was very rude i bought my chowmein and tried to leave so I can pay for my drink but she got mad at me and said I had to pay for it here like I was going to steal so I waited in line then i look away for a second and she starts rushing me she told me to hurry up very rudely and that offended me because she thought I was probably going to steal after I finish paying me and my freind was going go pay for some other stuff that he had with him at self checkout but she said that to pay it here and she got mad and told the security guard that we were stealing but we payed for it anyways so she was getting mad at us thinking we were stealing even tho we weren’t the lady’s name was Tina
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November 2023 by Liberty D.
People with social anxiety should avoid this grocery store. The outside is always chaotic and there are strict security measures inside, which can be overwhelming. The customer service in the deli is extremely poor, with no available assistance. The long lines are a result of insufficient staff. It is advisable to go to Safeway in Albany instead.