East Bay monthly Diablo Magazine recently asked the question, “How cool is your Safeway?”
The answer for me is “not very”. My local store has been there since the 1930s and in many ways I don’t think it’s changed much. The staff seem like permanent fixtures and are pretty friendly. The produce, for better or worse, is probably the same as at any other Safeway, but there’s no doubt the store could do with a makeover.
And so it shall be, according to “The Rockridge News“:
“[The] Safeway [at 6310 College Avenue at Claremont] plans to demolish the existing 23,000 sq ft store and build a larger one with increased parking… Safeway has hired a local architect to design the site plan and an exterior building envelope in keeping with the spirit of Rockridge architecture.”
Roll on sushi bar (above), artisan bread counter, refrigerated wine cellar and mood lighting (come to think of it I could do with all that at home).
If you want to be close to the action, check out these two houses for sale within spitting distance of the store:
110 Brookside, Berkeley: A 3/2 Tudor style home that sits on the corner of Brookside (quiet) and Claremont Avenue (not so quiet). It’s in good nick with a secluded master suite on the top floor. Price: $1,095,000
344 Alcatraz Avenue, Oakland: a 3/1.5 “farm house” style 1910 home near all the good things of Rockridge, but on a busy road. Price: $899,000.
[Photo credit sushi bar: Getty Images News]
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