A closing Safeway location in Arvada is shaking up the shopping landscape and not just for the people who choose to shop there.
Signs surround the building on Wadsworth and 80th Ave advertising a Blowout sale, before the store itself is out of Arvada. In October, the company announced its plans to permanently close that location Nov. 14, saying, With our focus on growth, we continuously evaluate the performance of our stores, and this tough decision was made after careful deliberation.
The decision left longtime shoppers, like Kim Carroll, shocked.
I do the shopping for my husband, Carroll said. He does the deals, and he sends me here for the deals. That's why we've been shopping here, and it's close to home.
Carroll said shed been going to that location for two decades. Another shopper, Linda Barringer, agreed.
Some of their selection is better, and it's not King Soopers, Barringer said. I just prefer this store."
Even those who dont shop at the Safeway could feel the effects of the closure. The store was one of several grocery giants in Arvada that regularly donated to decades-old food bank Community Table.
Safeway provided us with a lot of great produce and milk and eggs, said Deputy Executive Officer Rocky Baldassare.
Each month, Community Table receives about 2,000 pounds of food from this Safeway location for their Choice Shopping Area a place where clients can come and pick 75 to 80 pounds of food twice each month.
2,000 pounds of food feeds a lot of people, said Community Table President Sandy Martin.
Jefferson Countys Public Health Department representative said one in nine people in their county, Doesnt always have enough food to eat. Thats compared to one in six people in Denver County and one in seven in Adams County.
Community Table has watched that population grow around the holiday season.
Last year we saw a jump all the way up to like 1,800 households 1,900 households, Baldassare said. We enter a more expensive time when families are not only trying to get the food they need, but also celebrate because it, you know, we all should have the ability to celebrate in one way or another.
Theyre nervous the Safeway closure could make providing for those people more difficult.
A Safeway representative told Denver7 the decision to close this location was tough and was made after careful deliberation and evaluations of the stores performance.
Denver7 followed up, asking what will happen to the Community Table partnership, and if theyll have another location fulfill the 2,000-pound quota. Were still working to get a response.
In the meantime, Baldassare and Martin are looking for another store to possibly fill that gap, and Safeway shoppers may need to drive a few extra miles outside Arvada city limits to get their groceries.
