Safeway-Walnut Creek-Ygnacio Valley & Oak Grove-1965

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Jason B.
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Safeway-Walnut Creek-Ygnacio Valley & Oak Grove-1965

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The Safeway store in Walnut Creek, Calif. at Ygnacio Valley Road and Oak Grove Road opened on April 7, 1965, according to the “Contra Costa Times” of that date. The store is still in operation in that building as of June 2015.

This Safeway building soon will be demolished and replaced with a new building to house a Whole Foods supermarket. This shopping center is called Encina Grande. A new shopping center, Orchards of Walnut Creek, is under construction on the northerly side of Ygnacio Valley Road opposite Encina Grande (which is on the southerly side). The new Safeway store will be in the new Orchards shopping center.

The store building profile is a distinctive inverted “v.” The store was 23,000 square feet. The architectural firm of Findleton & Diehl of Walnut Creek designed the store. Kirkham, Chaon and Kirkham were building contractors. It had five checkout stands at opening. The “Times” noted, “The store has a glass enclosed meat cutting and preparation room which will enable customers to watch their favorite cuts of meat being prepared. The Meat Department has been equipped with an electronic computing scale which provides for absolutely error-free calculation of weights and prices of all packages of meat.”

The first manager of the Safeway store was Robert Range, formerly manager of the Monument Road, Concord Safeway. Range had been employed by Safeway since 1945, when he started as a food clerk.

The Encina Grande shopping center was developed by Maxwell Beck of Walnut Creek.

Store hours in April 1965 were 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. all other days.

Special sale prices during the opening days included 10 lbs. of potatoes (U.S. No. 1 Gardenside Pack) for 79 cents and fryers (chicken, Manor House, Govt. Grade A) for 29 cents per lb. whole and 33 cents per lb. cut up or split. Best Foods mayonnaise was sold 39 cents per quart glass, giant size Tide sold for 49 cents per packet and Cragmont sodas (“11 Varieties to Choose From”) sold for 10 cents per quart, plus deposit. Free needle packets and free orchids were distributed during the grand opening.

This store later became a special one in the Safeway chain as Safeway later opened corporate offices (Glencourt division) in the nearby Shadelands business park.

The opening of the Walnut Creek-Ygnacio Valley Safeway store followed the opening of the Moraga Safeway by one week.
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