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Re: Safeway in NC??

Posted: 06 Feb 2009 18:26
by Groceteria
Note the photo from Google maps. It's a little convenience store called "Safe Way":

Photo from Google Street View

Re: Safeway in NC??

Posted: 06 Feb 2009 20:07
by Rob72830
Perhaps someone wanted to cash in on the Safeway name?

Re: Safeway in NC??

Posted: 06 Feb 2009 21:17
by carolinatraveler
The Safeway name is virtually unknown in southern North Carolina, so there really is no advantage in using it on a c-store. The Wilmington site is a former Seven Eleven that has been an independent c-store for many years. I lived in Wilmington for 8 years and have been in this store a couple of times; as for Maxton, you are limited to only a Piggly Wiggly, and the Maxton "Safe Way location is, too, a convenience store. I was in Maxton just a week ago and passed this site.
Often confused with Safeway in the region is a convenience store chain out of Florence, SC called Sav-Way. There are about 20 of these stores in SC towns along the NC border, and locals are not beyond phrases like "I'll stop by the Safeway for gas".

Sometime in the mid-1980s it seems that Safeway briefly expanded from their limited base in the Tidewater, Virginia area into one or two NC sites - I've read that somewhere, and it seems I vaguely remember a Safeway site along the Outer Banks (Nags Head or Kill Devil Hills) sometime about 1980. From their original base in Richmond, Safeway stores were found north and west, and east into the northern two Virginia peninsulas as early as the 1940s, but did not expanded south all the way to NC. The first southward expansion from Richmond came around 1970 into the Tidewater area - the first Safeway I ever saw opened in 1971 in Todd Center in Hampton, VA. North Carolina is a natural extension of some of the towns along US 58, and I don't know of any Safeway locations those towns along US 58 until you get all the way east to Suffolk (Marina store there, long gone and replaced by Rite Aid). West of Suffolk and north of US 58 there were Safeway stores in Halifax and Farmville, maybe Blackstone, but that's about it. Any NC expansion came as an extension of the Tidewater operations that expanded into the NC portions of the metro area - Elizabeth City would not be out of the question, but I have directories here as late as 1976, so if Safeway was ever there it was later.

Wayne Henderson
The Carolina Traveler

Re: Safeway in NC??

Posted: 07 Feb 2009 00:04
by Groceteria
The discussion of the actual NC Safeway stores was in the thread with which I've just merged this one.

Re: Safeway in NC

Posted: 20 Jun 2010 18:01
by Groceteria
FYI, in the midst of some other research today, I found some Safeway ads that mentioned the NC stores as early as 1979 and an article stating that the Rocky Mount store closed in 1987 (and might be followed soon by other stores in the region). Five months later, all the Hampton Roads stores (and presumably the stragglers in NC) were sold as were a number of the Richmond stores.

Re: Safeway in NC

Posted: 21 Jun 2010 11:46
by xsafeway
Safeway had four stores in NC: The Outer Banks, Rocky Mount, Roanoke Rapids, and Goldsboro (if memory serves). I believe all four stores were closed when the Richmond Division was merged with DC.

As for Tidewater there were quite a few stores. I remember stores in Glouster, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and Norfolk. Some of these stores had been Big Stars, some were new construction. There were enough stores in Tidewater for them to be grouped as a "District."

Re: Safeway in NC

Posted: 22 Jun 2010 18:59
by Groceteria
If anyone has addresses on these NC stores (other than Outer Banks which I've already seen) I would be very appreciative.

Re: Safeway in NC

Posted: 25 Jun 2010 21:55
by sbtinme
xsafeway wrote:Safeway had four stores in NC: The Outer Banks, Rocky Mount, Roanoke Rapids, and Goldsboro (if memory serves).
Even the most casual observer can't help but note that is a cobbling together of unlikely small cities. I well remember the Safeway Richmond District and I shopped in several of their stores in the late 1980s, but I would never have guessed that these four cities would ever have had a Safeway. Wow.

Re: Safeway in NC

Posted: 04 Jul 2010 19:36
by Ephrata1966
Wait a minute, is this the webmaster or a different Dave?

Re: Safeway in NC

Posted: 05 Jul 2010 13:42
by maynesG
Hi,Funny I know some one who worked in the Safeway in Nags Head and had to move to Maryland to find a full time job with Acme. She was still incredulous over the closing when I worked with her five years ago.It seems that this was a verry high volume store in the summer and must have been afairly high paying job for the area, I know that she is with the company and I will take the time to find out what unit she is in and will ask her where it was located.

Re: Safeway in NC

Posted: 05 Jul 2010 14:18
by Groceteria
Actually, the Nag's Head/Outer Banks store is the one we already know the location for and have posted photos. But if she knows addresses for the other closed NC stores (Rocky Mount, Roanoke Rapids, and Goldsboro?), that would be great!

Re: Safeway in NC

Posted: 28 Apr 2017 17:41
by wnetmacman
I know this is an insanely old thread, but I found the answer for one of these locations today: Goldsboro

Look at 2539 E Ash St, Goldsboro, NC on Google Maps. There's even a circle cutout on the right side of the building in brick. There are also emergency exits on either end of the front glass, a Safeway thing for that time period (a search shows it was built in 1979).

Re: Safeway in NC

Posted: 28 Apr 2017 18:03
by Groceteria
Wow. Yeah, I'd say that's a pretty safe bet. Good call!

Based in the roof, I wouldn't be surprised if Winn-Dixie had taken over the space after Safeway moved out.

https://goo.gl/maps/WJXdZcD5jvH2

Re: Safeway in NC

Posted: 31 May 2017 17:22
by VirginiaRetail
xsafeway wrote:Safeway had four stores in NC: The Outer Banks, Rocky Mount, Roanoke Rapids, and Goldsboro (if memory serves). I believe all four stores were closed when the Richmond Division was merged with DC.

As for Tidewater there were quite a few stores. I remember stores in Glouster, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and Norfolk. Some of these stores had been Big Stars, some were new construction. There were enough stores in Tidewater for them to be grouped as a "District."
Safeway used to have a decent footprint in Hampton Roads. They did have a store in Gloucester (which I've been doing research on, I found a photo of the store from a 1970s newspaper I am going to post when I get the chance) as well as stores in more remote locations such as West Point and Kilmarnock. They left in the early 90s around the same time the Richmond locations were shuttered.