Today (6/26) the Downtown Bellevue Safeway on Bellevue Way will close, and it will re-open across the street Friday morning at the new and improved location in Avalon Meydenbauer. The new location will occupy 55,000 sq ft, which is about 10,000 sq ft larger than Safeway’s normal-sized stores, and just over double the size of their current Downtown Bellevue store.
The new store will become a flagship for the company, highlighting many specialty sections. Safeway, along with the Starbucks inside, will become a favorite of those living in the 368 apartment homes above in the Avalon Meydenbauer community.
The original Downtown Bellevue Safeway store opened in 1963, and at the time was the largest Safeway in Western Washington. A local blog, The Sledgehammer, was able to dig up some great artifacts on the old store, including images from the Bellevue American Newspaper!
Over its 40 years since the first opening, Safeway has gotten only minor cosmetic upgrades, leaving the store very outdated and in desperate need for a complete overhaul; or in this case, a new store all together. Help welcome the new store by making a visit on Friday, or sometime soon after.
Photos courtesy The Sledgehammer
