Hello Aldi, goodbye Safeway
There are going to be some grocery store changes Bailey’s Crossroads. Aldi will open in the former Babies R Us store at 5700 Columbia Pike, and the Safeway in the Crossroads Center at 5710 Columbia Pike is closing on June 25.
38 responses to “Hello Aldi, goodbye Safeway”
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so another huge big box store hole to fill (safeway, toys r us, HH Greg). thanks penny!
News Flash: Penny didn't drive Toys R Us out of business. – Sparky
she also isn't driving forward thinking development leaving these box stores.
please 1:09. Penny has nothing to do with those store closings. That safeway was one of the worst safeways around, so no tears will be shed for it closing, and instead we're getting an Aldi. That's an upgrade all the way.
And Penny had absolutely nothing to do with HH Greg or toys r us. HH Greg had a crap business strategy from the beginning. Toy R Us was a bummer to see go under, but still not penny's fault.
While we have a ton of grocery stores popping up, I will say that I'm kind of hoping that we get ourselves a Wegmans. Harris Teeter has become our go-to with kids because they have done a good job implementing online grocery shopping (no more walking the isles with whiny kids who reach for candy!)
Jeff – When you don't have a vision for the area, then this is what happens. Smart planners and governments planned for these big box stores to fail a decade ago and had plans on what to do when it happens. In Mason, there is no plan. There is a lot of documentation on this like
https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/big-box-reuse
you should expect more out of your "leaders"
Agree, I am a big fan of Harris Teeter. I'm a little sad to see the shops that have served the areas for decades go – Safeway, Shoppers – but Harris Teeter offers a quality experience. I don't care that I'm paying a few cents or dollars more for this or that. I'll take it over the extremely underwhelming Aldi experience.
We should thank our lucky stars we have Harris Teeter. Our wonderful political leadership with Federal Realty almost helped implode the HT. A proposed DMV would have been where Glory Days is and would have changed the character of that shopping center in not a good way and chased the HT customers away with limited parking. There is a God and its not at the Mason Gov't Center.
I live very close to that safeway but often decide to drive further to other grocers. There are always lines there and they are generally overpriced.
Neither of which, by the way, Penny Gross has anything to do with(◔_◔).
Sigh. That Safeway is always dirty and too busy. Having said that, I'm not a huge fan of Aldi. Some things there are cheap, but the stock changes so often that I can never get everything I need there. And they have a lot of brands I've never heard of that honestly seem like knock offs to me.
Aldi products are not "knock offs" but created by them after extensive market research. (Unlike Shoppers Food Warehouse which stocked inferior generic brands.) Their snack brand is Canada-based Clancy's, recently crowned the best tasting potato chip in the U.S. Aldi is owned by the same German company that owns Trader Joes and is using data and engineering to keep prices low. Their German competitor, Lidl, is slowly opening more stores here and their U.S operations are based in Crystal City. I know several engineers who work there!
ALDI HAS CHANGED MY LIFE AND IT WILL CHANGE YOURS BAILEY CROSSROADS RESIDENTS
I’d love to save some money, but I am just not loving Aldi. And they are popping up everywhere, ick.
I agree. I'm not a fan of Aldi. How about a Wegmans?
Yes! Yes! For Wegman's. Am upscale store with everything. I have also wondered wy Bailey's hasn't gotten one. I heard they go I bed for the space at Ling and Beauregard bit It didn't go through. Has the economy/ level of income in this area gone down??
The Aldi at Seminary Plaza is a smaller one, but I've never been disappointed shopping there.The prices are low, the quality of fresh meats, produce, and dairy products is as good or better than the major chains, and the house brands also are as good or better than generics usually at the same price levels.
I drove by the Babies R Us a few days ago and noticed the front of it was torn off, and was wondering what was going on. I'm an Aldi fan, so this is good news for me. Any word on what will replace the Safeway or why it's closing? It's weird that a grocery store closes unless the whole chain goes out of business. -K
I used to grocery shop at Walmart Tysons to save money, until the Aldi Annandale opened. Can't get every little thing I want but overall I am saving a ton of money and have been very pleasantly surprised at the quality of everything. I even love their off brand stuff I thought I could never tolerate, such as mayonnaise and peanut butter. The more Aldis the better!
And the cookies!! I don't love everything there, but my family doesn't shop at just one or two (or three) grocery stores anymore, anyway, so it's no big.
When I walked into the Aldi on Columbia Pike and saw wine to the right of me and off-brand Tagalongs to the left, I knew I'd found something good!
That Crossroads Center is got too man vacancies now. Why is that other areas like Arlington, Mosaic, Alexandria dont have so many vacancies? Answer homeless shelter high rise and Penny Gross.
Arlington, Mosaic, Alexandria have METRO.
Arlington and Alexandria also have homeless shelters as well. Arlington's is at 2020-A 14th St N (Courthouse). Alexandria's is 2355-B Mill Rd, Alexandria, VA 22314, between the King Street and Eisenhower metros.
Where's the METRO in the Mosaic? Are they hiding it from us?
Dunn Loring
Mosaic is brand-spanking new. Multi-use districts like that are the "it" thing, just like strip malls were a few decades ago. Guess what? Trends change and Americans LOVE a new one–especially with the help of artful marketers. You can't POSSIBLY compare the desirability of Mosaic with the the older shopping centers.
Hate Penny? Fine with me-really! Just shut up about it and RUN FOR HER OFFICE already.
In the cause of democracy, Gerry Connolly, then FFX Chair of the BoS put Metro running to Skyline to a vote. Thanks to him and the bigots at that time that voted against Metro we have no Metro. Connolly allowed these ignorant voters of 40 years ago to plan Mason's destiny. And there you have it. Now we have Penny in some state of permeance as supervisor, a disciple of Sir Connolly.
From one democratic to our almighty creator, please save us from these political fools.
🙂 jist like peoole, all communities get old, many people in that community get old, some without sufficient financial prepararion. In come beginner professionals. And the level of income changes. So what's moving now are less expensive stores. Not sure which really came first. But one thing that I have noticed is that there are sure a significant increase of sirens and incidents at night.
Safeway? That seems odd, it is not that old. It seemed nice when it opened, but I have not been there in years. Once a Harris-Teeter opened near me I stopped driving the extra 6 miles to that Safeway.
(Also, I have no idea who Penny is, so I cannot blame her for, apparently, everything that has happened in the big-box store economy nationwide.)
Penny is Penny Gross. She has been the Mason District Supervisor for eons. This Safeway, the Haris Teeter, the old HH Gregg, Toys R Us, and Babies R Us are all in her district.
The access to and around Crossroads Center isn't great. There are too many tree boxes, etc. one has to navigate around. That Safeway wasn't really better or worse than other Safeways, and always looked pretty busy, so maybe there was a rent issue. Anytime a large retail space comes open, I always hope for a Wegmans (i.e. K-Mart), but that is probably small for a Wegman's.
And is it the right location for a Wegman's? Is that the community it will serve?
OMG, everybody is leaving the "Dump."
Says who
Says all the vacant store fronts and the open lots. This isn't rocket science. Oh I forgot, the vacant lots on Columbia Pike by Bradley's Acura where the homeless hang out is occupied by more homeless, and soon to be Penny Park.
Actual data would say otherwise
It would be nice if there was more positive response about the interfaith Action to Combat Hate & Bigotry article.
I see that meat restaurants & grocery stores (that we already have too much of) are Way more important to people. Meanwhile, people are being murdered worldwide due to hatred & bigotry.
Soo glad you posted that, Ellie!
♡♡♡
Thank you; you make an important point.
What does this have to do with anything? I am at a loss.
Bailey's will soon just be a big box ghost town. Wait till the rest of Skyline leaves.
Anybody know what will happen to the Quest Diagnostics Lab inside that Safeway?