Shuttered back in 2015 following Fresh & Easy’s withdrawal from the market, the proposed re-activation of the supermarket site on the northwest corner of 32nd Avenue and Clement Street in the Seacliff/Outer Richmond neighborhood could finally be approved this week.

While Safeway has leased the site, the 16,664-square-foot space is now proposed to re-open as an Andronico’s Community Market with an unchanged exterior façade save new signage and proposed hours of operation from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. daily (which has resulted in a number of neighbors newly “withholding” their support for the project).

26 thoughts on “Plans for Shuttered Fresh & Easy Site Slated for Approval”
  1. I just cant understand how neighbors would withdraw their support of anything in this location. It’s beyond comprehensible and makes my brain hurt.

    1. From a neighbor, in an email to Planning and Supervisor Fewer, last week: “I along with my Lincoln Park Neighbors, are hereby withholding support – voicing concerns over the hours of operation. We were not told about operating hours of 6am to 11pm at 2 earlier meetings. This changes our opinion on the matter.”

      1. Is it? Laurel Village still supplies the buying power for most of the middle-to-upper crust (Burkes parents included) and the neighborhood groceries fill the rest of the need by in large. Add grocery delivery to that, or if needed a trip to the Ocean Beach Safeway. Fresh and Easy was a great market but had little to no foot traffic except for GWHS kids.

  2. Anyone who lives nearby should be in favor. This is a market replacing a market that replaced a market. No one is going to close the CVS and bulldoze the site to build housing. Can you imagine what the neighbors would say if someone even proposed it? Nuts. I’ve already submitted my comments in favor of the project. Hope other neighbors do the same.

    1. It WAS proposed. Multiple times over the decades. Got pretty close, too. Seen that movie before (Spoiler alert: nobody wanted it)!

  3. I’ve been on community meetings with the neighbors of this area. Essentially its hyper rich stay at home [spouses] who are basically only concerned with the worth of their properties. Im an outer richmond resident who would love a grocery store. So frustrating!

  4. Do we know what happened with Safeway? Having pre-leased the site but not moving forward? Safeway was going to expand a West of Twin Peaks store several years ago but dropped those plans. There are rumors the store may close. Safeway seems to be consolidating somewhat. They are having trouble staffing in portions of the Bay Area. Andronico’s is upscale and charges significantly more for the same items than Safeway does. Same with Whole Foods. Making this site perhaps more viable for them than Safeway?

    1. As Calvin mentions above, Andronicos is a subsidiary of Safeway. Futhermore, the site is too small for a full-fledged Safeway with a poximity that’s too close to the one at the beach in addition to the one on 8th Ave. Besides, the folks in the surrounding blocks can afford whatever the higher-priced Andronicos can offer.

    2. By “West of Twin Peaks,” are you referring to their property on Monterey Blvd (RIP Ed Lee) which was supposed to be expanded by replacing surface parking with a rooftop lot?

  5. so odd how different areas of the city have different amenities. In this case, food & beverage purveyors. in this little corner of the world, not the most desirable, but fine with me, there is within a two mile radius, five supermarkets (including smart & final, whatever that is). In addition, there are numerous small markets, focusing on mostly hispanic preferences, but there are also asian small markets as well. In other words, the cup runneth over.

    1. If you don’t know what Smart & Final is you should check it out (on 7th Ave). Great prices on some items gourmet and otherwise, often (but not exclusively) in larger sizes

  6. Having worked with boutique grocery stores, I’d say this makes a lot of sense given the size.

    The Andronicos style (heavy mix of pre-made food and fresh perimeter, including deli, perishable fruit and vegetable), complements the other local offerings – Grocery Outlet and Smart & Final. It is also the right store to cater to desires of Sea Cliff.

    For bigger shopping trips folks will still make the trip to the larger Safeways, which have more non-perishables. It should also work well in the new Amazon-dominated world in which non-perishables are not profitable for brick-and-mortar. In short, it’s a strategy that makes sense and provides something the neighborhood could really use.

    Finally, somewhat extended hours (6am-11pm) are pretty important to provide the convenience folks need from a go-to grocery store. Maybe 10pm would be late enough, but the business should have a bit of latitude to attempt to profitably operate and serve our community. Also, the CVS probably really serves the community better by being able to stay open until 11pm so that it can serve people who need to make unexpected trips for medicines.

    1. I don’t see the need for a grocery store, particularly an upscale one to stay open until 11 PM. The Tower Market Mollie Stone on Portola and Canyon Market in Glen Park close at 9 PM. Cal-Mart at California & Laurel closes at 8 PM. Stores that stay open late have more of a problem with shoplifters and armed robberies.

      1. Altho you position isn’t without its merits – except perhaps that shoplifting would seem to be the store’s own business – you might want to give some consideration to people who have atypical schedules: not everyone gets off at five and/or has dinner at six-thirty.

      2. Who cares, frankly? If people want to shop at 11:00 PM, which many people who work long hours during the day do wish to do, then that is their choice–even in the dullest, safest, and most suburban areas, it is not uncommon to find a grocery store that stays open until 11:00 or even 24-hours.

        There is not going to be a lot of problems in the Outer Richmond because it is a boring part of town that holds little appeal for people who want to go cause trouble, and people who truly want to rob a store often seem quite capable of doing it during the broad daylight. This is all much a do about nothing by a small group of neighbors with too much time on their hands. It will get approved, the store will stay open until 11:00 PM, and then people will soon forget there was ever ant concern about the store hours to begin with.

  7. I was told the plans will be rejected and it will be push d to be a homeless shelter according to someone I know in Supervisor Fewers office

  8. Chronicle reports the Andronico’s application was approved 6-0 by Planning Commission last night.

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