Store Wars -- Qfc, Safeway Battle For Customers Going Down Broadway Aisle

Life is full of little decisions that, for retailers, mean big bucks.

Chamomile tea or Earl Grey? Chinook salmon or chum? Broccoli or asparagus? And on the Broadway strip of Capitol Hill these days, QFC or Safeway?

The QFC store, last remodeled seven years ago, is known for hip products: 15 types of tofu, fresh fish on ice and sushi.

Safeway, trying to grab a bigger piece of the Broadway grocery scene, reopened in May after a $1.5 million facelift sporting a swank new look featuring bright neon signage, displays for "Jurassic tomatoes" and sidewalk seating.

A half-block apart (132 strides, to be exact), the two stores are battling for the hearts and wallets of residents, who in a neighborhood packed with restaurants, espresso shops and bars, clearly want more from their grocery store than staples.

Throw in a little entertainment, a few outdoor tables and an espresso machine, and the grocery store in an area such as Capitol Hill becomes an entertainment center vying for dollars that might otherwise be spent at the movie theater or restaurant down the street.

QFC and Safeway, two of the Puget Sound area's biggest chains, duke it out in similarly close proximity at 18 locations in King and Snohomish counties.

But on Broadway, where the density is three times that of Seattle as a whole, the stakes are especially high. Half the residents are 18 to 35 years old. Six out of 10 households have just one person. With fewer mouths to feed, many shoppers have money to burn on extra gourmet coffee, balsamic vinegars and veggies pre-cut for stir-fry.

Everybody has something to say about which store attracts them.

There's Robert Clark, who works in a law firm and lives closer to QFC but now walks past because he finds the employees at the new Safeway "friendly, friendly." But Sybil Bayles, senior citizen and 10-year resident of Capitol Hill, walks a little farther to the QFC she's always relied on, because the nearer, new Safeway is "all just glitz."

Before Safeway shut down in February for its remodel, the choice, to some, was much clearer.

QFC, brightly lit and open 24 hours, has rows of fresh produce, sprayed every few minutes with cool water. Its offerings include an in-store bakery and espresso counter, a full deli and dozens of exotic Asian sauces as well as 38 varieties of chicken soup.

The store is almost always busy - housewives in the morning, professionals during lunch and after work, and Broadway's own breed of purple-haired, nose-ringed teenagers at night. A parking attendant, wearing a whistle and one white glove, directs a queue of cars vying for the next empty of about 60 parking spaces.

Grocery stores, which traditionally have operated on paper-thin profit margins, are increasingly looking for ways to boost the bottom line by stocking higher-profit merchandise such as prepared deli items and premium beers and wines.

That's why throughout the Broadway store, employees artfully scatter so-called "impulse items," such as cinnamon rolls and Northwest-brewed beer on sale. Shoppers see them, buy them and, shopper Francine Hobgood says, "before you know it, you've blown your wad."

Safeway, which used to close at midnight, was bleaker and isolated to many shoppers. It had no bakery, no espresso and no fresh fish. Its deli was smaller. Produce, which shoppers say seemed to carry a day-old sheen, was buried in the back of the store.

Shoppers would complain of surly sales clerks. Many shopped there only because they could find a spot in the 33-stall parking lot.

Today, QFC's parking attendant still needs to direct traffic. But so do security guards at Safeway, which now is open 24 hours, has doors that open onto Broadway, espresso and Lotto for sale inside, bagels and biscotti, and hot Chinese food that people line up for, taking a number to take out.

Both stores acknowledge they compete, but will not say what effect the new Safeway has had on sales.

If there are plans to respond to Safeway's changes on Broadway, Mark Evanger, QFC vice president and chief financial officer, won't reveal them.

"I think our business will hold up," he said. "(Safeway) has a nice store there. They obviously have made substantial improvements . . . but they do some things differently than we do.

"People will always go look at a new store and see what they've got," said Broadway QFC manager Kent Potts. "I think the basic thing is, we always have taken care of the people and the customers."

On the scene

Broadway, Friday night. People on their way to dinner and plays stop to ponder the choice.

An older gentleman mumbles and limps his way across Broadway after doing his shopping at QFC, not giving his name and harrumphing about the changed layout at Safeway. "The heck of it is, you can't find anything (there)!" he says.

Holding a number at Safeway's China Express take-out line, Neomi Gross swears by Safeway and, she says, its lower prices. "My daughter prefers QFC. I don't think she knows how to price."

Sometimes the decision comes down to what side of the street the shopper is on. Or which store has a better selection of doughnuts.

"It's like this for me," said Annalise Johnson, a student at Seattle Central Community College, sitting at the cafe-style tables outside Safeway. "When I think doughnuts, I think Safeway. Coffee? Cheese? Milk? Definitely QFC."

In King and Snohomish counties, Safeway, with 70 stores, still is the dominant grocer, with 27 percent market share. But QFC, with 38 stores, is catching up. Its market share is estimated at 12 percent, according to Supermarket News.

Safeway design manager Mitchell Johnson calls the old Safeway a typical grocery of the '70s - a store geared for suburbia, not the vibrant Broadway street scene.

He moved the electric glass doors to the Broadway side of the store so pedestrians could detour through Safeway.

Inside, store manager Scott Stevenson altered the store's merchandise to include more fresh items. Fresh flowers, never sold at the Broadway Safeway before, now line the entry, their aromatic scents leading toward espresso and Chinese food on the left and a new, open-market style produce section on the right. Lighting was brightened in some places and softened in others.

Stevenson said the new Safeway has doubled its work force and made customer service top priority, something several shoppers have noticed.

At the bar in 'Night Mary's, Clark and friend Roy Ainsworth say they used to shop the "Q" all the time. Safeway's new look, Ainsworth says, "stole me.

"I used to hate it there," he says. "Everything was thrown on the shelves. It felt dirty."

Ainsworth said he last visited the Safeway a few years before the remodel. He asked a sales clerk to bag his groceries in paper and plastic. When the clerk said, "We're not QFC, you know," Ainsworth walked out of the store and across the street.

Curiosity over the remodel caused him to come back.

But Broadway QFC employees draw their own set of loyal customers. "The employees here are really friendly, really hilarious," said social worker and QFC shopper Ede Sinclaire. "If you go up to the information desk, there's always a weird and hilarious conversation going on."

That was clear on a recent Friday, when one QFC employee announced his transfer to another store over the PA system. One after another, his colleagues bid him a public goodbye. "Love ya, sweetie," said one as shoppers chuckled.

The new Safeway makes similar attempts to entertain. Street bands and a capella singers occasionally stroll the store, which also sponsored a Singles' Night.

At last month's Gay Pride Parade, employees set up a grill outside the store, sold barbecue chicken and handed out discount coupons for espresso drinks. And the store now regularly sets out outdoor tables with umbrellas near a soda machine with 25-cent soft drinks.

"I live alone, and the evenings are long," said Irene Mitchell, a 67-year-old legal secretary who smoked a cigarette at one of the tables after buying her favorite sunflower millet bread. "This is a good way to pass some time. I'm not ready to go straight home after work, you know."

------------------- COMPARISON SHOPPING -------------------

Some comparisons about the Broadway Safeway and QFC stores.

QFC Safeway

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Single, short latte $1.10 $1.25

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Shitake mushrooms $12.99/lb. $13.98/lb

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King salmon fillets $8.99/lb. $9.99/lb

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Kimchi (12 oz. jar) $3.39 $3.49

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Beers brewed in Wash., types 27 18

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Canned chicken soup, types 38 33

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Cheapest loaf of white bread .79 .59

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Ten-pound bag potatoes $2.49 $1.89

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Brands of laundry detergent 26 28

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Square footage 22,000 27,000

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Information based on prices and volumes as of July 9.