(12:15 PM UPDATE: The store’s now open. Ribboncutting video added to this story; separate full report later.)
10:57 AM: If you visit the new Admiral Safeway, which opens its doors to the public a little more than an hour from now (noon today, after an 11:30 am ribboncutting), take a moment and check out “Barb’s bench.” It’s on the landing of the stairway to/from the rooftop parking (which of course has an elevator nearby), and as noted on a it’s in honor of longtime Safeway employee Barb Fuda, a 41-year West Seattle Safeway employee who’d been looking forward to working in the new store – till cancer claimed her life two months ago. The store has other seating areas too:
This one is also on the west side of the store, to the right of the Starbucks kiosk, and includes a TV – Safeway’s Sara Osborne joked this morning (or maybe she wasn’t joking) that the Seahawks game would be on tonight. (Like other local Safeways, this one has wi-fi.) Then outside, as promised while the project went through an exhaustive series of design reviews, there’s a seating plaza at the southwest corner (California/Lander, across from Hiawatha):
We’re on our way back to the store right now – they’re offering a tour to show off the features of the store that Safeway says racked up enough points to potentially qualify for LEED silver status. Besides the 11:30 ceremony, special features today include a shopping-bag giveaway (limited quantities) and the Toucans steel-drum band playing 4-7 pm (that’s expected to be outdoors). More to come.
ADDED 12:16 PM: The ribboncutting, with longtime Admiral neighborhood leader Dennis Ross and City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen wielding the scissors:
We’ll have a separate report later with more video and photos, including the entirety of the grand-opening ceremony.
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