Safeway Spices
This week, I decided to go to a grocery store I’d never been to before. As I was walking around Georgetown one Saturday afternoon, I came across Safeway. Located on 1855 Wisconsin Avenue NW, and known as the “social Safeway,” I was excited to shop, but also to socialize… I guess?
Finding the spices proved to be a more difficult task than expected. After ten minutes of unsuccessful searching, I finally found the spice section. It was hidden at the back of the store, nestled between the snack/chip/candy aisle and the cereal/coffee/juice aisle. The spices themselves were next to the cups/plates section and cooking oil section, which isn’t very intuitive, and probably why it took so long for me to find!
Aside from the amount of time it took me to find the spices, I was impressed with the selection (top two photos). It’s almost as big as the spices section in Whole Foods, which surprised me. They divided the spices area into two sections, which are organized by brand. The far-left ‘red’ section contains spices from McCormick and Signature Kitchens, and the one to the right contains Organic brands, such as Simply Organic, Morton & Bassett, and more McCormick.
Both sections of the spice aisle had a lot of variety in both the organic and non-organic category. This included both common spices such as cumin, onion powder, coriander, cilantro, pepper, chili flakes, and non-common spices such as Chinese five spice, Cajun, marjoram leaves, and poppy seeds.
What I found the most interesting, however, was a small set of spices organized by function or purpose (photo above). Under the ‘seasoning blends’ section were BBQ spices and rubs; under the ‘grilling’ section were herbs and poultry seasonings, and under the ‘garlic and onion’ were onion and pepper, Cajun, and vegetable seasonings. Giving customers options and ideas of how to use certain spice blends when cooking at home is a good strategy to increase product sales.
One last thing I noticed around Safeway and not just in the spices section was the sheer number of yellow “Club Price!” sale stickers they have at every aisle, corner, and row. While it’s nice to know how much money you’re saving with a Safeway card, it can be distracting when shopping, especially for smaller items like spices where the sale sticker sometimes blocks the price tag.
This trip to Safeway was definitely worth it in terms of spice selection, and if you’re looking for spice variety around D.C. and aren’t near a Whole Foods, Safeway will not disappoint you!
