Rumor has it that Safeway will be the anchor tenant on the ground-floor retail area at The 88, downtown San Jose’s most recent luxury, high-rise development. According to an article in the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, the developers of The 88 are in talks with the grocery market chain to locate a store at the street-level of the 22-story tower, which is located on San Fernando Street between 2nd and 3rd Streets. The store would be on the south side of the The 88. An annoucement for the deal could be only weeks away, according to sources familiar with the discussions.
Safeway has been successful in placing smaller grocery markets in urban locations similar to The 88 and downtown San Jose. A Safeway at The 88 would likely be less than half the size of a store in a suburban location.
Bringing in a national retailer like Safeway would be a tremendous lift for downtown San Jose. Hopefully this will attract more residents to the area. More importantly, maybe this will attract other big retailers to downtown San Jose. If Safeway does move in at The 88, how will that affect Zanotto’s Downtown Market? Do you currently shop at Zanotto’s? If so, would you continue to shop at Zanotto’s if you had a choice to go to Safeway? What do you think of having a Safeway in downtown San Jose?
Read a synopsis of the article by Katherine Conrad in the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal.
I currently LOVE shopping at Zanottos and find that it more than fulfills my grocery needs. The staff are fantastic and on most of the items I buy, the prices are lower and quality higher than Safeway (produce, fresh bread, other organic or natural foods). I would definitely not choose to shop at Safeway downtown.
Having Zanottos within walking distance is one of the big reasons why I would choose to buy a condo downtown.
Unfortunately, I see the Safeway rumors as a huge disappointment. We need retailers that will attract people to downtown. How about a Borders or B&N? Apple store? Any clothing retailer?
I feel that in a choice of purchasing a condo downtown, a low-end grocery store would not entice me to pay “Luxury” prices.
Sigh… I had higher hopes for retail at this great location.
I love the idea.
I disagree with above poster … Zanotto’s prices are insanely high. I only go there for emergencies (like I forgot to buy pasta sauce) and for lunch.
A Safeway would be very welcome in my opinion as a closer shopping option and hopefully as an anchor for more retail and coffeeshops.
I do agree that a nice bookstore with a coffeeshop and places to sit like B&N or Borders is painfully missing in downtown. There was a Borders near the theater but it was small and they closed down.
I’m looking forward to it…
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