King Street Safeway to Close Early Next Year

The Safeway supermarket on King Street in West End Alexandria will likely close early next year for redevelopment into a larger store with more amenities.

Safeway spokesman Greg Ten Eyck said the store, located at 3526 King St., is awaiting final comments from the city to receive a building permit. The store will close after the final permits have been received, he said.

“We don’t expect that happen until sometime in early 2013,” Ten Eyck said.

The supermarket will be closed for about a year for remodeling, he said. The pharmacy will remain open, operating out of a mobile unit.

“We want to provide uninterrupted service for our pharmacy customers, so we are opening a temporary pharmacy nearby,” Ten Eyck said.

The current store is 44,000 square feet. The remodeled store will be 61,000 square feet and offer a wider selection of products, outside seating area, bakery, deli, floral department and dry-cleaning service through Bergmann’s. The new store will also feature a Starbucks.

Ten Eyck said Safway has been remodeling stores nationwide to acommodate its new “lifestyle” format. The prime example is on Wisconsin Avenue in Georgetown, where Safeway demolished the old store and replaced it with one that featured more of an urban design with underground parking.

“It’s probably our flagship store in the country,” Ten Eyck said of the Georgetown Safeway. “So we replaced many stores across the country to give customers more options.”