Safeway

JANA ROCKS!!!
This Safeway always has what I need, but more importantly, I continue to return due to Miss JANA! She is AMAZING! I’m a night owl, so I typically do my shopping at night which is when I see her. I hope this message gets to corporate Safeway and in turn rewards her hard work and dedication. She ALWAYS has a smile on her face no matter what time it is! I appreciate businesses with employees who remember my face, really care, and make it a personable experience. As long as JANA is on the other side of the register, I will absolutely continue my business at Safeway Kailua.

Living in Kailua, Safeway is the place that I can run to for that last minute ingredient at 12:30 am! Being open 24 hours is definitely a plus for me!
The parking lot is huge. The stalls are a little smaller than I like, but at least they aren’t teeny.
The carts are parked outside of the store. There is also a water dispenser (for your large bottles) right outside of the door.
As you go in, there are baskets to your right. You can grab your local magazines from the rack right next to it.
The Kailua Safeway is set up similar to other Safeways. If facing into the store, the fresh foods and hot counter is on your right. Pharmacy, florist, and bakery to your left. The aisles are clearly marked for you to find what you need.
The clerks are very friendly and helpful. You can find one easily if you walk around. The prices are ok. They have a Safeway app that adds discounts to your Safeway card. There are always sales, so you can shop around and get a deal!
The cashiers are ok. It’s like I either get the grumpy dude or the super friendly local Aunty. There are also self-​service checkout registers if the regular lines are too long.
Safeway may not be my favorite place to shop, but it is one place that I will shop for my grocery needs!

Affordable prices comparable to the commissary on the military posts. They have a mobile app you can download to find the best deals also.
It’s worth registering for a card and it’s free. They sell meat at discounted prices and mark food down all the time to 30, 50, and 70% down.
And, they also have a very large organic section as well if you’re in to that sort of thing.

My review for here is totally based on the floral department alone… I’ve seen nicer Safeways and friendlier staff… But I’ve never seen a floral department like this one out of all the Safeways that i have visited. Granted, I’ve never been to every single one, but you knew what i mean.
I absolutely looove the selection of flowers and arrangements they have. it’s always changing, so i don’t have to go with the same stuff all the time. And i do visit here an average of 2to3 times a week. So i spend at least $ 45– $ 50 a week on beautiful flowers here so that my Grandparents grave can always have fresh flowers…
Awesome job, keep up the great work!

Good grocery store. Almost always have everything I need. The deli is really good too! I love their sandwiches! Open ²⁴⁄₇. Just make sure you have a Safeway card for the good savings, it’ll also give you a good amount off of Chevron gas the more it racks up.

I remember when Kailua Town Safeway opened in the 80’s. It was so exciting! A newer, bigger, better Safeway! The store was shiny and clean, the employees were friendly, the prices were low. Flash forward 30+ years…
The parking lot is heavily pitted and you’re treated to Mr. Toad’s wild ride with your cart on the way to and from your car.
The opening of the store is too small. For the amount of people who shop there it is silly that only one person with a cart can fit through the door at one time. I would recommend moving the entrance to where the cold cuts/​cheese section is (a wall big enough for a far larger opening door) and relocating those items to the alcove that is the current gauntlet, maze-​like entrance.
There is an employee stationed at the self-​checkout at most times of the day, however a shopper is hard pressed to elicit even a kind look. A bored semi-​1000-​yard stare is the customary facial expression.
A while back Safeway seemed to be attempting to better their customer experience by having employees interact with the customers more… I felt like I was being pounced on every time I shopped there and their queries were disingenuous. That lasted a few short months and then it was back to 99% of the employees looking bored, unhappy and seemingly could care less if you shop there or not. They definitely seem to have no workplace pride.
I recently did a price comparison for items I bought often.
Coffee mate creamer:$ 8.99. (6.99 at Foodland)
Foster farms ground Turkey: $ 7.99 (4.99 at Times)
Roman Meal 12 grain bread: $ 5.79 (4.79)
The lines can be long at the checkout and it takes some pointed stares from the snake-​like line before they add a checker.
I was shocked when I went in last week and the cashier was texting while checking out my items. TEXTING!!! My opinion is that phones can be left in the employee locker room and looked at during break… NOT while waiting on customer. It’s bad form to allow customers to encounter an employee surfing the net or texting someone when they are working. I was flabbergasted!
Safeway needs to clean house. The vast majority of this particular stores employees are dour, unfriendly, slow moving and sometimes rude (TEXTING!!).
Stop by Whole Foods… Employees are happy, they thank you for bringing your reusable bags (and credit you 10¢… Safeway? .00), the employees restocking in the aisles are friendly and helpful but unobtrusive. (Nary a cell phone in sight!) Granted WF is a young, hip company… But it makes for a wonderful shopping experience.
Foodland has a smaller selection but their prices are often better, their checkers are always genuinely friendly, the store is bright and clean, updated, great lighting, and I love the gourmet section in R Field. There’s a sense of hominess to that store.
Times has the best looking produce and the prices are usually half of what Safeway charges.
I was justifying my shopping trips to Safeway because of its 20¢ /​gallon with Chevron promo… But the money I save shopping elsewhere, even stopping at two different stores, in addition to the unpleasant environment and the aloof employees, has convinced me that SAFEWAY in Kailua Town is a last option shopping stop for me.

As much as I like to bag my own groceries, it would be nice if the cashier would bring down the items instead of having myself reach for it.

Great food selection and friendly staff. Open ²⁴⁄₇ too…
There’s 3 Safway’s to choose from in Kailua, but this one is the largest and has the best inventory. Convenient pharmacy with full service bakery, fish counter, and deli

This review is only about the Pharmacist, went in today, omg this person has zero social skills. Talked with a few people after, sad they all knew who I was talking about. Definitely will be going elsewhere.

As a vegan on a budget, I cannot stress enough how convenient it is to have a Safeway directly across the street from Down To Earth. Many of the products I need like Earth Balance natural vegan butter and soy milk can all be found much cheaper here. It goes without saying that I make a beeline for the produce aisle, which will be on the right side as you come in. Twice the size of the other aisles, it’s chock full of fresh produce but also a section of soy or vegetarian proteins!
It’s a supermarket like any other, so the sections are fairly straightforward. I love that it’s never been crowded at any time of day I have been here. It’s a breeze to pick up everything I need for dinner, hop on one of their dozen, fast-​moving cashier lines, then swing by the Redbox machine on the way out for a super cheap DVD that costs about a buck a day to rent.

It was weird to walk into such a familiar place while being out of town. The groceries are more expensive but they do have safeway member deals. There is a redbox inside the store and a water dispenser machine outside.

I really like this Safeway location. They have a plethora of items available and I really enjoy the large selection. This is my fave location because they have a deli, fish section, bakery, bank and pharmacy all in here! It’s pretty convenient. The Just4U program is pretty awesome also, and I get some good personalized deals on my phone when I downloaded the app. I never have any problems locating what I need and the store is just the right temperature. (I know that sounds weird but some stores have AC that is up wayy too high, but not this one.) Lots of parking too!
The store is always clean and they are open 24 hours! (The best part.) It is true, some of the customer service reps aren’t always super friendly or happy but I mean come on — they might have had a long shift (they are open 24 hrs) or just the fact that they are working at safeway might be a little bit of a bummer — whatever it is, I like to give them a break and I am not as picky as some of these other reviewers in regards to customer service at Safeway. They probably won’t smile at you or show you where to find something, but they are quick at the lines in check out and I don’t really need someone walking through my grocery process so it’s all good with me.
If I break it down, it looks like this:
Selection: 5 stars
Ambiance: 5 stars
Customer Service: 3 stars
Overall, a good spot and I will continue to do my weekly shopping here.

The Pharmacy is getting worse. They have run out of items, not followed through on things and have neglected to inform you when things are ready.
The four stars are for the grocery end if their business. The store manager, Allen, is great and always helping out wherever needed.

I often shop at the Safeway’s in town. This one in particular has a good selection and good fresh deli products. However, I have noticed at least 3 separate times now their packaged deli cheeses (Lucern, Sargento, etc.) are moldy. Huge amounts of mold right in the packages, in a very messy display. I’ve pointed this out to managers, who assure me they will look at it — yet it keeps happening. Seems to me there is a lack of attention to detail in this Safeway, that makes me wonder about other sections.

Yay products and sale items! Boo cashiers and courteousy clerks! You will notice my check-​ins on Unilocal at Safeway (6) and my check-​ins at Foodland (130-​Duchess status), That is because of the obviously unfriendly. non-​customer-​friendly faces I see when I walk in to this store. These people would all rather be outside smoking a cigarette than helping you get the things you need. The store is fully stocked with everything I could possibly need. However because it is SO UNFRIENDLY i don’t EVER shop at any Safeway. Well, I went to the Beretania one once cause it was new but only cause I wanted to try out those cute mini carts. But that’s a whole ‘nother review. If you’re grouchy to Foodland Kailua.

Im not a Safeway virtuoso but I have been to pretty much all the Safeway’s on the Island including the newest one on Beretania. And I can say this is still my preferred one out of all the one’s I’ve been to.
I worked in a grocery store for five years so it’s hard to break habits and forget things you learned over the years.
Rule number One: Dont ever eat anything pre packaged or on display in deli cases. I’m talking grocery store deli’s in general. These deli people are tricky and Ive seen some horrific things done to deli food that turns me off to grocery store deli’s in general. Ive known people that work for different grocery stores confirm that yes these types of things happen in most store deli’s.The deli meats/​cheese are about the safest thing to consume from this department. And i ask for the meats to be sliced extra thin just so i know it’s fresh and not coming out of the display case. The customer service in the deli here is pretty awesome, they are very friendly and courteous. I’ve never had an issue with them but im still afraid of the food in the display cases. Looks nice but does food poisoning have a face? lol No. So I skip on anything Im not positive about.
Rule number Two: Always check the expiration dates! Everything edible has an expiration date, even bottled water. This is prolly my worst habit because it takes me forever. I’m an expiration date freak, I check everything for the freshest
makes a huge difference in quality and I totally notice it. Although I love this store, someone needs to keep up with the dairy pulls. It takes me like 20 minutes to do from the cheese’s to the yogurt. I go through everything like a weirdo. I always pull 5 – 10 items off the dairy wall and it irks the hell out of me. One it means that the person/​people who are stocking the dairy are lazy mofo’s cause theyre not rotating the products. Two it means the store manager or whoever does department checks is not catching the expired products. This store is not ghetto and should uphold to it’s standards. The store manager is a nice guy as are the rest of the managers here but i think he spends too much time molesting fruits & vegetables in the produce department rather than checking the quality of the dairy products. He needs to go molest some cheese or something so he can see that there’s outdated products from two weeks back still on the sales floor. The biggest problem here is that not all people check expiration dates especially the older shopper. Check the dates people! It’s vital.
As for the other departments it’s pretty standard. The produce is usually excellent, they seem to check that quite often. The meat dept. is not my fave, I rarely buy meat from here. I dont like the way they bulk package them, just my personal preference. Seafood dept is so so, and not very extensive with the offerings and the prices are higher than other grocery store chains but the quality is good.
The bakery is great. One worker in particular, Dina. She is awesome! Most helpful and friendliest person Ive met here. Her customer service is phenomenal. I also loooooove the bagels here, Jalapeño cheese bagel is the best :)
Majority of the workers here are very pleasant. The cashier’s are great, some are really tita moke’ish but theyre still nice. It’s a good store to shop at. It’s open 24 hrs, the parking lot is huge and it’s in a safe neighborhood.
There’s also a Safeway App for phones and tablets that help with savings. Check it out, it’s pretty cool :)

Every so often when I am in Kailua I will stop by the Safeway on Hamakua Drive to pick up my groceries before I head back home in town. Right in the heart of Kailua town, this location is convenient with plenty of parking available and open 24 hours.
Although some items are slightly higher in price than Don Quiote, they do have a nice selection of fresh produce where the other day I bought some of their extra large nectarines on special. The nectarines were the size of an apple. They were HUGE!
Inside Safeway is a deli, bakery, florist, pharmacy, fresh fish counter and even a Bank of Hawaii where I can do my banking (opens at 10 am).
Safeway provides excellent customer service. They are not only friendly but also helpful by offering to take my groceries to my car which is something that all grocery stores should provide to their customers.

Confession — I parked in the Safeway parking lot and went to have breakfast at Boots & Kimo.
However, I had every intention of shopping at Safeway after breakfast because I wanted to grab some snacks and supplies for hanging out on the beach at Sandys and Makapuu.
However, I opted against the Poke because they were nice enough to post up a sign that the Poke was frozen then thawed. Also, I had made mental notes on prices of various items at other stores so when I noticed that Safeway’s prices were in some cases $.45 higher so I opted to stop off at some local store/​superette to give the local mom & pops some business instead.
Other than the prices, the location seemed older but stocked with the usual necessities one would come to expect from a grocery store. I didn’t have much interaction with the staff so I’m not commenting on the customer service other than to say, I did witness employees helping with groceries out to the cars.

***review highlight: roaches in unsealed bread bags***
now my long sob story:
this safeway is convenient to my apt, and open 24 hours, but last night was the last straw:
last night… I stood patiently in line while earlier customer insisted his dog food was priced wrong… without verification, cashier then sold customer $ 20 bag of premium dog food for about $ 5… then cashier refused to accept my $ 10 safeway coupon I had earned on one of their previous promotions. (he kept the coupon though).
but not taking my $ 10 off Safeway coupon was just the last straw… on previous visits:
–roaches found in unsealed bread bags from bakery dept. they sit out all night so anything can crawl in them… I bought a loaf that had sesame seeds on it… boy was I surprised when some of the «sesame seeds» darted out of the bag at high speed under their own power as I was unpacking my groceries… their juiciness upon being smashed with an open palm revealed that they were not in fact new GMO mutant sesame seeds but simply plain old roaches.
–eggs in a weird display stacked on their side facing forward and stacked high so they are easily and often cracked… expensive and confusingly unpriced as well. no reason for this but laziness… this way they don’t have to actually unpack the egg boxes and rotate the stock
–one night I had to bag my own groceries while two young safeway employees sat on milk crates in the aisle in plain view reading magazines off the magazine display
FOODLAND HERE I COME !

Help! Safeway is holding me hostage… Well, at least in their checkout lines.
This store has so much to offer:
Bakery
Deli
Florist
Drugstore/​Pharmacy
Fish/​Poke counter
and…a small bank inside.
Etc., etc.
It has more products than any other market in the area. What they lack are local products (eggs, dairy, chicken).
Recently the «fast» «15 or less items checkouts: have been closed when I’ve been there. They just installed self checkout… so I’m assuming that they are coercing/​forcing us customers to use the self checkout. That sucks… there are so many people who don’t want to use that. Keep in mind that Kailua has a lot of retirees who refuse to use new technology. I just like that human touch not to mention that someone will bag it for me!
Recently while I was in line…
Only 2 regular checkout/​cashier lines were open.
Line is about 4 deep.
Supervisor (?) shouts out that there are self check out registers available.
No one moves.
No new lanes are opened :(
This has happened 2x to me. I could just imagine my ice cream melting :(
I wonder how many cashiers have had their hours cut (or will be cut), or possibly no new hires because they’re not needed in managements eyes. Maybe it’ll cut down on employees and reduce costs… but so far I haven’t seen prices go down.
I hate, hate, hate waiting in line. When it comes to markets I want to shop, pay ASAP, and be on my way. I’ve got a lot to do! For those of you who haven’t shopped at Safeway in the past they open new checkout lines when it gets busy (3 or more people in line.) Foodland and Times still does this.
So Safeway, I’m going to avoid this store as much as possible and… I’m holding your stars hostage until you stop holding us customers hostage. Please open more check out lines.