PLEASANTON, Calif. -- Safeway Inc., is building its largest fuel station in Oregon and Southwest Washington at its Kelso, Wash., location, and the pumps could start filling tanks by the end of the year, reported The Longview Daily News.
Pleasanton, Calif.-based Safeway is tearing up asphalt and digging holes for gasoline and diesel tanks at the northwest corner of the location's parking lot, company spokesperson Bridget Flanagan said.
Construction will begin in the next week or so, she told the newspaper. She did not know the [image-nocss] exact date of completion, but said the station should be complete by the end of the year.
The fuel station, which is near Interstate 5, will feature six fuel islands with 12 pumps selling both gasoline and diesel at each pump. The station also will have a convenience store selling snacks and drinks, the report said.
Of the 118 Safeways in Oregon and Southwest Washington, this will be the 24th with a fuel station, which have been a profitable venture for the company, Flanagan said.
The new station is being added as the Kelso Safeway is nearing the end of a remodel inside the store. Safeway is in the midst of rebranding its stores as lifestyle stores, which included area stores being repainted recently, Flanagan said. This is all part of our new image. In the past few years, Safeway has remodeled its two Longview stores under the new theme and added in-store Starbucks kiosks.
Separately, another supermarket retailer across the country, Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix Supermarkets Inc., will open a new Publix Pix gas station by the end of the year, along with at least 26 new grocery stores, in addition to nine liquor stores, spokesperson Maria Brous told The Ledger.
Next year, the company plans to introduce two Publix GreenWise Market locations, which emphasize healthy and organic foods, as well as two additional Hispanic-themed Publix Sabor grocery locations in South Florida, the report added.
The Lakeland, Fla.-based company currently operates seven Pix c-stores. And although rumors were circulated earlier this year that it would double or even triple its c-store presence in the near future, Brous told CSP Daily News in May that the rumors were off base and that at best the company may open one more c-store in the next year. We are evaluating new sites, as with everything we do, she told CSP Daily News, but have no current plans for additional sites.
The chain opened a pair of 1,200-sq.-ft. Pix stores in 2001, a second pair of 4,000-sq.-ft. Pix sites in 2002, a 160-sq.-ft. Pix kiosk in 2004, a 1,989-sq.-ft. Pix in 2005 and a 160-sq.-ft. Pix kiosk in May 2006. All the sites are in Florida and all sell gasoline. Two have six islands with two pumps apiece; the others four and eight. All are in outlots of Publix grocery stores.
Brous said Publix is cautious about growing into the c-store channel simply because that's the company's way. It takes us time to plan everything, she said. If you talk to any of the industry leaders, they will tell you that we're not a retailer that would rush into any market.
One of the largest two Pix sites includes a car wash, while both the 4,000-footers have custom sub sandwich stations manned by dedicated employees. The other locations get fresh-made grab-and-go items from their partner grocery stores brought over daily, according to Brous. The two largest Pix serve Publix private-label goods.
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