SF Fillmore Safeway closure date pushed back to 2025 after agreement with city
SAN FRANCISCO – A Safeway store in San Francisco's Fillmore District that was slated to close in March will remain open for another year, city officials announced Monday.
According to a statement from Mayor London Breed's office, the city and Safeway reached an agreement to extend services at the store on Webster Street until early next year.
"The Webster Street Safeway is more than a grocery store - it serves as a space that brings together and builds community for the Fillmore neighborhood, which is home to many senior citizens and families," Breed said. "I appreciate Safeway for being a good community partner to San Francisco, and their willingness to engage in a collaborative discussion to lift up this neighborhood's needs now and in the future."
Residents who rely on the store expressed shock earlier this month when Safeway abruptly announced the store would be closing after the site was sold to Align Real Estate. The new owner is planning to build a new mixed-use development with housing and commercial space at the location.
President of the San Francisco branch of the NAACP Dr. Rev. Amos Brown told CBS News Bay Area following the Jan. 4 announcement that the closure was a case of history repeating itself in the Filmore and would create a food desert.
"This community has been economically deprived for 50 years, and its time we stopped this kind of exclusionary and gentrifying activity," Brown said at the time.
On Monday, the NAACP praised the agreement to keep the store open into next year.
"We believe the next step is to involve the community in whatever happens next to the Safeway on Webster Street," Brown said. "Our community was wronged in the urban renewal movement which drove inner city Blacks out of the Fillmore. We believe that whatever happens next should directly involve the community. We want a good faith and cooperative effort to have conversations about the future not just of the Safeway, but our community in the Fillmore."
According to the mayor's office, the extension would allow for more time for the city and the site's new owner to work with the community and to consider plans for the site where the grocery store is located.
"We have decided to extend the closing date to January 2025 to give the community and the City more time to establish a transition plan," Safeway said in a statement. "Beyond the closure, we will continue to serve this community with our grocery delivery services and will work with our customers to transfer their prescriptions to another Safeway location or a location of their choice. We remain committed to serving San Francisco at our remaining 15 locations."
