By Rachel Swan
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Every Safeway shopper in El Cerrito has a pet conspiracy theory about why company brass rearranged the grocery aisles.
Years ago, the aisles were separated into two rows, with a gap in between for shopping cart passage. That all changed with the pandemic, when store workers consolidated the shelves so they extended from the checkout stands to the pharmacy in back.
The design, more redolent of a warehouse than a traditional supermarket, can feel disorienting. And Safeway’s explanation — that front-to-back aisles help maximize space and “improve product adjacencies”— only added to the mystery. Toni Favila, who was outside the store on a recent morning, said she suspects that the long, unbroken aisles provide better sight lines for store security. Others swore up and down that the layout traps customers so they buy more groceries.
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