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Starbucks - in Safeway
One review for Starbucks - in Safeway
1 review in English
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Review from Alain S.
Edmonton, AB
8/10/2010 3 photos
In Starbucks' effort to dominate the coffee world, it has adopted a strategy of masses of stores to wake up the world. At 97 St. and 137 Ave you have the choice of four Starbucks stores and the one I'm in today is inside of Safeway.
If you were only looking for coffee, I suppose it would be fine. Looking at it from the perspective of a mobile workspace, it's highly undesirable.
While Starbucks may have made a wise business decision in terms of expanding the reach of its brand, I think they've muddied it by putting their stores in Safeway. That's not to say that it can't be done well, but it's usually best if it's a space which is set aside, as often happens with Starbucks located in Chapters or Indigo. Coffee and books are complementary.
Locating a Starbucks in Safeway would be like finding a Gucci bag at Wal-Mart. It loses its cachet. It's just not special.
If you just want coffee, this location is fine, if you want to work, then forget it. Its main problems are the wireless and power.
Busyness - fairly steady throughout the day. You can enjoy the beeping as people run their groceries through the self-checkout.
Noisiness - actually it's less noisy than many other Starbucks that I've been in. You listen to Safeway's music choices and not Starbucks though.
Ambience - part of the reason I go to Starbucks is for the environment and experience. If I only wanted coffee, I could buy the beans and go home. Unfortunately the Safeway/Starbucks experience is as charming as a doctor's office.
Power - I hope you have a fresh, fully-charged laptop battery because you have no power here! This space is not friendly to laptop users.
Free wifi - It's great that the wifi is available, but you only get it as long as your laptop battery holds out. Oh, and it would help if you could connect to the unsecured wireless. Groan.
Staff - I can't knock the staff at all. They're quite friendly and, as it turns out, I know one of them.
Seating - The seating area has no windows, generic fluorescent lighting and the walls have chipped paint. The tables are a decent size though. The bench seats at the back are comfortable and there's seating for 25. A window or two would be a nice addition.
Security - It's a Safeway, so there are all sorts of people coming through. A laptop security cable would be wise if you have to head to the washroom. Wait. Where is the washroom? Like most grocery stores, you'll end up in the bowels of the building before you find a place to relieve yourself.Listed in: Starbucks Edmonton
