Valdez' Supermarket, Eagle Quality Center, Looks Like It's Dodged Safeway's Bullet

VALDEZ WAS ONCE THE COPPER VALLEY'S SUPPLY TOWN 

Carrs-Safeway Stores All Over Alaska Marked For Sale To Piggly Wiggly Company 

Old Valdez.
 Supplies for both the Copper Valley and Fairbanks came into the docks and then dragged up the trail past Copper Center and Gakona to the city of Fairbanks. Horses with sleds were frequently used. (Photo, Valdez Museum) 

Valdez's Eagle Quality Center Not On The Hit List 

On Tuesday, July 9th, 2024, Albertson's – which owns both Carrs-Safeway and Fred Meyer – announced that 18 Alaskan Carrs-Safeway stores would be sold to the company that operates Piggly Wiggly down in the Lower 48. It's a controversial merger. Over 500 Safeway stores will be sold around the nation to the New Hampshire firm. Safeway is a well-known American brand. 

Safeway stores all over Alaska are on the list for being sold, too.  

Fred Meyer's website says it has Fred Meyer-branded stores in 7 Alaska cities. And, apparently Alaska's Fred Meyer stores will remain unscathed. 

But stores in places with both Safeways and Fred Meyers facilities – Anchorage, Palmer, Eagle River, Soldotna, Fairbanks, Wasilla and Juneau –  could find themselves with only Fred Meyer stores.

In Palmer, where large Fred Meyer and Carrs-Safeway stores are located right across the street from each other, the Safeway store will be sold. 

Not all Safeway stores in Alaska will be sold off, though. It looks like five of Alaska's 23 Carrs-Safeway stores will remain in operation – by Safeway – though that is not completely clear.  

The Eagle store in Valdez is not on the official sales list that's been published around the state in the media. So Valdez looks like it's been saved to live another day. 

It's a close call. Despite its name, the Eagle Quality Center of Valdez is a subset of Safeway; it's somewhat smaller, with different branding – but the store's website hooks up with the Safeway site. Eagle Quality in Valdez is definitely a Safeway, too. One that seems to have dodged the bullet. 

If Valdez's Eagle Quality Center is added to the closure list eventually, that could leave the Alaskan seaside coastal town of almost 4,000 people – and many summer workers and visitors – in what is known as a "food desert." A food desert is a place where you can't buy groceries. Many food deserts are located in crowded inner cities, where people have to buy groceries at Dollar Stores because they have no other options. 

Although Valdez looks safe for now, the closures aren't necessarily sensitive to the actual needs of small Alaskan communities. 

One of the stores listed for closure by Albertson's is a little corner grocery called Crow Creek Mercantile in Girdwood, which – incongruously – is also a Safeway store. 

The Crow Creek Mercantile is the only grocery store in Girdwood, and has the air and feel of a country store. Girdwood's population is around 2,500 according to its visitor bureau. It lies 40 miles from Anchorage on Turnagain Arm, over a difficult, heavily-traveled highway. This closure might leave the ski resort town's population without a place to buy groceries. 

Eight of the stores in Alaska scheduled to be sold are in Anchorage, sprinkled around town. Another is in Eagle River. Two more are in Fairbanks. There is one in Juneau. Another is in Kenai City. One is in Soldotna. There's the big store in Palmer, and one in Wasilla. Then there's a Safeway in North Pole. 

Meanwhile, as Safeways are shut down, Three Bears, an Alaskan grocery chain which had its start in Tok, continues a massive expansion project. There is no Three Bears at the current time in Valdez, but decades ago, before its resounding current success, Three Bears did operate warehouses there, in a stripped-down format, at two locations.