Well , the grocery bit is alright and you can get most stuff you are looking for but the loitering and the trash splattered across the entrance etc. is very unwelcoming . The security doesn't do much and it feels like an unsafe location at times just at par with the one in Downtown . The shopping carts are never there and its hard to even locate shopping baskets . I am not saying that the houseless needs to be removed from the entrance or not allowed to enter but if they are actively threatening customers , someone needs to come and stop that .Yelling and forcing people for change can feel unsafe for a lot of us and that needs to be actively monitored. Apart from that the store is well stocked and organized and the staff is helpful. read more

Abandoned car in parking garage - been there over 6 months. Contributes to a feeling of unsafeness in a parking garage with frequent activity by addicted street people. Garage smells of urine. read more

Im really unhappy with no handles on paper bags it is so hard to carry bags that way and they were not prepared for the discontinued pennies by updating their prices so in the meantime no cash in their self checkouts does the owners of safeway even care about their customers. read more

Now the self-checkouts haven't been taking cash as payment or doing cash back for weeks, so people are forced to go into their anti-theft corral fire hazard. Continuously hostile to paying customers. read more

Smells like urine! I have never needed to go to this location but had to go here for a delivery shop. I am so beyond grateful I just needed two items since I genuinely (on a Monday no less) felt like I was in a post apocalyptic wasteland or something. First, just approaching the store... I drove around to try to park, discovering that there is the one front entrance so all the parking there was taken and the whole front has an entire encampment of pan handlers and houseless hanging out. My 'issue' is mobility - I have a cane and my stems don't bend well at times so having to navigate around people is a challenge. When driving around the building I see parking garage for it so I happily went there and grabbed a great ADA spot right by the door. I opened my car door and WOW, urine odor which did not fade when I got it the elevator covered in graffiti. I walked into the entrance to FOUR security people which made me feel the opposite of 'safe'... I got to ask three different people if I could get the bathroom code...they do not even trust that and instead code you in and hold the door to the DESTROYED bathroom. I did the hover pee... you know what I am talking about... And it's a bathroom and maybe I was still recovering from the elevator but all I smelled was urine though the floor and everything was just covered in various debris. I know the neighborhood is a lot and they deal with a lot but just wow. Off to shopping and I am glad I noticed that to get beer I have to go to the 'special' anti theft section which just basically means you wait in a VERY long line with two cashier's so you can get Pabst and Tide pods. I needed one other thing so I wandered, grabbed that so I could check out with it and the beer I needed for my customer. The people in here shopping also look like they are just getting mostly 1-2 things they really at the moment needed. This store I cannot imagine actually doing shopping at. Their grab and go food seems to be what people are getting versus an actual grocery shop. The aisles are tight for using an actual cart. It felt more like a convenience store in the worst location. read more

Safeway - 7/29/2024 - The garage reeks like urine! - Grocery Near Me - Portland, Oregon

(APRIL 2024) You cannot bring a backpack or backpack purse in this store due to high theft. The police presence was pretty strong and so were the unsavory humans. Exercise precaution and plan accordingly if you are walking to and from here. We got a lot of what we needed for the store so that was a plus! read more

Safeway - Grocery Near Me - Portland, Oregon

Monday, February 9 7:30 PM-watched one guy work retail register as there was a line of 52 people waiting they just pointed out him and laughed, and he just kept saying he couldn't wait to quit as we all waited in line. It took me 49 minutes to check out to buy two cans of cat food and a bottle of detergent I've never seen anything like that with over 12 employees just pointing and laughing and just one guy in glasses on the register. read more

We stopped by here because we were in the area and I wanted to get some soda. We found parking easily on the street in front of the store because we came around 9pm. I think you can't take the cart outside because there are steps to exit the building. I found the soda easily and they had a special where if you buy 2, you get 1 free. We also got some chips as well along with some chocolate. I used the self checkout, but the scanner gun wasn't working so I had to manually scan each item. They also have security at the entrance for extra security. read more

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I'm giving this Safeway 3 stars for the sake of the hardworking employees- probably should be a two due to everything else. Location is In the heart of downtown SW Portland, near the PSU campus, this is a smaller Safeway, but has basically everything other Safeways has. There is a parking garage to park with stairs & elevator, or pay for street parking. There is a pharmacy inside, and also a Starbucks. Customer service sometimes opens later at noon; not always a bakery person. The deli succeeds very well here. They have a small bottle deposit in the garage, but only can deposit 24 cans. Can be relatively busy for the small size. Also, fyi, one bathroom that is constantly being used. Next to a couple bus lines. read more

Safeway - Downtown Jefferson St. Safeway - Grocery Near Me - Portland, Oregon

The one and only thing they have is the location and monopoly in the area. No other grocery stores nearby. You have to be your own loss prevention so that you don't sustain losses. Check receipts to make sure you weren't overcharged. Check dates on anything expiration dates and freshness are relevant. Sometimes crazies grab things, abandon them inside the store and I believe they just put them right back on the shelf. Sketchy characters shop inside and linger outside, garage reeks of urine and you're swarmed by panhandlers at the entrance. This place would not be in business if people had choice to shop elsewhere. read more

BEWARE OF BUYING GIFT CARDS FROM THIS LOCATION. I purchased a gift card for $500, and it only had $50 on it. The store said their cashier logs weren't over, but under by about $260, which has nothing to do with me, and definitely isn't my fault. This is a terrible way to try and make up for short registers, and another sign of wildly incompetent employees, like the woman that did my gift card. When I asked them to review the video that has the money clearly going into the register, they said everything looked fine, and nothing was out of the norm. I'm sure the lady didn't do it intentionally, but her entering the wrong amount screwed me out of my money - $450.00 which was going to get gifts, and pay bills. I was a regular customer, and didn't have an issue until this happened. BEWARE, as gift cards are an incredibly common item that is purchased this time of year, and this could very easily be you. - UPDATE - After this was posted, this issue was finally resolved. It took some back and forth with a bunch headaches, but this has finally been dealt with. Please be careful when purchasing gift cards and make sure they are activated with the correct amount. Have a safe holiday season. read more

Had to leave my grocery bag from another store in the front with three armed security guards. Came back to discover someone stole all the food out of it - leftovers I scrounged from work for the Thanksgiving I'm spending alone. I told the guards who were standing around talking to each other what happened. They just said okay and carried on. Thanks a lot. Super secure. read more

I realize that this might not be the greatest job in the world, but this location has some of the rudest employees I have ever encountered. Normally a Safeway/Albertsons employee is very helpful at most locations. The Safeway employees here act like you are a problem that needs to be dismissed. As someone who lives downtown (just a block away) I depend on this location for my grocery shopping needs. I realize they have to deal with the growing challenges with the opioid and homeless problem that is downtown. I do sympathize. That is not excuse for the rudeness that most of their employees show to all of the customers that shop there. Don't get me wrong, there are some good employees at this location, butt... As usual, there are times of trouble. I went in for a few things tonight, I went through self check out. Even though there were several registers that had the flashing help needed light flashing, I found 5 employees laughing and talking at the end of self check out. When I walked by them I said, "Thanks for the good service." They looked at me like I was a super inconvenience to their good time. All 5 of them looked at me like I should get f***ed. I never leave bad reviews for establishments, I just choose to never go back. I, unfortunately have been dealing with this for 2 years. It hasn't gotten any better in that time!!! Since this is my only option for groceries in downtown, I hope management will make this better. Thank you for reading this wall of text. Hopefully, this will get better. read more

Underground parking lot full of unwell people doing drugs, some barely clothed. Underground lot smells like pee and poo, the ground is sticky. There are needles and other drug paraphenalia (foil, pipes) all over the parking lot. Above ground, on the sidewalk, lots of panhandlers and obviously intoxicated and drugged out people. Avoid. read more

Negative 5 stars I said I would never go back to Safeway but I did. After shopping for 1 1/2 hours and spending over $600. I sat down about 10' away from the door outside. I'm older and needed to rest for a few minutes before I pulled my wagon the 2 blocks home. I was told I was not allowed to set there even for a couple minutes. The people are rude, store filthy, and food prices high. I'm going back to the other non-Safeway store I have been going to for the last 6 months. Do not go to Safeway unless you want to be treated like garbage and pay high prices. read more

I think that this Safeway serves the Portland downtown area well and I appreciate that they continue to do so and have not left the area. However, I think that the quality of the store shows due to the downtown issues. The store itself was a bit dirty and the parking garage smelled horrible. There were also quite a few empty shelves, potentially due to short staffing. read more

Apparently we have to leave purses and bags at the front door now??? This is the worst safeway I think I've ever been to and I avoid it at all costs. Produce never looks fresh or they don't have what I need for other basic food items. Workers and security hassle customers if they do bring bags in. It's never a pleasant feeling shopping here. read more

Everything is well cleaned and ready for shopping, a safe and secure environment for your shopping

A better Safeway experience than I have had in recent past. Bright, airy, with good natural light. It seems to have the usual selection you'd expect at Safeway: overwhelming choice while still not quite having what I need. For a short stay in the area it worked well for a few meals at our short term rental. Parking underground is a little smelly, but felt safe and was convenient. read more

Zero stars, absolutely terrible and rapidly getting worse. It's filthy, the shelves are rarely full, and lately it feels like it's being run by the TSA. The staff used to be fine, now I feel as though I'm entering a high-security area where I'm being treated as an enemy. They are making customers leave their backpacks by the front door in rows of handle baskets. This area is only occasionally guarded by the security team. Twice on recent visits I've seen the person watching the bags leave the area. And now they are saying that people cannot wear their across-the-shoulder purses inside. You know, the purses we wear diagonally to be safe downtown so people won't snatch them from our arms and run. This is a terrible policy. I expect any business I frequent to show respect for my belongings and valuables. I should not be expected to leave my purse sitting in a basket by the door - how exactly am I supposed to shop this way? Where am I supposed to put my wallet? My phone? How is it safe to leave customer's personal belongings in baskets by the door? It would be so easy for the people doing drugs out front to dash in, grab a backpack or purse, and run. I'm not leaving my valuables sitting by the door for anyone to grab, that's an absolutely absurd policy, and one that will keep paying customers away. To make matters worse, they are now aggressively enforcing a 15-item limit at the self-service checkout. They had a person counting the items in each basket in a way that again made me feel like I was at the airport. I witnessed a customer with a shopping cart being yelled at by a clerk for having more than 15 items. The clerk then immediately escalated the situation and had the man escorted out by security. It was a very bad experience. I felt like I was dealing with the TSA, not a customer service worker. After nearly 10 years of shopping at this location, I'm making arrangements to buy my food elsewhere. Any store that treats customers this way derserves to close. read more

This UnSafeway is always my last resort. Unfortunately it's the closest to my home so sometimes when I'm in need of an ingredient and short on time, I make a quick stop. Every time I say to myself, I'm never coming back. I've actually written a review before and somehow it disappeared. Really not happy when YELP does that and it seems to happen more and more frequently. Since my last review of this Safeway location, I'm going down another star to just one. Unfortunately there is no option for zero stars. A few days ago I purchased a bag of mandarin oranges and when I got home and emptied the sack, more than half were rotten and moldy. Yesterday I brought them to the store to exchange for a bag of edible oranges. Because I didn't have the receipt, they wouldn't let me exchange for a new bag. Of course I gave them my Safeway card number, and from previous experience I know they can look up my number and see that I did indeed pay for this bag of mandarin oranges, but the customer service rep refused. And was extremely rude. Said it would take too long. The guy before me took several minutes to gather his pockets of change to purchase cigarettes, and he had time fir that, but no time to key in my phone number to view the receipt. Meanwhile, other customers walk the store without masks, stand in line with zero distance in between, fill their pockets and backpacks with items, camp out front, do drugs in the doorway, bring in their filthy pets - and they allow that! But a paying customer with proof of purchase for an item that should never have been on the produce floor due to the poor quality, and they refuse to assist. That was officially my last visit to the UnSafeway on Jefferson. Done. read more

They seize your bag at the door and make you put it on a dirty carpet an arms-reach from the front entrance. The security personnel are so frazzled and distracted by how this policy is going that no doubt the ever-watchful myriad homeless sitting right outside will have ample opportunity to snatch at the stack of customers' bags. My bar was already low for this dirty, uncomfortable, and poorly managed store. I was already tolerating the ridiculous policy of having to buy toiletries at one register and the rest of your items at another. It was already far from ideal that the clerks and workers are frequently moody and unhelpful. But the introduction of the backpack seizure has rendered it unusable as a commercial establishment for me. It's like an experiment in how badly you can manage a store before it becomes intolerable to shoppers. I guess we finally have an answer. read more

It's called Unsafeway and Danger Safeway for many reasons. It is the most unsafe place. They also sell recalled food.

I like this Safeway for the speed you can get in and out-very shoppable. Also for the way the staff keep the shelves stocked and ready for you and how they do a pretty decent job keeping it clean especially considering where it is located. The cons - you can expect to get hit up for money entering and leaving the store, sometimes even inside of the store. I am a bleeding heart more often than not and shopping here costs me a few extra bucks, but if someone is genuinely in need then so be it. Good store, well lit and accessible. read more

For weeks now, there have been no carts and no hand baskets available when going to Safeway during non-peak hours. Walking around the store, you see maybe a dozen carts total in use. I've been frequenting this location for the past year and a half and it somehow managed to get worse. I assume the increase in homelessness and the sudden disappearance of carts/baskets is not a coincidence. And good luck purchasing simple products like deodorant, laundry detergent, artificial drink mixes, etc. because they're all locked up in the middle of the store. I understand that it's due to theft, but they have a maximum of 2 cashiers covering that area and it creates a huge bottleneck. If this Safeway wasn't the one of the only grocery stores in Downtown (aside from Fred Meyer, which is no peach either), they would've been dead and gone a long time ago. If you're coming here, bring your own cart/basket if you can, otherwise you'll just be holding it all in your arms as you waddle through the store. Simply put, this store is in a terrible area, the management clearly doesn't care about the customers, and the food is overpriced. They've only made it as far as they have because they hold a monopoly on the area. I highly recommend you avoid this location. You're better off foraging for food. read more

only pro was being open til twelve, now its closed at 10 so why bother. Not worth day time shopping at all.

Poor selection on food and customer service is lacking. Often many thefts happen here daily, always running out of eggs and blaming suppliers. I've even witnessed misinformation of product due to staff not having real knowledge of food. Store is much like a prison like so many now are would not surprise me if they closed this year. read more

Asked me to leave my backpack with my MacBook in it at the front right next to all the homeless people. What a load of crap. Lost my business. Garbage store and security guy. read more

I bought a marked down loin here today with a freeze by date of 7/29, when I opened it I immediately smelled that it had gone very bad. I used to work in the meat dep't and that says to me that the whole section was stored warm somewhere for way too long. I'm guessing they knew about it and just marked this rotting meat down to save on shrink. Long story short, don't buy meat here. read more

This is by far the worst Safeway I have shopped in. I have tried several times and here are the issues: No shopping carts Homeless people at every door asking for money or food Can't take shopping carts farther than the door-to your car Filthy store and filthy people Batteries are locked up Limited selection compared to other stores. I hate this store read more

One of the worst grocery stores I've been too, consistently late with pickup orders (have waited as long as 30 minutes after the pickup time), 0 care for customer service, and constantly finding new ways to inconvenience customers. Just find somewhere else to go read more

I watched them turn away a disabled man today saying they didn't let people in with bags. It wasn't a bag, it was a walker. The man couldn't walk. He tried to explain to them and the really awful security guards told him to leave. Really awful violation of basic human decency and feels very illegal. read more

There is apparently a new "policy" that does not allow bags into the store. I had rode my scooter up to the store, and was not about to turn around and ride back home to drop it off. They stated I could leave it up front (on the dirty floor). I replied with "that is not a law you can legally enforce" because guess what? It's not. I went directly up to the self check out where I got my energy drink (the only thing I came for) and paid for my item. While checking out I was approached by another employee that told me about the policy and that I could be barred from grocery shopping if I do not comply. I said "well, if it gets stolen while it's up front will you be held liable for my lost bag + items?" No is the answer. So basically yall want us to leave any bag rather large purse or backpack up front on the floor by the front door where someone could easily steal it but will not be held liable for stolen items. So when it comes to individual property, feel free to steal our bags? But groceries that are astronomically priced priced and necessary for human life that are occasionally stolen is a no no? Okay corporate greed, your businesses days are numbered - can't wait to see yall shut down because nobody shops there. *kisses* read more

Good variety and selection of produce, deli and dairy products, meat selection not the finest. Adding to difficulty in navigating store was the fact that staff were out stock shelves in the middle of the day and added to difficultly getting through store. read more

Only reason I even visit this location is because I'm a student at PSU and sometimes I want to grab an inexpensive snack if I've got a lengthy break in between classes. However don't really think I'm gonna be coming back here unless they get rid of that policy that backpacks have to be left at the front of the store. The security guards aren't watching the bags left up there at all, 90% of the time I've come here they're either arguing with the homeless people outside or just chatting amongst themselves instead of doing their jobs. Like I said, I only really come here in between my classes, and I'm incredibly uncomfortable leaving my backpack that has my laptop & occasionally other expensive items like my AirPods and Nintendo switch inside it in a location where it would be incredibly easy for someone to just snatch it up. There are other ways to prevent theft like checking receipts as people exit the store or installing more security cameras, forcing people to leave their bags at the front of the store with poor guarding is just gonna make you lose customers. I'd rather spend a couple extra dollars and get my snacks from the student store atp, it's just not worth the risk. read more

I have no idea why they think I am going to go in and talk to the "manager" when I have had numerous problems there, they are the closest grocery store to where I live and I would rather go all the way to the other Safeway than go here but sometimes I have to which I ABSOLUTELY HATE!!!! read more

March 2023 edit/update: Changing from 1 star to 2 stars because there seems to be an increased security guard presence and they seem to be doing their jobs well. Recently saw them throw out someone who was trying to buy stuff that apparently seemed trespassed (good). Today, saw them catch a shoplifter (good). Please keep this up, start mopping the parking garage stairs frequently (as they're often smelly and sticky likely due to the bottle drop nearby) and I may go from 2 stars to 3. read more

This Safeway used to be fine, but recently added a terrible second checkout to get some basic items. The cashiers in the secondary checkout were incredibly slow and added an extra 10 minutes for me to grab some deodorant. Then I nearly rescanned the deodorant at the second checkout. I understand security for stolen items, but why not create more jobs by hiring someone to monitor the aisle rather than building new walls and registers to make the process of shopping more confusing and time consuming. read more

THIS IS A RACIST STORE. I am a racially ambiguous person, but I am perceived as dominantly African American. There has been a recent increase in low-income minorities within the area and stealing has gotten worse here. Thats another issue in itself, but the security at this Safeway has decided to take a lazy solution for this, which has resulted in profiling to the highest degree. I am halted and denied entry unless I remove personal items and leave them with "security" at the side of the main entrance door, next to where everyone has to walk, since this is the only entrance... This is 24/7 while they are open. Being a student, I carry my most valuable possessions I own with me to attend class. Already I am concerned with how safe my stuff could be left here. If you go into the store, you will see a multitude of mainly white women carrying bags similar or bigger than mine in the store at the same time. Why did they not have to take theirs off? When I directly asked the security of this, I was shooed off with "I guess they just slipped right past me." It is not just one or two, there will be a handful of people with bags, all following similar descriptions that would imply that they are targeting certain people they take their bags from. (This is also the only Safeway I have ever been to that has security make people remove items before entry). Other times while dealing with, in particular, a handful of employees who work the self-checkout. There are specific instances that I have in mind, that when I have been blatantly disrespected by other customers, I attempted to have the employee at least correct the foul play (One example is someone walking right in front of me to take a register as I'm putting my stuff down to use it). Being a male of my color, it is not my place to make a commotion about these sorts of things because very rarely go in my favor without the assistance of non-colored people opinions. To my surprise, the employees just look me in the face and tell security on the radio "There's a black male threat in front of me. He won't go back to the end of the line; will someone make sure he leaves." I couldn't do anything but cackle because I was astonished that was their perception of the situation. I understand there can be plenty of misunderstandings, but unfortunately this store has made me a victim to too many of them for it to be considered coincidental anymore. So, I will not be coming back, and I will just be letting anyone else know in the future ~ THIS IS A RACIST STORE. read more

Not allowing customers to bring in backpacks, and making customers leave those bags on the sidewalk, is ridiculous. I'm assuming at some point this policy will be reversed, but I'm not going back until then. Just a stupid short-sighted "solution" that's going to cause even more revenue problems for a store that absolutely isn't actually having revenue problems like they'd like to imply. read more