Controversial SF Fillmore Safeway plans to close after 40 years

The Safeway in San Francisco’s Fillmore District — the only major grocery store in the neighborhood — is slated to close in March, a Safeway spokesperson told SFGATE in a statement on Thursday.

Safeway has agreed to sell 3.68 acres of land at Webster Plaza to Align Real Estate, which plans to build a mixed-use project with housing and commercial retail space, the statement continued. The San Francisco Chronicle was the first to report the impending closure of the store at 1335 Webster St. (the Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms).

“As part of the sale, the Webster Safeway store is expected to close on or around early March,” read the statement from the Safeway spokesperson. “Safeway has proudly served the Fillmore district for 40 years. All associates at the Webster Safeway will be re-assigned to another store in the San Francisco area, and we remain committed to serving San Francisco at our remaining 15 locations.”

The nearest remaining Safeway store will be a little over a mile away at 2020 Market St. in the Castro. A new Trader Joe’s is slated to open in the area, but the build-out has yet to start, reported the Chronicle.

“The developer purchasing the land at Webster Plaza is excited about this opportunity,” Safeway’s statement said. “San Francisco has struggled with housing shortages and Safeway sees this as an opportunity to positively impact the community and be part of a solution to bring much needed additional housing to San Francisco.”