After SF’s most embattled and controversial Safeway location closed in February, tens of thousands of San Franciscans found themselves unexpectedly far from an affordable grocer overnight.
Nearly 39 million Americans — over 10% of the country’s population — live within food deserts, where people reside comparably long distances from a supermarket. (Those in urban areas further than one mile from a grocery outlet are in food desert parameters; for rural Americans, that distance jumps to ten miles.) In San Francisco, around 600 local communities live in low food access.
When the Safeway location at 1335 Webster Street closed earlier this month, it created a chasm of affordable food that reached far beyond the Fillmore District where it was addressed. Residents in the shoulder neighborhoods found themselves in areas of fresh grocery scarcity overnight.
Why? That Safeway location was the only large, affordably priced grocer within a mile north, east, and west of the store. Yes, one could argue the closest Whole Foods location, which is just shy of a mile from the now-shuttered grocer, sits as an oasis, but the Amazon-owned food giant’s products and produce sit well above average-priced food goods; the California Street location also sits on one of the steepest hills in downtown, a potential mobility concern for seniors and those not able-bodied.
A smattering of bodegas and boutique specialty food stores dot the areas once served by the Fillmore District Safeway. Still, none exist inside the nexus of affordability, health, and goods diversity once touted by the Albertsons Companies-owned store.
In a strange, ostensibly unpredictable game of musical chairs — through competitive elimination — the new Haye’s Valley’s new Trader Joe’s location at 555 Fulton Street, which was more than a decade in the making, now exists as the sole affordable food store in at least a mile and a half in any single cardinal direction.
For residents of the neighborhood and nearby communities, its importance cannot be underscored enough, particularly with growing grocery prices.
“This [Trader Joe’s location] is the only place I can go grocery shopping now and not overspend,” says Sandra Ruiz, a 42-year-old who lives in the Western Addition with her two small dogs. Ruiz, who made a concerted effort to start aggressively saving this year— a decision fueled by fears of a potential looming recession and joining a larger collective who are part of the No Buy 2025 movement to curb consumer spending — shops at least twice a week at the location. A large tote bag slinks over her left shoulder, she later adding that the walk back carrying pounds of produce and other goods is her “workout for the day”
The shopping experience, too, is more pleasant and time-saving for Ruiz — “the line moves faster here [than they did at Safeway], and I don’t suffer from having to choose from so many options of basically the same thing.”
Since November of 2020, grocery prices in the United States have increased by 28% across the board. Certain, especially those (think curated meats and cheeses) commonly fetch prices that are 35% more than they did five years ago.
Trump’s tariffs placed on Mexican and Canadian goods earlier this month will see imported products from those countries taxed by as much as 25% in some cases; earlier last week, Trump (in an overtly Trumpian fashion) feverishly declared Canadian dairy products could see a tax as high as 250%. There’s simply no universe in which these levied taxes by the federal government will translate to savings for consumers.
Accumulated surveys and studies have historically shown shopping at Trader Joe’s offers savings of 30% on average compared to regional rivals … like Safeway and Whole Foods. When (not if, but when) Trump’s imposed tariffs begin affecting food costs, the same savings percentage is likely to continue, as these price increases will have a unilateral effect across grocery companies.
For a while, it seemed like the Trader Joe’s in Hayes Valley would never see a ribbon cutting. But thanks in no small part to the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association (HVNA) and their advocacy work for the neighborhood.
“The arrival of [Trader Joe’s] was a long time in the making, and we are thrilled that they held fast to their commitment to bring a healthy, affordable grocery store to Hayes Valley,” writes Lloyd Silverstein, president of the HVNA’s Merchants Council. “Trader Joe’s has a history of engaging with the neighborhoods where they locate, and we look forward to them being a stalwart community partner.”
With the next four years presumably being trailed by contention, inflation, and general unsteadiness — in the economy; in the country’s democracy; in how we see America’s relationship with world leaders, organizations, and allied entities — it’s reassuring to know the Trader Joe’s in Hayes Valley will continue selling affordable goods. And, too, offer respite inside one of San Francisco’s lesser-known food deserts.
