The Safeway store in Whalley is set to close for good.
On Thursday (Feb. 18), staff were told that the longtime retail outlet would shut its doors on Saturday, May 29.
The Sobeys-owned grocery store, located at King George Boulevard and 104th Avenue, sits on prime land, just east of the towering Civic Hotel and Surrey City Hall.
It’s not yet clear whether the store will be re-branded or if the building will be knocked down for redevelopment of the site.
A Sobeys media relations representative confirmed the pending store closure in an email to the Now-Leader.
“The decision to close a store is never taken lightly,” the unsigned email reads. “There are a number of factors that are taken into consideration when making the decision to close a store. We are very thankful to the Surrey community for shopping our store and hope they will continue to shop with us at our nearby Safeway Fleetwood location.”
The company is working “closely with our teammates and the union and will continue to throughout the transition,” the email continued. “We are sincerely grateful for our teammates’ commitment and dedicated service to Safeway. We are also committed to supporting employees as they transition to new roles within our business or outside of the Company.
“All of our pharmacy patients will be transferred to the new pharmacy location to ensure there is no interruption in patience care. Our pharmacy team will be in touch with patients directly to provide transfer information.”
The store is located a block north of the former Stardust roller rink building, demolished Feb. 13 to make way for a 49-storey tower on the site.
• RELATED STORY/PHOTOS: Surrey’s old Stardust building demolished to make way for 49-storey tower
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