‘Food access is being taken away from us’: Colorado Springs braces for impacts of Safeway closures
Breeanna Jent, The Gazette
Days after Safeway announced two supermarkets in Colorado Springs will close this fall, part of the company’s broader plans to shutter 10 stores statewide, the community is bracing for the ripple effect the closures will have.
When learning of the news last week, one shopper stood with her jaw open in disbelief. Many shoppers at the Safeway located near the intersection of Murray and East Fountain boulevards offered only few words, mainly that it was troubling to see the store go.
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For those with vehicles, there are other ready options nearby on South Academy Boulevard.
Others find themselves in a so-called food desert, with few grocery shopping options in easy reach — impacting their personal time and their wallets as they trek farther away from home for food, said Yevgeniya “Yev” Tsyganok. She is the food pantry manager at Solid Rock Community Development Corporation and the leader of the Southeast Food Coalition.
“It’s surprising because we need more food access, and food access is being taken away from us,” Tsyganok said of the impending Safeway closures at 5060 N. Academy Blvd. and 1425 S. Murray Blvd. The supermarkets will close on or by Nov. 7, Safeway said.
The front doors and windows of the Safeway at 1425 S. Murray Blvd. in southeastern Colorado Springs were pasted with sale signs Friday. The store is one of two Colorado Springs locations expected to close on or by Nov. 7, Safeway said.
She recalled the months of June to November 2023, when the southeastern Colorado Springs community temporarily lost a King Soopers location at 2910 S. Academy Blvd. The store closed for several months after a remodel project revealed the presence of asbestos.
Area residents at the time said grocery cost, transportation to stores and lack of supply at alternative grocery locations were already issues they faced when obtaining fresh food — problems the King Soopers closure exacerbated.
Southeastern Colorado Springs is already a food desert, Tsyganok said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food deserts as areas with limited access to healthy and affordable food. Typically, a grocery store can serve an area within a 1-mile radius, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“This feels like we’re going backward … We shouldn’t have to go outside our community to have (the same) access as other areas in our city to healthy food options,” she said.
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Residents at the Silver Key Apartments at Murray can walk across the street to the Safeway on Murray Boulevard, do their shopping and return. Soon, they’ll have to journey about a mile and cross Academy Boulevard to the nearest grocer, a Walmart Neighborhood Market, for their groceries. That’s something not all of the residents will be able to do, said Jason DeaBueno, president and CEO of Silver Key Senior Services.
There are fifty units at the Silver Key apartment building located at 1575 S. Murray Blvd.
And with the two impending Safeway closures in north-central and southeast Colorado Springs, there will be no other Safeway locations within about four miles from either, a Gazette analysis found. On Friday, these two stores were not listed among Safeway’s 10 Colorado Springs locations on its website.
This map shows Colorado Springs Safeway locations. The red dots indicate the two locations that are closing: 5060 N. Academy Blvd. and 1425 S. Murray Blvd.
There will only be one traditional grocery store or big box retailer that sells groceries within a mile of either store, The Gazette found. In Colorado Springs city limits, there are also 12 King Soopers, nine Walmarts and four Targets.
A Walmart Neighborhood Market located about a mile southeast of the Safeway off South Murray is the closest alternative for those shoppers. There are two more Walmarts and a King Soopers within three-and-a-half miles, The Gazette found.
A Target at 5240 N. Academy, located in the same retail center as the Safeway at 5060 N. Academy, is the closest grocery alternative. There are two King Soopers, two Walmarts and a Sprouts Farmers Market within three miles.
The Safeway at 5060 N. Academy Blvd. in Colorado Springs is pictured on Friday. Signs were pasted on the supermarket’s windows to advertise its closing sales.
Tsyganok said the closure of the Safeway on North Academy will hurt too, because it’s within walking distance of several apartment complexes. It is also along a public bus route.
When one supermarket closes, others nearby absorb its displaced customers. Shoppers then have to deal with bigger crowds and markets can see their supplies dwindle faster, she said.
“It will take grocery stores a while to get up to their new (level of) need so they’re stocked properly,” she said.
People might also be drawn to pick up groceries at convenience stores that are closer to home, but convenience stores typically charge higher prices than supermarkets for the same products, Tsyganok said.
Colorado Springs Councilman Dave Donelson, who represents the city’s first district where the Safeway at 5060 N. Academy is located, said other businesses situated around both Safeways could also feel the effects of the closures.
“That’s an anchor store … so when people aren’t going to that Safeway, they’re not going to other smaller shops, perhaps, that are nearby,” he said.
Kelly McDow, a manager at O’Reilly Auto Parts next door to the Safeway on North Academy, said Friday she was mostly concerned for area residents who will have to travel farther to grocery shop. She lamented the loss of the store as a quick stop where she and her colleagues could grab lunch or do their grocery shopping after work.
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Suresh Khadka, who owns Sand Creek Liquors adjacent to the Safeway on South Murray, isn’t sure what to expect for his business once the supermarket closes. It could be both good and bad; he may lose business from people who shop at the Safeway and head into his store to purchase liquor, Khadka said. But now he won’t have to compete with Safeway for beer and wine sales.
“I’m not sure yet how it will go,” he said.
Christy Shipman, manager at the Supercuts hair salon next door to Sand Creek Liquors, was upset to learn of the store’s closure.
“We’re very upset and concerned for the future of this shopping center and our business, as well. Safeway is a draw (of customers) for us, and we are a draw for them,” Shipman said. “It’s a hard hit for us. In a shopping center like this, we’re connected by business.”
Even community resources set up to provide healthy and affordable food to residents with limited access will be affected as the stores shut down this fall, DeaBueno and Tsyganok noted. Silver Key Senior Services runs a food pantry at 1605 S. Murray Blvd., designed to “supplement a senior’s diet and improve the health of the low-income older adults,” the website said.
“Safeway is very much part of who we are,” DeaBueno said. “What we have really experienced more recently is the food insecurity across the community has been a struggle. … We get a whole range of things from the local grocers, and Safeway across the street has been a great supporter.”
Tsyganok said when the King Soopers in southeast Colorado Springs closed in 2023, the Solid Rock Community Food Center at 3219 S. Academy Blvd. saw “an influx” of people who needed food assistance.
“We were already struggling for food, so it definitely took a toll on us,” she said of the pantry’s resources.
When the two Colorado Springs Safeway locations shutter in November, Tsyganok expects hers and other food assistance programs in the Pikes Peak region will feel the crunch again.
DeaBueno added that food insecurity is a year-round challenge. People may see the expected Safeway closures date of Nov. 7 and lament the proximity to major holidays like Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas, among others, he said.
In the southeast part of Colorado Springs, Safeway’s departure leaves several neighborhoods without a grocery store within one mile, The Gazette found.
Silver Key and Solid Rock Community Development Corporation attempt to remedy that by offering their food pantry services year-round.
“Our campaigns have been able to make sure that people have access to quality food throughout the year, not just during the holidays,” DeaBueno said. “
Tsyganok said the Colorado Springs community should “unite” and focus on creating sustainable, community-led initiatives like community-run grocery markets that support local farmers.
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“If we can sustain our local farmers, they can sustain us in the long run,” she said.
Donelson said he hopes Safeway will shift the employees working at the closing stores to others in the city.
Nearly 150 total employees are assigned to both locations — 85 at 1425 S. Murray Blvd. and 63 at 5060 N. Academy Blvd., Safeway notified the state Sept. 9 in two separate written letters under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. The law requires employers, in most cases, to provide employees with 60 days’ notice of job elimination.
Safeway noted in both letters it hopes to transfer some employees at both stores to its other locations. Employees are represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 and bumping rights apply, Safeway wrote, so workers with greater seniority could replace workers who have less seniority.
