Posted on 09/24/2008 10:22:28 AM PDT by rivercat
Yesterday I stopped by my local Safeway Grocery Store in the Washington Square shopping center in Petaluma, California. Right next to each entrance were Obama booths selling t-shirts, button, bumperstickers, etc. When I got home, we called Safeway and asked the "Store Manager of the Day" (his words) why they are allowing these partisan booths in front of the store. His response was (paraphrased) that they didn't do it, and that their landlord has the right to rent spots on their sidewalk. So, we called the Fulcrum Group, out of the Sacramento Area, and asked them if they rented this space to Obama. Their response was that they had no knowledge of any of this. So, that means that somebody is lying.
It turns out that the official Store Manager is on vacation this week, so we will follow up with him on Monday.
I think it's stupid for a company to potentially alienate up to 50% of their customer base by permitting partisan booths out front. I don't have any problem with petition signing, voter registration drives, or charitable non-profit stuff like Girl Scout Cookies.
So... If it turns out that Safeway is lying to me, then I'm never going to set foot in a Safeway again, and I'll urge everyone that I know to boycott Safeway as well.
I went into Vons, a Safeway owned store store a week ago and the cashier, who was a black woman, was greeting every customer with words of Obama. Then about every 5 mins she would shout out to the store, “Everybody remember Obama in November”. I complained to the manager, he said something about union rules and walked away. I now shop at Albertsons.
You would think with the beatings that the stores here in SoCal took from the grocery strike a few years ago they would want no mention of the union loving Obama in their stores, but it is ridiculous the power the grocery workers union has here. I actually try to take my business to non union Henry’s as much as possible but they are small stores and only have so much plus they are geared to health foods. Used to have a great non union store Stumps 3 mins from my house but have moved and it isn’t worth the 20 mile drive now.
I imagine if Home Depot has to allow illegals to trespass on their property to loiter, and providing bathrooms and shelter, Safeway can get away with Obama booths outside the store.
The Obama folks whose forte is usually government regulation, probably didn’t bother with the formality of a permit or permission from either Safeway OR the property owner. They probably operated on the assumption that everyone loves the Messiah as they do, and what’s to complain about? It’s all for the cause, you know!
Does Safeway own other grocery stores. I tend to shop at Smiths. Is Smiths one of their chains?
Safeway isn’t lying to you. They don’t let this stuff slide at all.
Get a picture of it, e-mail it to your local paper.
Safeway will make an extreme example of any manager who allows partisan politics near the doors.
Early voting goes on in many of the stores, impartiality could end that.
Safeway owns...
Carrs (Carr-Gottstein Foods), Alaskan supermarket chain
Casa Ley, food stores in western Mexico, competes primarily with Wal-Mart
Dominick’s (Dominick’s Finer Foods), Illinois supermarket chain
Genuardi’s (Genuardi’s Family Markets), Mid-Atlantic supermarket chain
Pak ‘n’ Save (warehouse store chain in California)
Pavilions, upscale division of The Vons Companies, Inc.
Randall’s Food Markets, southeast and central Texas supermarket chain
Simon David, Dallas, Texas, specialty grocer
Tom Thumb Food & Pharmacy, North Texas supermarket chain
Vons (The Vons Companies, Inc.), Southern California/Nevada supermarket chain
Smith’s Food King is part of Kroger’s now?
I know Pavillion and Von’s are part of Safeway. Their corporate HQ is in Pleasanton, CA. The one I go to is the closest to the HQ and is always kept up because they bring bring bigshots around. I have see a lot of suits walking around many times.
I wish you could get on with Rush...he just reported on what happened to Dawn at Whole Foods. Her friend’s car has an anti-child abuse license plate...when she got out of the store, there was a note on her windshield about Sarah Palin on rape and abortion. The Obama people are everywhere!
Lisa from the Fulcrum Group(Safeway’s landlord here) say she doesn’t know anything about this, but she will follow up on this and call us back. Don’t worry, we won’t let her forget.
How do you know about Safeway’s policy on partisan politics?
Would love to know the outcome.
Consider reporting this to the FEC!
Do you have 1-877-723-3929 on the bottom of your receipt?
Call it.
Thanks rivercat (post 27), for posting the list of stores and don’t forget to let us know what you find out.
On the phone with their public affairs department right now!
Good!
The manager on duty knows better than this, I bet the Obamanuts are gone before you can drive back down there.
Dude u live in petaluma not exactly what u call a battleground area. When u live in california u just have to deal with it.
When I say deal with it .... You may consider going by the pet store and buying a dozen mice put them in a bag and then slip them into the box with the obama shirts, please video tape and post to youtube. That’s how you “deal with it”
A few years ago, the Costco Magazine ran a political article, quoting the BBC. The Magazine came out the week after the BBC was exposed as lying about some bureaucrat and his Iraq remarks (I can’t remember the exact story, but it was bad for the BBC).
I called the editor and asked him to please stop sending me the magazine because I didn’t like the political slant and that I really didn’t like mixing politics with my shopping experience. Then I told him the Michael Jordan story about how Jordan donated to the Democrats but refused to make statements or personal appearances in support of any one. The reason that he stated was, Republicans buy shoes too.
The editor apologized for using the BBC as a source and agreed to stay out of politic in the Costco magazine.
Everywhere is a battleground area. Since most people are sheep, when they see stuff like this they tend to assume that it’s the thing to believe. California used to be a solid Red state, and I’m doing everythnig I can to try to keep it from slipping any farther into the abyss.
What’d they say?
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