The Safeway at 2020 Market Street has applied for an “instructional tasting license” from the state’s alcohol control department, but no one at the supermarket seems to have any idea why.
Reader Matt D., who lives near the Safeway, received a notice in the mail last week alerting him to Safeway’s application. So we did some investigating.
Several employees we spoke to at the store were unaware of the application. One had seen it, but knew nothing more about it. The store manager directed us to speak with their corporate spokesperson in Pleasanton. The corporate rep said something to the effect of, “Wine tasting? In a grocery store?”
So what’s going on here, Safeway?
A quick googling reveals that several Safeways around the nation have built wine-tasting stations within their stores in recent years (which makes the corporate rep’s reaction all the more peculiar). Here’s one at the Safeway in Livermore:
Presumably that’s the kind of set-up being planned for the Market Street Safeway, but for whatever reason, no one wants to confirm it.
We’ll keep an eye on this one.