It has been four years since I last frequented the Safeway Store on Minnesota Avenue/Benning Road in NE Washington, DC. There are myriad reasons--the same I complained about four years ago. It is sad that years later, I find myself writing yet another complaint about similar issues.

The store is in a very dense neighborhood--mainly comprised of lower-income residents. I get the feeling that Safeway knows the population of the area and for that reason, fails to provide adequate service.

As I enter the store at 5:30 pm, I see several check-out lines (several others were broken), and two self-check out lines. The checkout lines were half way down the aisles. There were folks in the self-checkout lines with 40+ items.It took me approximately 30 minutes to purchase a box of Cheerios (I'm not joking).

The staff were not helpful and several were hanging around the "managers/staff" office, laughing and joking--DOING NOTHING. In addition to the lack of checkout lines and the lackluster service, the food, specifically the produce, is still subpar. I wrote about this several years ago.

This is the reason that I will continue to drive to Harris Teeter or Yes Organic market before frequenting this store again.

Who manages this store? Do District Managers frequent the store? How about a surprise visit to see, first-hand, the lackluster service happening at this establishment?

I would like District Managers, Vice Presidents or other senior level managers to visit this store and begin treating it as if the residents were not "low-income" folks of color. This is ridiculous.

In such a high-density neighborhood, I would like Safeway to hire a true manager--someone who understands the neighborhood dynamics. I would also like Safeway to conduct training for its employees--how about an "Undercover Boss", where the President visits to see the lackluster service given by their employees? And this should have to be requested, but how about fresh produce?