Save the Super Longs in North Oakland

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_6892093?source=most_emailed

The Longs at Pleasant Valley Rd. and Broadway in North Oakland is a pretty unusual place. Not only is it open 24 hours, but it has an extensive nursery and garden supply section that are a cut above most chains. When I was trying to track down where I could buy Yuzu, I found it there. I also spotted an Australian Finger Lime. They carry Annie's Annuals, too! How cool is it to be able to go to a place like that when you have a sudden gardening emergency at 11pm?

Unfortunately the Safeway next door wants to take over the space. I don't know if there's a petition being circulated, but I thought folks in the East Bay would like to know about the threat to this cool place.

I sure hope they don't close Longs! If you go to the bottom of the article, there's a link to a website about the project, and there's a place there where you can go and put in comments. Maybe if enough people write in saying not to get rid of Longs they'll reconsider.

Thanks for posting this. I was able to send some feedback to Safeway, saying I like the current layout of the center and value being able to visit both major stores in one trip. I also suggested they rethink their interior layout and product mix. I dislike the current push to replace many brands with their own store brand. Some of the Safeway products I like but many I don't, and it forces me to shop elsewhere to get the brands I do prefer.

I also suggested they look at Farmer Joe's on Fruitvale. FJ's food and bakery mix is far superior to the stuff the current in-house vendors are selling at the Safeway, yet still in a relatively small space. I'm sure they're worried about the Whole Foods and Trader Joe's coming in, and they should be! I love the staff at the Safeway on Broadway, but their product mix is getting tired and needs to be broader - not bigger necessarily, but better aimed to an increasingly affluent neighborhood. They've got the purchasing power to compete, if they can do a better job targeting what people want.

Oh, Spidra, this is a crime! After Navlet's closed down in Oakland, Long's was the only place in North Oakland that carried great plants in a wide assortment. I used to live within walking distance in Piedmont for years. As soon as my son was old enough to go places by himself, he used to walk over there to go dumpster-diving and he brought me many lovely gifts of half-dead plants. A lot of good memories are bound up with that store....

Jkom, watch out what you wish for. The Safeway in Sebastopol no longer carries Safeway brand coffee. Lots of Peets, Starbucks, Thanksgiving, etc., but no more of the Safeway brand, which included a delicious English toffee-flavored variety. There is a Whole Foods a block away from Safeway, which probably is the reason for Safeway's changing assortment, but I hope it doesn't go too far. I will never shop at Whole Foods again after learning that the small can of tuna I was buying cost $7.50. The cashier explained that the tuna was "dolphin-safe" and carried that price tag as a result. Well, my cats' 9-Lives tuna is also dolphin-safe and it only costs about 30 cents!

SHOOT!!! So does Safeway own Longs? How can they just take it over? Woe is me.

No, Safeway doesn't own Long's. My guess is that there's some company that owns that whole shopping center and they lease the spaces to both Safeway and Longs, so if Safeway convinces them that it's a better deal to let Safeway have Longs space, then the company that owns the buildings can do what they want (I'm sure there are rules about leases so I don't think they could kick Longs out tomorrow unless that's when their lease was going to be up anyway, but eventually they could make them move)

I sure hope they don't close it, I try to get over there every couple months or so, I hit Longs and Grand Lake Ace which is just a little down the road from there.

Noo!!! Super Longs can't close!!! I've sent soo many people there. I've been staying out of there myself as the garden is getting pretty full. But you said that you spotted an Austrailian finger lime there?! When! Must go...

Just spotted them again this last weekend. 2 of them tucked at the end of the citrus section near the olives. At $40, they're a little rich for my blood at the moment.

Thanks Spidra! The finger lime has been re-located. (Heh! Heh! Early Christmas).

Maybe the store SHOULD go under. It's a 24-hour crack house for gardeners and people who sew...

Ha! I noticed they were one down on the finger limes...