With no definitive development plan on the table and zero city approvals, the Fillmore Safeway property is set to shutter on February 7 — if not sooner, because deep discounts have led to the store being almost emptied out of anything to sell.

There were lines to get in to the Safeway at Webster and Geary streets early last week, as "Up to 50% Off" signs went up outside and the final clearance began. Those signs have been swapped out for "Up to 75% Off" signs, but a Wednesday visit to the store revealed a depressing warehouse with one checkstand open and almost nothing left to pick over.

The good news is that whatever price is listed on the shelves, the store is discounting everything, it seems, about 75% on top of that — a few items that rang up for over $12 were sold to me for $2.88.

The bad news is, most of the desirable merchandise, save for wine and beer (which may not be so well discounted), is long gone. All the store's remaining dry goods have been clustered onto shelves at one end of one aisle near the doors, and you may find some cheap energy drinks, crackers, and may-be-discontinued-soon pasta sauces there.

The produce section was cleared out last week, as were meat, seafood, and dairy. And despite the everything-must-go messaging, wine and various household supplies remain under lock and key, and security guards are still protecting the last vestiges from being shoplifted.

The Fillmore neighborhood is understandably mad about this store closure, and community members have been trying to bring attention to the issue of food access, especially for the elderly and disabled who have depended on this Safeway for decades. The next nearest Safeway, at Church and Market streets, is over a mile away, and would require cab or Uber fare for many of these residents to do their shopping.

Sabine Dabady, who has worked for non-profits focused on affordable housing and food access, spoke to KPIX this week as she visited the store, noting the difficulty this closure will pose for those who can't afford frequent transportation to a store further from their home.

She also pointed to the immediate blight that is going to come after the store goes dark in a few weeks — when the site's future redevelopment is likely still years off.

"A store this size and footprint being vacant as well as the parking lot, doesn't bode well for the surrounding community," Dabady tells KPIX. "Instead of one with an active livelihood, it becomes this desolate ground that feels strange."

The parking lot will still serve several businesses, including an Indian grocery market, a Popeye's chicken, and laundromat, in an adjacent strip center — all on the backside of a building that faces Fillmore Street. And how those businesses, or their parking, get impacted by the development plans remains to be seen.

Plans by Align Real Estate to redevelop the site for mixed-use, residential and retail,  emerged by surprise last winter when Safeway first announced it would close. At the time, Safeway declared it would shut its doors within two months, but city leaders, including Supervisor Dean Preston, were able to convince the store to give some more lead time, and an early 2025 closure was then announced.

In reminding everyone of the impending closure last month, Safeway cited rampant shoplifting at this location as one issue encouraging the closure.

Now that the closing is happening and it's feeling more real, there has been talk, including from NAACP chapter president the Reverend Amos Brown, of encouraging the city to use eminent domain to retake the property — taken by emininent domain from largely Black property owners in the 1950s and early 60s and sold to Safeway for cheap in the 70s — in order to preserve it for community use, i.e. another grocery store.

"This is corporate arrogance of the highest order, especially for a company that professes on its website that is 'committed to helping people across the country live better lives by making a meaningful difference, neighborhood by neighborhood,'" Reverend Brown wrote in an op-ed last month.

The city needs housing as well, and there may not be the political will to take this step. But the eminent domain talk will likely complicate things for finalizing the property sale.

Previously: Rev. Amos Brown Says SF Should Step In and Prevent Sale of Fillmore Safeway