The Safeway chain was originally named Skaggs Cash Stores due to their unusual practice of cash only purchases. Customers operated on a "cash-and-carry" basis and were not able to use a credit card for payment. This debt free store was the "safe way" to shop because early americam families couldn't go into debt for groceries. Their slogan mirrored these principles, "Drive the Safeway; buy the Safeway" It was in 1915 when Marion Skaggs purchased his father's 576-square-foot grocery store in Idaho for $1,089. Not to long after, Skaggs enlisted the help of his five brothers to grow the network of stores and by 1926, the chain had opened 428 Skaggs stores in 10 states. Eventually Skaggs merged his company with another grocery chain and was reincorporated as Safeway, Inc. Safeway was eventually acquired by Albertsons in January 2015 and is now headquartered in Alameda County, California. The Hempstead Safeway building was built in 1953 and U-Haul acquired the building in 1978. 

Serving U-Haul customers since 1978, this facility was built through adaptive reuse of an abandoned building. Adaptive Reuse promotes infill development in an effort to strengthen communities, with the following benefits achieved at this site:

• 258 tons of metal manufacturing & transportation prevented
• 1,541 tons of new concrete pours avoided
• 1,818 tons of construction and demolition debris prevented

Energy-efficiency and waste-reduction programs at this facility provide the following estimated benefits each year for the Hempstead community:

• 82,535 kWh annual energy savings
• 1,699,648 lbs greenhouse gas emissions prevented

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  Steel Production 258 tons (234 tonnes) of steel manufacturing and delivery saved to date

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  Energy 82,535 kWh annual energy savings

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  Concrete 1,541 tons (1,398 tonnes) of new concrete pours avoided to date

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  Emissions 1,699,648 lbs (770,955 kgs) of greenhouse gas emissions prevented

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  Landfill Debris 1,818 lbs (825 kgs) of construction debris prevented

• U-Haul Moving & Storage of Hempstead