If you had looked at the new Safeway building in downtown Los Gatos earlier this week, you'd have seen unpaved patches of a parking lot, an incomplete roof, no sign hanging over the door and lots of chain-link fence lining the property.

To the public eye, the grand opening of the new Safeway Thursday afternoon could not have been a more welcoming surprise.

In July 2010 Los Gatos waved goodbye to the 24,000-square-foot Safeway it knew. A year later, the doors flew open to a new 44,000-square-foot Safeway, at 470 No. Santa Cruz Ave., allowing floods of people waiting outside to flow in.

The public was greeted by sweet tea samples provided by the new Starbucks inside the store, smooth jazz played by the local band Jazz by Design and all 200 employees who will work at the new supermarket. 

Susan Houghton, director of public affairs for Safeway, said none of the employees who worked for the old store lost their jobs and were temporarily reassigned to other locations until the new supermarket opened again.

Houghton welcomed the public by expressing gratitude and acknowledging everyone involved in the Safeway Rebuild Project.

Karl Schroeder, president of the Northern California Operations Division of Safeway, noted the store's beauty, and Ray Lima, the store manager, exclaimed his excitement to be back managing the new Los Gatos Safeway. 

The store features an underground parking garage that brings the number of spots from 31 to 160 spaces, an indoor Starbucks, 24-hour service, more than 20 different departments, including floral design, frozen foods, produce, meat and more.

Los Gatos resident Daniel Sebastian waited outside the store before the doors opened. "I moved back into Los Gatos about six months ago, right down the street. When I heard that Safeway was gone, I was crushed. But now that it's back, it will have a lot of my business."