By Brian Anderson
San Ramon Valley Times

Sept. 9, 1999

DANVILLE — Joe Ratto leaned against the handle of his shiny silver cart Wednesday as his wife June puttered about the store in search of a few last-minute items.

Twelve shoppers back, Ratto hunkered down as he took in an eyeful of the line that snaked away from register 12 at the Andronico's Market on Railroad Avenue, which opened Wednesday morning.

"There are a lot of people," he said. "We may be here until Sunday."

Ratto was among countless gawking shoppers who stormed the upscale grocery store, taking bites from crab cakes while scanning aisles of culinary creations.

They came from the San Ramon Valley and elsewhere in the East Bay to take home something from the valley's newest tony grocery.

Whether it was the spicy baby octopus salad or the Jamaican rice and peas, people seemed to go after items not often found in the carts at other stores.

"It's the quality that you're getting here," said Dean Brasfield as he cruised the pet food aisle looking for an advertised deal on cat food.

"They're fun, too," said his wife Lois.

Huge crowds inside translated to heavy traffic outside, said Danville police Sgt. Dennis Bilotti. But there were no reported crashes, and only three cars were towed away.

The real test for traffic and parking could come Saturday, when Andronico's customers mix with merchants and shoppers at the Danville farmers market from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the town's Railroad Avenue parking lot.

The outdoor market will commandeer more than 100 parking spaces in the town lot which was already jammed before Andronico's opened at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

"The good part of heavy traffic is that it's self-limiting," Bilotti said. "At least 50 percent will decide to leave or park someplace else."

Store officials plan to continue shuttling customers for the next couple of days in a motorized cable car from Caltrans' park-and-ride lot at Interstate 680 and Sycamore Valley Road.

Store director Leonard Rodrigues said he didn't know how many people s came out on opening day. But his sweaty brow, harried pace and views of carts stacked up at registers like cars at the Bay Bridge toll plaza on a commute morning were indicative of the mayhem.

"It's been very crazy," he said.

Business was "as good or better" than other store openings, Rodrigues said, adding that in two or three years Walnut Creek will go through the same experience when, it is hoped, the company opens a store there.

The Danville store is the chain's ninth; it has others in Berkeley, San Anselmo, Palo Alto, San Francisco and Los Altos.

Officials at corporate offices for Safeway and Lucky said they would not comment on whether their local stores' business was affected by Andronico's opening Wednesday.

For Ratto, the craziness and nearly an hour wait in the checkout line will not keep him from shopping at the store again.

"I'll be back," the Danville resident said with a grin. "In two or three weeks."