Gross-er--a--grocery Bathrooms

A review of the grocery store restrooms in the Salem Willamette Valley area.

As with any public restroom you enter at your own risk.
Public restrooms are a world of infestations, germs, bacteria and other unknown
micro-organisms.
Most of us would rather suffer the anxiety and pain of holding an urinary or bowel movement than enter this world of foul smells and messes left by those of disgusting hygiene etiquette.

I visited six area grocery stores, and revisited them at different hours of the day and multiple days. I found that if you got there at opening time the restrooms were fairly clean. What I mean by fairly is, that only the employees had used them. By mid-day the garbage had started to pile up, remnants of paper towels that had not made there way to the garbage can and the area in front of the stools was only wet. By mid-evening most restrooms were at the point of disgust, paper towels and garbage littered the floor, you needed rubber boots or goulashes to safely wade your way to the stools. Once arriving you were greeted with an image of horror and filth that made you wonder if you were living in a civil society.

Luckily for us, once in a great while we come across a place/business that takes pride in its public appearance and shows respect for its customers.

One such place(s) are the Roths IGA stores of the Salem area, regardless of what time of day you go to these stores you are always greeted with a smile, friendly service, and a clean store, and the restrooms are always clean and fresh.
As for the others, such as Safeway or Fred Meyer, well that depended on how great your need is. Their restrooms lack personal attention, it seems cleaning them once a day is fine with their standards. But when it came to Wal-Mart and Food-4-Less bring your goulashes and a body condom, you will need them. Apparently even the employees are afraid to go into them.

At the risk of being assaulted or arrested I, and with the help of a female companion, we interview an occasional patron coming from the restroom. Their responses are included at the end of each restroom picture.

A special note: afternoon and evening pictures of the restrooms were prohibited by the web master do to their offensiveness and obscenity.

Stayton's Roths IGA

Welcome to Stayton where the smiles are free and the restrooms are cleaner than yours.

Restroom entry way:

Womens restrooms:

Interview:

Females: Alice
1)Q: What do you think of the bathrooms here?
A: The bathroom was very clean and every time I see the bathroom it is always very clean.

Mens restroom:

Interview:

Males: Bobby
1)Q: What do you think of the bathrooms here?
A: The bathroom was very clean and it looked like that someone just cleaned it.

Safeway Downtown Salem

Lobby

Restroom Entry: Be sure to wave hi to the people enjoying their Starbucks coffee on your way to the restroom, it will enhance their ambiance. Starbucks is located next to the restrooms in this Safeway. ewww!

Womens Restroom

Interview:

Females: Peggy
1)Q: What do you think of the bathrooms here?
A: The bathroom was very clean, it looked like that the janitors just came out of the female’s bathroom.

Mens Restroom

interview:

Males: Steve
1)Q: What do you think of the bathrooms here?
A: I noticed after the store staff came out of the bathroom there were paper towels next to the trash can.

Safeway Lancaster Drive N.E

Restroom Entry: You will find this restroom in the back of the store next to the pharmacy. Change your Depends while you wait for your prescription.

Mens Restroom

Interview:

Males: Fred
1)Q: What do you think of the bathrooms here?
A: The bathroom looked really dirty again.

Womens Restroom

Interview:
Females: Nikki
1)Q: What do you think of the bathrooms here?
A: The bathroom seemed fairly clean.

Walmart Lancaster Drive N.E. (ewww!)

Mens Restroom

Interview:

Males: Alfonzo
1)Q: What do you think of the bathrooms here?
A: They looked very disgusting, because there was toilet paper everywhere, and urine all over the floor and urinals.

Womens Restroom

Interview:
Females: Catalina
1)Q: What do you think of the bathrooms here?
A: The bathroom was fairly clean, expect for one of the stalls, there was toilet paper on the floor.

Fred Meyer Market Street N.E.

Lobby: To find this restroom act like a rat in a maze, just follow the smell.

Mens Restroom

Interview:

Males: Mike
1) Q: What do you think of the bathrooms here?
A: The bathroom was really gross and there was toilet paper and paper towels all over the floor.

Womens Restroom

Interview:

Females: Sharri
1) Q: What do you think of the bathrooms here?
A: The bathroom was not the cleanest store bathroom that I have seen. I think that the store staff is not doing their jobs.

Food 4 less LancasterDrive N.E. (double ewwww!!!)

Lobby: Enter at your own risk, caution: slippery when wet (its always wet and that ain't water on the floor)

Restroom Entry

Mens Restroom

Interview:

Males: Pedro
1)Q: What do you think of the bathrooms here?
A: The bathroom were very disgusting looking and it looked like that it could become a hazard if someone didn’t take care of them.

Womens Restroom

Interview:

Females: Juanita
1)Q: What do you think of the bathrooms here?
A: The bathroom was gross and I never want to go in there again because I almost slipped on the floor because there was some kind of liquid there.

In conclusion, now you know why when you pull into a grocery store parking lot and it smells like urine and other foul smells, it may be that someone has made the choice that the parking lot was a better place to relieved themselves than the store's restroom-so watch where you step, those puddles may not be from the rain.