I bought an older Savage that I'd guess was from the 70's and it had a three position safety as did the one I bought in 1991 and the one I bought in 2004.
You could have demonstrated the function of the three position safety to the store clerk, then he would know a bit more about the product he's selling.
I like the fact that on my new Savage, I can open the bolt, put the safety on to the rearmost position, then load the next round and when I close the bolt the safety goes to the middle position.