Food Shopping

[imoldernu]

Where do you shop for food?

Prompted by our visit yesterday to the expansion of our local HY-VEE SuperMarket. We shop at Aldi's... the nation's best food retailer, the HyVEE visit was an experience.
To put this in prospective, consider that the Wamart Neighborhood Markets... which approximates the size of the Food part of a Super Walmart... average about 42,000 sq. ft.
Our HyVee is 80,000 sq. ft. I assume that Whole Foods markets may be about this size, but never been there.
Awesome... Probably 3 miles of aisles ... Bring a lunch, except that there's an included full size restaurant... Plus... large liquor store. I asked about how many SKU's of different beers... 500... about 3000 wines.
The red meat counter is about 80 feet long.. I estimate some 500 to 600 steaks. The Pork counter is only about 30 feet, and chicken 40 feet. Specialty meats another 30 feet. Fish counter has 7 employees.
The Pharmacy is the size of a small Walgreens.
Gluten free is a separate section 3 aisles... Bulk foods a 75 ft aisle... Frozen pizza alone... a 75 ft aisle freezer... pizzas stacked on 5 shelves, about 12 deep. Thousands and thousands... Flower shop w/ 5 FT workers...
Vegetables... No kidding ... I think there had to be enough to feed all of Chicagoland...
Yesterday was "Fish Day"... a 1200sf tent outside in the parking lot... filled with everything from pollock to frog legs, to some kinds of fish I've never heard of... BTW... outside temp yesterday was 14 degrees, real feel -6.
Took about an hour and a half, and only saw about half the store. OMG!
Much too old for this stuff.
Back to Aldi's... nation's best food retailer. Psstt... I think DW likes to go to HY-Vee just to be knowledgeable when she talk to her card playing buddies.
We did buy something at HyVee... 2lbs of fresh asparagus @ $.99/lb. Full page color ad in the local paper. Asparagus $.99.

So, where do YOU shop? Costco? How does one buy for two persons at Costco? Whole Foods?
If you bought at a Safeway Store, you won't be able to do that anymore, 'cuz Albertsons just bought them for 12B.

Slow day... waiting for time change and the promised 32 degree temperature.

 

[Cassie]

I do some shopping at Whole Foods whenever I buy meat. I also like their soups and they are the only store where I can find tomatoes in a glass jar versus a can. I use to buy my organic produce there until I found a HEB (Texas supermarket) which has great organic produce and is less expensive than WF. Aldi's is in the area, however, I haven't been yet. Costco is about 4 minutes from my house and I have a card...I need to put "visit Aldi's & Costco on my to do list" although buying food in bulk doesn't work for me.

 

[W2R]

I shop at the nearest chain grocery store. It belongs to a big local chain whose stores carry some of our New Orleans foods and ingredients but otherwise are indistinguishable from nearly any chain grocery store in the country.

My grocery store is the most convenient store for me and not too expensive, although it is not as cheap as Walmart or Costco. I should care but I don't.

At least it is way cheaper than [-]Whole Paycheck[/-] Whole Foods.

 

[photoguy]

At least it is way cheaper than [-]Whole Paycheck[/-] Whole Foods.

I was stunned that my WF has some loaves of bread running for nearly $10. Although this is a fancier sprout less, flour less, tasteless, variety. I think the regular loaves are maybe $4?

 

[easysurfer]

My first choice is Aldi.

They have great bargains seasonal items of non-food stuff

Oh yeah...their groceries are value priced too.

Other places I've gone to are Super Walmarts and Meijer. I also like Hy-vee.

 

[braumeister]

We're in the headquarters area of Kroger, the nation's largest grocer. They have pretty much saturated the area with stores of all sizes, but we are very happy with our local Kroger, and get 90% of our food there. A couple of specialty butcher shops and some purchases at Costco make up the other 10%.

 

[Texas Proud]

Aldi has just started to build around here.... there is one that is near, but not close enough for us to go... also, I was told by one of my sisters you have to pay cash and bring your own bags...

SO, we go to HEB... much better than Kroger and our Safeway (which is Randall's).... we used to have an HEB Pantry, which is a small grocery like an Aldi, but they tore it down and put up a regular HEB... which is pretty big... but they do have some bigger... just do not know what they are called...

 

[Meadbh]

Megafoodstores are too overwhelming for me. I buy meat at an excellent local organic butcher shop (where they know my name and preferences) and sometimes I buy vegetables at the organic vegetable shop next door to it. My regular "big shop" is usually done at a medium sized supermarket chain where I know the layout and get a loyalty discount. Next door to that is a pharmacy chain where I often pop in to pick up one or two nonperishables such as toilet paper, or milk, if that's all I need. During the growing season I often buy fruit and vegetables direct from local farmers at their roadside stalls or at farmers' markets. They are not cheaper, but they are fresh and delicious and have a lower carbon footprint.

 

[easysurfer]

Aldi has just started to build around here.... there is one that is near, but not close enough for us to go... also, I was told by one of my sisters you have to pay cash and bring your own bags...

SO, we go to HEB... much better than Kroger and our Safeway (which is Randall's).... we used to have an HEB Pantry, which is a small grocery like an Aldi, but they tore it down and put up a regular HEB... which is pretty big... but they do have some bigger... just do not know what they are called...

The Aldi I go to, I can pay cash or debit card. The first time I went, I wasn't aware of the bring your own bags and pack your own groceries. I thought what the heck..no baggers are helping!

 

[Accidental Retiree]

We shop in various places, depending on what we're buying.
DH shops the sales and really has come to know his prices.

Safeway is our usual spot. We supplement with Smart and Final
for certain meat and produce sales, and sometimes farmer's markets
when we feel like braving the crowds. We shop Costco for nuts, staples,
and odds and ends, and Trader Joe's for yogurt and butter because DH likes those particular dairy items.

 

[pb4uski]

We shop for food mostly at a combination of Walmart and some local grocery chains. We don't have any particular allegiance. Also a couple nearby general/cinvenience stores.

 

[H2ODude]

Do most at Harris Teeter. Not the cheapest, but always was impressed with selections and if you got the stuff on sale pretty reasonable. Do go to Fresh Market for a lot of meats, fish because it is marginally better.

I will say that I think I'm beginning to notice a decline in HT which I feared once Kroger purchased them. Pretty small things, like no price display on pallet load of stuff obviously on sale, little or no bread in the bakery section (plenty of brand names), and it seems fewer folks around. I'm sure prices won't go down.

 

[powerplay]

Trader Joe's, Fred Meyer, and New Seasons are the stores I most frequently shop.

 

[imoldernu]

Oops... forgot to add... during our visit to HyVee yesterday, they were constructing an inside the store Starbucks...
Expect they'll add a Hyundi dealer next.

 

[wrigley]

Where do you shop for food?

Prompted by our visit yesterday to the expansion of our local HY-VEE SuperMarket. We shop at Aldi's... the nation's best food retailer, the HyVEE visit was an experience.
To put this in prospective, consider that the Wamart Neighborhood Markets... which approximates the size of the Food part of a Super Walmart... average about 42,000 sq. ft.
Our HyVee is 80,000 sq. ft. I assume that Whole Foods markets may be about this size, but never been there.
Awesome... Probably 3 miles of aisles ... Bring a lunch, except that there's an included full size restaurant... Plus... large liquor store. I asked about how many SKU's of different beers... 500... about 3000 wines.
The red meat counter is about 80 feet long.. I estimate some 500 to 600 steaks. The Pork counter is only about 30 feet, and chicken 40 feet. Specialty meats another 30 feet. Fish counter has 7 employees.
The Pharmacy is the size of a small Walgreens.
Gluten free is a separate section 3 aisles... Bulk foods a 75 ft aisle... Frozen pizza alone... a 75 ft aisle freezer... pizzas stacked on 5 shelves, about 12 deep. Thousands and thousands... Flower shop w/ 5 FT workers...
Vegetables... No kidding ... I think there had to be enough to feed all of Chicagoland...
Yesterday was "Fish Day"... a 1200sf tent outside in the parking lot... filled with everything from pollock to frog legs, to some kinds of fish I've never heard of... BTW... outside temp yesterday was 14 degrees, real feel -6.
Took about an hour and a half, and only saw about half the store. OMG!
Much too old for this stuff.
Back to Aldi's... nation's best food retailer. Psstt... I think DW likes to go to HY-Vee just to be knowledgeable when she talk to her card playing buddies.
We did buy something at HyVee... 2lbs of fresh asparagus @ $.99/lb. Full page color ad in the local paper. Asparagus $.99.

So, where do YOU shop? Costco? How does one buy for two persons at Costco? Whole Foods?
If you bought at a Safeway Store, you won't be able to do that anymore, 'cuz Albertsons just bought them for 12B.

Slow day... waiting for time change and the promised 32 degree temperature.

Primarily military commissary along with Publix and Winn Dixie.

Mike

 

[Mango1956]

We are in a small town, but have an excellent food coop, where I do most of my shopping-we get grass fed beef there from a local rancher. Seafood from our local fish monger mostly(family owned) Costco an hour away for certain staples, although it looks like they are going to build one in our town. Safeway sometimes. We grow alot of our veggies in season. The rest from our town farmers market. A pricier way to shop, but it's just us two, and we budget for it like anything else.

 

[razztazz]

HY Vee because it's the 1200 lb gorilla of supermarkets in my town, also it's the closest regular supermarket to my house. There is a Walmarts, Target, and Aldi's a bit closer but they have their limitations. The Target is not a "Super Target". It looks like it's a retrofitted regular target with food in one corner. The Super Targets across the river in Omaha are SUUUPER! I used to shop at the one across the street from my house.

Here only Hy VEE sells Antibiotic-Free meat. I can't eat "normal" meat due to a sensitivity to a certain antibiotic they use in animals. So that sort of drives where I shop

I have never been in an Aldi's. Thanks for mentioning the Bring-Your-Own Bags policy at Aldi's. I had no idea and would have looked stupid had I gone in there. Is Aldi's really that good and that cheap?

 

[HFWR]

Most items at a nearby Tom Thumb, with occasional trips to a neighborhood WM, and Costco.

 

[Midpack]

Get all we can at Costco, then most everything else from a local grocery store chain. That takes care of 95% of our needs. We go to Target (don't trust them since the credit kerfuffle) and Whole Foods (too far, otherwise we'd go there often) occasionally.

 

[chilkoot]

What W2R said goes for me as well.

I've been in the local WF exactly once but was creeped out by the regulars.

 

[sengsational]

Hy Vee is only in the mid-west, so haven't experienced that. I really don't like the huge grocery stores myself (but I don't do the shopping). For me, one name brand and one store brand of something is fine...I don't need 32 kinds of bleu cheese dressing.

As to what "we" do, it's Walmart for the DW, mostly; can't beat the prices unless you go to warehouse clubs. But we go to Trader Joes for some stuff, and Sam's for some stuff.

At Sam's you get more than you need and I find that since they don't have store brands, you can end up paying even a bit more than if you bought store brands at Walmart. We have a BJ's not too far, but the Costco is way too far.

We have an Aldi's, but we haven't had good luck with at least the produce. It was cheap, but a few of the lemons were black inside and the onions, same thing. Also, the selection was pretty weak (no worchestershire sauce, no frozen spinach, for instance).

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I try to buy mainly single ingredient whole foods without a lot of chemical preservatives. We buy meat and staples from Costco, natural foods like pickles without dye from Trader Joe's, and the rest usually comes from a regional pack it yourself warehouse store that has discount prices but more items and smaller packages than Costco. We get our produce from the pack it yourself store. The prices are often half or less per pound than Safeway prices.

 

[Wishing]

When I was growing up, on those rare occasions when we had a real vacation instead of going to visit relatives, my parents would inevitably find an excuse to stop at a grocery store or two or three. We would travel up and down each aisle which was absolute torture for a child. I swore I would never do that............... Now I love going to fancy grocery stores like Whole Foods just to check everything out. We do eventually become our parents.
My tiny community got a Publix not too long ago, and I am in grocery-shopping heaven though I still buy staples from Wal-Mart.

 

[anethum]

I can walk to 2 supermarkets, walk/bike to a Trader Joe's, bike to a Whole Foods, walk to a fish market, and walk to several bakeries. Plus I have a vegetable garden in the summer. I think I spend a bit more on food at Trader Joe's than anywhere else. I spend a lot of money on excellent bread at the bakeries.

I visited my first Costco with a friend recently. It's miles from here. Since I like to cook, I rarely buy prepared foods. I was amazed at their selection of prepared foods but put off by the huge sizes of everything. For a lot of foodstuffs like rice or nuts, the prices were slightly lower than Trader Joe's, but the quantities at Costco were far bigger than I would buy and use in a reasonable period of time. Plus, TJ's has a somewhat better selection. I won't be joining anytime soon. It's so nice not having to drive anywhere to shop for food.

 

[imoldernu]

A word about Aldi's for those who haven't experienced the store.

Started in 1958 in Germany with two brothersTheo and Karl Albrecht, who together are worth about $32B. Currently worldwide, 9300 stores. US has about 1300 stores and is based in Batavia IL... The Aldi corporation has two divisions... inthe US, Aldi's owned by Aldi Nord... 1200 stores and Trader Joe's owned by Aldi Sud... 400 stores.

Vast changes and updates in stores... appears to be doubling the number of SKU's. many more choices in just the past 6 months. https://www.aldi.us/ for the type of merchandising and pricing.

So, about some of the comments here... Yes, because of the efficiencies that provide the low costs, the checkout is not bagged, but the lines go twice as fast as other stores...The heavy duty bags cost $.10 and last for years. Checker takes groceries from one cart, scans and then into an empty cart. You bag, at a bagging counter or as we do, at our car.
Yes... the produce is not always pristine, and artistically displayed, but the avacado that I buy for $.59 to $.89 is the same as the one that Walmart charges $1.88 for. Complaints, keep the product, full money back.
And... it costs $.25 for the shopping cart, which you get back when you return it to the rack. Never loose carts in the parking lot...
Aldi's pay is higher than comparable stores, but the employees earn every penny.
Almost all product is private brand, and none of the instore stock is handled by vendors. Pre pack display mostly on wheels. Wine and beer.. Wines 7 flavors @ $2.89. Yeah... my kind of wine. Great Shiraz... judged by this commonsewer of fine wines.
We feel we save 30 to 35% over Kroger type stores, and about 20 to 25% over Walmart.

Not supposed to promote market interests here, but not to worry, Aldi's is privately owned, so no vested interests.

When Lidl's comes to the US we may see the food markets turned upside down... perhaps in as little as 5 years. MOO... (my opinion only)