What grocery stores in your town do you never go to?

[athena53]

We have a lot of the bargain places- 7 Dollar/Family Dollar, etc. stores last time I checked, Aldi and Save-a-Lot and some local chains. Oh, and TWO Wal-Marts.

I do nearly all my shopping at HyVee (a midwestern chain near by) and Costco, about 10 miles away. I avoid the ones in the first paragraph because, other than Wal-Mart, they're smaller and I don't know if I can get the same quality and variety. My list might include flax seed, flavored coffee, plain yogurt, collard greens, the expensive brands of bread made without carp in them, etc. I don't want to run from store to store filling out my list. Wal-Mart I avoid because it's Wal-Mart.

 

[finnski1]

We have none. So I guess my answer is all of them.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

In order:

1) Aldi
2) Walmart

When they have Bogos that I want, I go to Publix & Winn Dixie.

For Wine:

Winn Dixie on 20% Wednesdays - 20% of 12 bottles of anything mix and match or top shelf. This is on top of any other coupons they may have around the necks of bottles. I find it cheaper than any discount wine store in the area and even Costco. The wine stores do not typically give discounts for a case here, I have asked.

 

[CaptTom]

25 posts before anyone mentioned Whole Foods. Sorry, I must have stumbled into the BTD thread. I'll let myself out...

 

[ShokWaveRider]

25 posts before anyone mentioned Whole Foods. Sorry, I must have stumbled into the BTD thread. I'll let myself out...

We do not shop at the trendy (See, I shop here....) stores, look at the name on my grocery bag. I find the produce not as good as the local Walmart, not enough turnover.

 

[Dawg52]

Aldi only because it is across town and not convenient.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Walmart and Sprouts are our go to’s. Sprouts for produce and proteins. Walmart for everything else. I don’t like shopping there, but they are cheap.

So I'm not the only one that does this, which is good to know.

Walmart for most packaged items--if it comes in a box, bottle, or bag, that's where I buy it. If it's produce, meat, deli, or fresh baked items it's Cub or Jerry's. I will buy some produce at Walmart like bananas, head lettuce, carrots, apples. Hard to mess up.

The price differences start at about 35% less at Walmart and can go up to 70% or more for identical items.

Cub: $7.99 for a 2 lb. bag of Honeycrisp apples
Wal Mart: $6.99 for a 3 lb. bag of Honeycrisp apples
71% more at Cub.

Gallon 2% milk
Cub: $3.99
Walmart: $2.79

While I dislike the shopping experience at Walmart I get angry at the prices elsewhere. And, yes, I understand that Walmart buys enough milk to supply the Chinese army and that's why the price is so low, but it's not 15% lower than Cub, it's 43% lower. That's why I go to Walmart. I figure I save $1,800 to $2,000 annually.

 

[aja8888]

I shop mostly at Walmart because it's cheap for name brands and one mile from the house. H.E.B. or Costco for meats.

There are 8 (or more) Super Walmart's within a 15 mile radius of me...how's that for density and maybe the same number of H.E.B.'s?

One Whole Paycheck is nearby and I never go there. My car is not up to parking lot status standards.

One Costco in the area and it's 1.2 miles from my house. Absolutely mobbed all the time.

There are a few Aldi's near me but they carry a limited in stock of what I buy.

The rest of the grocers I don't bother going to (Kroger, Albertsons, etc).

 

[jfn111]

Our go to stores are Cub Foods and Sam's Club. For better meat and sea food selection we go to Lund/Byerly's or Festival Foods.
We hit Aldi's a couple of times a year when they have specific sales like Prime Rib.
The Bloomington MN Walmart looks like something out of an end of the world dystopian movie and I avoid it like the plague.

 

[pacergal]

Very rarely, if ever, shop local Whole Foods, New Seasons, or Market of Choice.

The Market of Choice does have a wonderful meat/fish dept though.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Our go to stores are Cub Foods and Sam's Club. For better meat and sea food selection we go to Lund/Byerly's or Festival Foods.

Yep, Lund's/Byerly's for meat if we're entertaining.

We hit Aldi's a couple of times a year when they have specific sales like Prime Rib.

I've never been to Aldi's.

The Bloomington MN Walmart looks like something out of an end of the world dystopian movie and I avoid it like the plague.

LOL. Agreed. It's crowded, dirty, the aisles are cramped, and it's filled with people you find on the "People of Walmart" website.

 

[punkinhead]

I retired before my wife so I do most of the grocery shopping. I started out using Meijer because they're clean, well laid out, and had good produce. When I first started doing the shopping Walmart had horrible produce. During Covid Meijer's produce got worse and Walmart's got better so I do most of my grocery shopping at Walmart now. I don't like it because the store is dirtier, most other shoppers look homeless, the store is disorganized and seems to constantly be changing layout but it's cheaper and has better produce. I'd like to switch to Kroger because they have even better produce and are cleaner and better organized but they are always crowded and cramped, even when I show up at 6am.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

We've mostly shopped at Kroger for many years but lately it's just becoming too much of a hassle. I like digital coupons but they email me multiple times per week, sometimes to tell me to remember to clip the coupons they just emailed me about a couple of days earlier. Being FIRE I avoid shopping on weekends like the plague but some coupons are only good for a few days that include the weekend. Plus, the stockers block the aisles and the frozen food sits on pallets unattended for probably hours, judging by the amount of melted and re-frozen ice cream we find. Not to mention that they usually only have one lane with a human open at any given time. And the prices can be significantly higher than Wally World or Food Lion.

We don't have Trader Joe's or Whole Paycheck, but I sometimes drop into Aldi for certain of their items we like. We have a local co-op grocery store and an Earth Fare which are good for the hippie-type foods we like. In summer there's a local open-air farmer's market which has been going for well over a century, so we like to keep supporting the vendors there.

 

[CaptTom]

OK, I'm not the only one who avoids Whole Paycheck, so I'll stay...

I did go there a couple of times to check out their produce. I found it no better than the crap they sell at all the other supermarkets. Everything is bred for shipping, not eating. By the time it ripens it's shriveled and drying out. On those rare occasions when it looks edible, it still has no flavor. I would be happy to pay Whole Foods prices for a fresh, ripe melon or pint of strawberries. I guess there's a whole generation growing up which doesn't know the taste of real produce.

There were a bunch of articles in the press a few years ago about Walmart stepping up their game for produce. I didn't see it at any of our local stores. Their stuff somehow manages to look even worse than the supermarkets. I guess I'm fortunate that the Walmarts around here are all fairly clean and not full of "people of Walmart" candidates. They're in there, just not the majority.

 

[Chuckanut]

We have a local boutique market chain in my area.

I rarely go there as their prices are very high. Last year they sent me a coupon for a gourmet ice cream - buy one pint, get a 2nds pint for free. The pint was almost $6. I bought it anyway and concluded that the gourmet ice cream was not better than Kroger's higher level store brand. I had overpaid by nearly 100% even with the free pint.

The boutique store used to have sales on British bangers that I liked a lot. They no longer carry them. That was my last reason to darken their door.

 

[FiveDriver]

Within a half-mile radius of our home, we have a Harris Teeters, a Publix, an Aldi and a Lidl. And I know when Senior Discount Day is at HT and Publix.

HT emails their circular every Wednesday, and if there's a special on a particular cut of meat, like Rib Steak, Chicken Cutlets or Hamburger....I go and stock the freezer. I believe that once you get control of the cost of Meat, the rest of the items can be filled in as needed.

Aldi's has good prices on Breakfast Cereals, Dairy and healthy snacks.

Lidl's is new here and they have been papering the area with coupons, spend $75 and get $25 off -- crazy sales. Their prices started out well below market, but have been creeping up. They have had some 'door-buster' sales on meat. You've got to watch what you buy there. Some food items are well-priced, others, not so much.

The only stores we don't go to are Food Lion and Piggly WIggle....they're just too far away.

DW knows a Shrimp Boat Captain that sends out a text to a small group when he has fresh Shrimp heads-off. The shrimping season starts end of April. Our Farmer's Market in town runs on Saturdays May thru October and there are a few local farms that we like to support.

All of this is charged on CitiBank's 5% Cash Back Card, for tracking purposes. Comparing 2021 grocery spend with 2022.....there was not more than $50 difference over the full year.

 

[aaronc879]

I guess it depends what you consider a grocery store. There are two stores that I consider grocery stores in my town and I don't go to either of them. Those are Piggly Wiggly and Festival Foods. I go to the Pick N Save in the next town over(extra mile) because they have better sales. I also never go to the dollar stores if you count those. I have heard they do have a pretty good selection of food items. There are 2 in my town. Thankfully there is no Whole [-]Paycheck[/-] Foods within 100 miles of me.

 

[rk911]

In our town we have several national regional chains. The only stores I will not shop in are ALDI and Costco. Costco is too far and both ALDI and Costco don't carry the brands we like.

 

[bltkmt]

Stop n Shop. Their selection and quality is bad. Luckily we have Shop Rite, Whole Foods, Trader Joes and Stew Leonards nearby.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

I usually shop at a "Krogers" (locally branded version thereof), since it is about a 5-minute walk. Going the other direction, I walk past a Piggly Wiggly, a Walmart, AND an Aldi's before coming to my preferred little local co-op (think ~ Whole Foods-ish). That's about a 20-minute walk.

 

[Sojourner]

FWIW, we generally only go to Kroger, Publix, Walmart, and an international food market. That's because those are the only ones within 5-10 minutes drives from home.

Ones that are fairly nearby but I never go to:
Aldi — went there once and wasn't too impressed with their selection
Lidl — never been inside one
Food Depot — never been inside one
Trader Joe's — the nearest one is too far away, unfortunately
Costco — not a member and the nearest location is not convenient

 

[Beldar]

Of course this is a regional answer.

One "grocery" store we avoid locally is called Basha's. They consistently have expired food for sale. As in ~really~ out of date. The location closest to us has closed, and has been re-purposed into a movie theater.

_B

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

For those of you who shop at Walmart but don’t like going into the store, have you tried their grocery pick up service?
It’s free as long as you spend $35 or more.

Walmart has really perfected the grocery pick up process. You can set up your preferred substitutions and if you get the wrong item you can usually deal with that when they bring the order to your car.

It’s really convenient especially for those boxed/packaged items.
I shop at Walmart every week and haven’t stepped foot in one in over 3 years. It’s great.

 

[Trailwalker]

Of course this is a regional answer.

One "grocery" store we avoid locally is called Basha's. They consistently have expired food for sale. As in ~really~ out of date. The location closest to us has closed, and has been re-purposed into a movie theater.

_B

That would be really annoying. Out of date or spoiled food for sale on the regular shelves is one of my pet peeves.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

For those of you who shop at Walmart but don’t like going into the store, have you tried their grocery pick up service?
It’s free as long as you spend $35 or more.

No, I like to choose my own produce.