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

[Sojourner]

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.

We do, too, so we avoid ordering fresh fruit and produce when placing a Walmart pickup order. We just order packaged/canned/frozen foods, and things like milk, eggs, cheese, etc. They do a perfectly fine job of picking those items out for us 97% of the time. We go to a local "international farmers market" to get fresh fruit and produce.

 

[athena53]

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

Whole Foods locations aren't convenient for me and I don't go out of my way to shop there but may stop by when in the area. I used to find that some of their bulk foods items were cheaper than the grocery store. They eliminated them during COVID- can't remember if they brought them back (which shows you how often I shop there). I like their salad/hot foods bar for a healthy lunch break and occasionally pick up some fancy soap or shampoo while I'm there- that's about it.

 

[Qs Laptop]

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.

I looked into this before Thanksgiving (there was another thread here about it) and yes, I could place my order and then go get my groceries for free...five days in the future. That's how popular it is. Also, I think they now have a membership fee.

I would definitely do this since most of the stuff I buy at Walmart are repeat items and not much produce.

 

[jollystomper]

I cannot think of a grocery store that we actively and deliberately avoid. For us it is more a matter of need, timing, expense, and location. Within 20 minutes of our home we have probably a dozen different store brands and at least 2 dozen stores within those brands. There are certain stores than we prefer for certain purchases, but none that we choose to avoid.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

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.

I totally agree, Walmart pickup is the best. I've only been inside a Walmart a few times in the last 3-4 years. They're not my preferred grocery store but I always order my dog and cat food there along with any fill in grocery items I might need at the time. It's so much easier to have them load 50Lb bags of dog food for me than me going into the store to get it. For grocery pick up, they require a $35 order but you other store items there is no minimum. Many times I order an item that's $5 or $10 and no minimum needed so they get a lot of my business that way.

I prefer Aldi and Winco for my groceries.

 

[Chuckanut]

I don't even think of Whole Foods. It does not cross my mind. I used to go there every few months to purchased their low sugar baked beans. But, now I make my own. I guess the price shock was so great my mind has driven the store from my consciousness.

 

[JPatrick]

WalMart, Costco, Sam's. and Aldi.

 

[Tom52]

We grocery shop primarily at a Wal-Mart neighborhood store and occasionally go to Winn Dixie and Publix for certain items. We shop at these stores because they are close enough we can go in our golf cart. We sometimes go to ALDI but we have to drive the car there. In the area is Target, Sprouts, and a few more but are farther away, 5 to 10 miles, so we do not shop there.

 

[plex]

Just saw the thread, definitely Whole Foods stands out as a never go, despite it being practically next door all my working life. Absolutely never stands out on any item, even organic ones, as there are at least one or two other stores that have better prices for the same thing. Dollar stores as well for the same reason, just for the very low-end items, but the mark ups aren't nearly as rampant.

The best mix changes by city/region, but for me it is currently Kroger 70%, Walmart neighborhood 20%, Sams/Aldi/TJ's/Amazon (online) 9%, 1% from specialty grocery stores (they are too small in the city I'm in to compete well, in larger cities things like 99 mart and local Indian store would take up 15-20% of my shopping).

 

[Out of Steam]

We've mostly shopped at Kroger for many years but lately it's just becoming too much of a hassle.

My wife just switched from Kroger to Wegman's as her main supermarket because of too many things missing from the shelves at Kroger. We both go to Lidl for basic items that they have very good prices on, and I'll go to Food Lion, where my wife won't.

Neither of us shops for groceries at Walmart, but I'll occasionally go there for other things.

 

[O2Bfree]

I don't go to Albertsons or Safeway because their prices are much higher than Walmart or Winco. I've been avoiding Fred Meyer (Kroger), which is closest to my home, because the two W stores have better prices. Also the area around the store is infested with drug addicts, and there've been a number of shootings and other violent activities there recently. I do go there sometimes for their fish specials though. Like yesterday I got a whole sockeye salmon for $4.77/lb.

 

[Montecfo]

We are blessed with great variety here in Northern VA and I shop them all:

1. Walmart- best for all but meat
2. Harris-Teeter (Kroger owned) a good number 2. Good place for on sale meat.
3. Giant-more expensive than HT but has good sales on meat
4. Costco-they have great produce and meat and excellent prices.
5. Safeway-meat on sale
6. Aldi-cannot fill the cart but definitely some good deals.
7. Lidl -just opening near Costco
8. Target-never a go to for groceries but convenient if doing other shopping

All but Safeway are within 4 miles of our home.

Two I do not go to are Trader Joe and Wegmans, the superstore from Rochester, NY. Great place to eat as they have everything. Both are really good and if nearby I would go as they have items unavailable elsewhere.

 

[OnTheBeach]

We have Shop-Rite, Kings and Fresh Market and local butcher. Generally go to Shop-Rite, sometimes Fresh Market and the butcher for filet mignon and freshley prepared meals. Kings has the best chicken fingers.

 

[JP.mpls]

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.

Jfm,
Doesn't Sam's Club have good meat?
I go to Costco for meat, because it is very good, and priced reasonably. I figured Sam's was similar.
I'm starting to go to Aldi's way more than Cub. It has much lower prices, and I really like many of their products.
Take care.

 

[Out of Steam]

We grocery shop primarily at a Wal-Mart neighborhood store and occasionally go to Winn Dixie and Publix for certain items.

It's not near enough to me to be a reasonable shopping option, but I was pleasantly surprised at a Walmart neighborhood market I was in a few months ago.

 

[easysurfer]

Usually Aldi is my go to. But a local place sometimes has good deals on meat.

Went to the local the other day. Chicken leg quarters at 69 cents a lb. Pub burger patties at about $1 per patty. I stocked up on both .

 

[Walt34]

Around here, Wal-Mart is one to be avoided. You know all those pictures of "Wal-Mart people"? Most of them come from the store near here. That, and I don't do long lines. Wal-Mart always has long lines. Even if it saves a little bit of money I have better things to do than stand in needless lines because the retailer is too cheap to hire enough staff and has no regard for the value of other people's time.

The other one is Aldi. The store near here is awkward to get to and the few times I was there I was not impressed with either the products or the service.

 

[RunningBum]

I don't go to Aldi, Whole Foods, or any of those discount places like Sharp Shopper.

 

[NW-Bound]

We go to all of them, but our least frequented is Whole Foods. Only if we can't find something anywhere else will we try there.

Same here. It's been a long time since we set foot inside a Whole Foods.

A while ago, I was looking for pancetta. Not cubes of it as it is usually sold, but slices of it like bacon. I was going to use it for a terrine.

Only Whole Foods carries it, but not at any store in town. So, that's that.

 

[38Chevy454]

At home in OH do not shop groceries at: Target, Whole Foods, Dollar General, Dorothy Lane (farther away and most expensive).
At home in OH do shop groceries at: Kroger, Aldi, Walmart, Meijer, Jungle Jims (local kind of eccentric place with great produce and international selection), Costco, Sam's Club.

At snowbird in FL do not shop groceries at: Winn Dixie, Sav-A-Lot (not! it is high cost and crappy selection).
At snowbird in FL do not shop groceries at: Publix, Walmart, Aldi, Sam's Club, Costco.

In general FL seems to be bit higher costs than in OH. Neither location has Trader Joes, although in past at former houses we did go there occasionally.

 

[bloom2708]

I do not go to the normal chain grocery stores. Way too expensive on mostly everything.

We can get most everything from Aldi, Walmart grocery and an Asian market. Costco for a few bulk things.

 

[Andre1969]

There's no grocery store that I actually boycott or avoid like the plague, but for most shopping we just tend to hit Aldi for most stuff, and BJ's for the stuff we get more in bulk.

One of my house mates is lactose intolerant, but likes ice cream. So for the non-dairy stuff, which seems non-existent at Aldi and Costco, he'll usually alternate between Giant and Shoppers Food Warehouse.

 

[ncbill]

"Whole Paycheck"

Mostly buy at a Lidl just a couple of miles away.

 

[Out of Steam]

Around here, Wal-Mart is one to be avoided. You know all those pictures of "Wal-Mart people"? Most of them come from the store near here.

The shopping experience at Walmarts varies drastically from store to store, and doesn't seem to relate all that closely to average incomes in the area around the store.

 

[rk911]

The shopping experience at Walmarts varies drastically from store to store, and doesn't seem to relate all that closely to average incomes in the area around the store.

agree. as we traveled the country in our RV Wally was our go-to place to shop. they seemed to be everywhere, and it was a known experience for us. but, as a rule the Wally's in small towns were cleaner and the staff friendlier and more eager to help than their stores in larger towns.