What is your favorite, and least favorite Super Market?

[mtn1584]

I used to be in the business, and I am curious about who shops where. In particular I would like to know about different chains throughout the country, and if you think they can continue to compete with Wal*Mart SuperCenters. you can also mention your least favorite stores. I have seen WM Supercenters in Tenneesee (Madison) right next to an empty Ingles, I don't know how they can compete. Anyway, thanks for your input, I hope you enjow this thread.
Mike

 

[mtn1584]

I may as well start this off,
My new favorite store is Grade A ShopRite in Brookfield, for their prices, sales, and selection.
My least favorite is A&P in Danbury,
They are dirty, overpriced, and I find they have rude help.
PS I will give kudos to Trader Joes
Mike

 

[shawn]

Super Markets.

Finast (First National) were just awful before they closed.
Save-A-Lot lasted just a year in Waterford Ct, very poor quality. ShopRite does a good job, clean store.

 

[hydralique]

Ralph's for me . . .

Because I live so close I can walk there. After Ralph's then Von's, because there are also several that are convenient for me. The nearest Walmart is about 20 minutes to the northwest, and I rarely go that direction unless I'm shopping there or at other stores in that shopping center.

Competition at the various chains is so cutthroat that I really don't think there's much difference in overall pricing except at specialty grocery stores like Whole Foods and Gelson's.

 

[ironrite]

I usually go to Vons, they have far less homeless people in their parking lots than our Smiths stores here. Did like Ralphs when they were here in Las Vegas. And a few months ago went into two different Publix markets in Florida and loved those! Very bright, clean and friendly staff. Wish they were out here. Another store that was very nice was one called Hitchcocks in Alachua, Florida. Fresh and Easy is pretty good for just getting a few things.

My concern is to get checked out quickly. The self scans at Smiths rarely work correctly and they never have enough checkstands open. Vons is pretty good about keeping their lines short and getting registers open.

Walmart isn't even on the radar for me.

 

[lordkenmore]

The store where I shop at the most is Fred Meyer. It USED to be a Northwest store that got bought out by Krogers about 10 years ago. Historically, it's been a "one stop shopping center" with everything from groceries to clothes. However, there are some locations that are grocery store only. The prices are the best--at least for what I buy, and given the stores that are reasonably easy for me to get to.

I sometimes shop at Safeway, QFC, or Albertsens, but not much. Prices are higher on most things, and I don't think (for the most part) the quality is a whole lot different than Fred Meyer. But they do have some good sales sometimes.

In summer, I shop a lot at open air markets. I hope to shift as much buying to open air markets/farmer's markets this year. Quality and selection is better, and I like the idea of supporting small scale farmers and small business.

As for Wal-Mart, I have never been near one that has much of a grocery department. I try to stay away from Wal-Mart as much as possible. I've heard their prices on groceries are really low...but I have a feeling that would change in a big hurry if they took control of the grocery market.

 

[bugsyjones]

I don't necessarily like the idea of a 'one-stop shop' store. Mostly, because different places sell certain items I buy for different prices. Or they don't sell them at all. Or the quality of said product is not good. If I had to pick a preferred market it would be the Dillon's Marketplace in Andover. It's closer to me than Walmart and Target, and Dillon's pretty much owns the grocery monopoly here in Wichita. Dillon's is owned by the larger Kroger company.

The Andover Marketplace has a great selection of food. My favorite is the cheese counter. They sell imported and exotic cheeses from around the world. You can get authentic Parmesan or Jarlsburg or whatever you fancy. I also like their international foods section. It's pricey but it's a good selection.

Now since Dillons sells primarily food, their houshold items are not very good prices. I was looking for Clorox 2 one day and their price (with DISCOUNT CARD even) was $7.95 for a SMALL bottle! I said hell no.

The Super Target in east Wichita is my favorite as far as store layout. Their isles are nice and wide. No cart jams or people blocking the way. Their prices can be kinda high. That's the only place besides Petsmart that I can get replacement bins for my LitterMaid and they're expensive.

I buy household cleaners, paper goods, and other related items at the local discount store 'Dollar General' Store. Their prices are very good and I know they'll have what I need.

I don't care much for Walmart. It's always crowded, they MAY not have what I want and to me, their bakery and fresh vegetables are not very good quality. I don't get excited if I have to go there.

I'm mostly an internet shopper. I only buy something locally if I can't get it cheaper online.

~Tim

 

[mixfinder]

The Great State of Washington

Safeway for ease of finding items I want and Fred Meyer for the best over all value week in and week out.
My least favorite is a tie between QFC for elitist attitudes and exorbitant prices and Albertson for being a tired worn out concept with a poor selection of products.

 

[jeffg]

Today's supermarkets are legal chemical dumps. We'll go to Safeway for junk food, but we buy everything else at New Leaf Market, Whole Foods or Trader Joe's.

 

[spankomatic]

I like Raleys. They seem to have everything I need. I like that they have large and small shopping carts. I use the small one and zip around in the store. No need for me to be pushing a "tank" around the store for just me. I also like that they unload the cart at check out. Most stores now you have to unload the cart and put everything on the ramp,for them. They also bag everything for you (I bring my own bags). In general good customer service,good meats,nice bakery,good deli,CLEAN stores.

 

[douglasdc6]

Here in Houston texas .

My favorite is H.E.B. Excellent choices & excellent customer service - They treat you right !!!

My least favorite is Kroger - Horrible customer service .
Its like Kroger hates you for shopping there.

 

[volvoguy87]

Groceries.

I will not go to Wal-Mart for anything EVER, period. No excuses!

For the places I will go, Kroger is the bottom of my list. They are based right here in Cincinnati and I walk past their headquarters most every weekday. Sadly, I find their stores to be expensive, poorly stocked, poorly laid out, often dirty, and their staff are just terrible. Their newer stores are HUGE! They haven't figured out that it's not all about size, but content and placement (snicker). They could do far better with smaller stores if only they were kept well stocked and clean and had a staff without an attitude or hygiene problem.

My favorite grocery store was Publix in Savannah, GA. It was well laid out, well stocked, clean, with respectable prices, good quality, and nice staff.

Here in Cincinnati, I go t Bigg's for groceries. They're not anything to sing about, but they are worlds better than Kroger. For meats, cheeses, and a bunch of produce, I go to Findlay Market downtown. It's a 19th century market that never closed. There are dozens of vendors, all competing on quality and price. If you don't like what you see, look 20 feet to the left or right and see the variety. As of now, I'm on a first-name basis with my butcher there.

Eat well,
Dave

 

[SactoTeddyBear]

Hey! Jim:

Where is this Raley's located? I've been I thought to all of them here in and surrounding Sacto...

Thanks, Peace and Kind Regards, Steve

 

[whirlcool]

One of my favorite subjects

In Houston, I find that HEB is probably the best. They just built a new one here in The Woodlands and the management must be doing something right as they have some of the nicest and freindliest people working there. Very helpful. The stores are clean and well laid out. But you HAVE to watch your prices. For most things they are pretty low, but every now and then you'll find a price zinger in the crowd. Like Hellman's Mayo for $5.29 a jar when the other places are selling it for $3.29. They also carry Boars Head deli meats, which are my favorite.

The stores here I hate:

SAFEWAY! Safeway has tried to enter this market three different times. First with Safeway stores, then with an employee owned, but Safeway managed AppleTree Market, another failure and now they own Randall's, which used to be my all time favorite.
Here Safeway featured limited merchandise selection in large stores with convenience store pricing. Randall's used to be my favorite, but no more. They have these large stores called Randall's Flagship and you can go in there at 7pm on a Saturday night and be the only person in the store! It's that bad.
The worst thing that Randall's ever did was get rid of Boars Head deli brands and go with the Safeway house brand. In some stores here, they are closing their deli departments together. And now Randall Onstead,the former owner of Randall's before Safeway took it over is now head of Dominick's in Chicago. It was a golden parachute deal for him. He sold them Randall's in exchange for a cushy takeover somewhere else. And from what I have heard he "Safewayized" the Dominick's chain as well.

I do like Whole Foods, but there isn't any on the far north side of Houston. And even though the area is pretty upscale, they don't plan on coming up here in the forseeable future.

They did have Albertson's here for awhile. Nice large and clean stores. Nice selection of product brands. But with astronomical pricing. They left Houston after three years of trying to make it here. Houston is a very competitive retail market.

 

[xraytech]

Well, there are a few places I love to shop,
For most of my groceries I love to go to Shop N Save, but only the Canonsburg,Pa store, the Washington,Pa store is filty and is located right next to the projects, I can earn savings on Sunoco gas there with my rewards card and it is the only place with paper bags(I insist on my grocery order being packed paper in plastic).

For deli items, spices and baking supplies it is Kauffman's Family Marketplace in Atlasburg, Pa it is a Mennonite family owned place with the best of everything.

For frozen convience things, and certain canned goods, and paper products it is Restaurant Depot on 32nd Street in the Strip District of Pittsburgh, it is card only store for restaurant owners(naturally I have connections to get a card) It is so much cheaper buying canned tomatoes, foam plates, and frozen goods in bulk.

For my meat I only purchase it at Mikes Packing in Washington,Pa I am on a first name basis with everyone there and everything is cut to order with low prices.

As for the places I hate it would be Giant Eagle is number one because there prices are very high, and I hate Food Land because it is very dirty and moderately high prices

 

[circlew]

I get the majority of my groceries at Kroger. They have a new store (open 3 years) near here, and it's pretty decent. Much better than the old one that was grimy, and had rude employees. I go to Meijer for some things, such as sugar and bread. Cleaning products and items I buy in larger sizes usually come from GFS (Gordon Food Service). I always get my instant oatmeal there, in a 55 packet box. No membership is required and their stores are very clean, and pleasant employees.

I don't care for Biggs, especially since I got moldy bread there not long after they opened.

 

[jamiel]

Here in Michigan, it's Meijer...there's no comparison with anything else here. It's like a Wal-Mart Supercenter but with good food (they started as a grocer in Grand Rapids, adding general merchandise in the 60s.

In St. Louis, can't choose between Schnucks' and Dierberg's...the standard for supermarkets is very high in STL (they've successfully kept Wal-Mart food out of the city and St. Louis County). Dierberg's has cooking schools, home economists, etc. Schnucks does an excellent job as well.

In the southeast, Harris-Teeter is supreme. Really nice place to go. I wasn't all that enthralled with Publix (but they were better than Kroger in Atlanta).

 

[MikeS]

My Favorites

Here in Las Vegas, Smith's Food & Drug (owned by Kroger) is my favorite overall store for its low prices, friendly workers and decent meats.
I don't shop at Vons (Safeway); prices are far too high forw what they offer. Albertson's used to be my favorite store, but their prices also went through the roof after SuperValu took over.
Don't hate me too much, but I go to Walmart once a month. Prices are consistent (though not always the cheapest) and I like their Great Value house brands.
Also like Food-4-Less (Kroger) for its deep discount prices, but selection could be better and I hate to bag my own items.
Trader Joe's is a great store to shop in, with tasty and reasonably priced food. Too bad the nearest one is quite a drive from my home.
Las Vegas also has a number of supermarkets aimed at the growing Latino population. I have shopped a few and found good produce buys and occasional specials on basic items, but I find most of what I need cheaper at other stores.
Raley's once had stores in Las Vegas and I loved the chain overall, but they ended up selling their local stores to Albertson's. Too bad.
Believe it or not, I find some great bargains at the 99-Cent Only Store and Family Dollar. Costco and Sam's Club are good, too, but I live alone and don't have enough space in my condo for the big size items they sell.
I wish Aldi would open a Las Vegas store. I would be shopping there every week.
Fresh & Easy is a good store for many of my needs, and their baked and pre-made food is really good--especially when they are marked down the next day. But again, selection issues lead me to other stores for regular shopping.
Bottom line: You have to be really good to survive in the Las Vegas market--or just lucky.

 

[nurdlinger]

I will go to WalMart for one reason

They sell their own glucose testing meter, and the test strips cost half as much as any others. Side-by-side comparison to more expensive meters proves that the accuracy of the WalMart meter is just fine.

I don't typically buy groceries there but I did several years ago when I was laid off.

I lived in Michigan years ago, when Meijer Markets sold groceries and Thrifty Acres was the department store. Somewhere along the line they got merged.

Also lived in St. Louis area years ago. I remember liking Schnuck's markets. They sold a baked good named "gooey butter cake" which was quite tasty.

 

[appnut]

My only choices are HEB and WalMart Supercenter.

 

[perc-o-prince]

Price Chopper

is where most of our shopping is done. We grab stuff at Trader Joe's, and, rarely, at the most expensive Stop & Shop. Actually, I've been grabbing a few things now and then at Hannaford's since it's around the corner from the bus lot, and they haven't been that bad on some things.

1- Price Chopper
2- Trader Joe's
3- Hannaford's
4- Stop & Shop

Now, if Price Rite was here................

Chuck

 

[maytagbear]

My favourite store

is a local chain, Acme Fresh Market, which is NOT the same as the Philadelphia area Acme. The staff at the one I go to here in Kent know me by name, and the more experienced staff just make shopping so pleasant. Not so much the new hires, alas.

We also have Giant Eagle here in this area, and I do not like them nearly as well, but I do shop at Giant Eagle once in a while.

I refuse to grocery shop at Wal*Mart. Cannot abide the place. However, there is a new Supercenter about a mile and a half from "my" Acme Fresh Market, and the Acme is struggling.

There is an Aldi a few miles away, and a Save-A-Lot, but they depress the hell out of me. I'd almost rather starve than shop at either one.

The nearest Trader Joe's is about 45 minutes north of me, so I only get there when a friend goes. If one was closer, I'd shop there a lot. Yeah, yeah, I know that Trader Joe's is actually a division of Aldi (yes!), but it's a very different experience.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[peterh770]

Publix, because all the crackheads around here go to Kroger.

 

[appliguy]

When I am at home in VA........

I like Magruders in Vienna (it is has a nice small 50's feel to it and the employees and the prices are great) and Big Lots in Sterling (I get bread there for $1.20 a loaf) and when I am at our summer cottage at Deep Creek Lake MD. it is FoodLand all the way.....Pat

 

[spookiness]

I'm not loyal to any one store but

But as far as chains go I'm not fond of Food Lion.

It's not a super market, but I loath CVS/Pharmacy.

 

[laundromat]

let's see

In Baltimore,my favorite store was the old A&P.I still buy 8'o Clock coffee beans on line.
In Florida,Publix was my favorite place and in Texas,H.E.B.

Here in Hawaii,I have to go to Walmart , Target and Costco. otherwise,I go broke. A gallon of milk at those stores is $3.99. At the other so called supermarkets it costs $8.49!!! The other weird thing here is that Costco is the only store where I can buy chicken breasts.Everybody else has thighs,legs and wings but NO BREASTS!!!????????? plenty of raw meat ready to eat but I'd rather cook it. I've had raw shrimp,raw tuna and sushi but they're not my favorite.

 

[dixieland]

I shop at Schnucks mostly. It is closest to my home and the people are friendlier than Kroger. My problem is that no one grocery store (in Memphis) gives me the complete shopping experience I am looking for. I end up starting at one and then hit 3-4 places to get what I really want.

My job allows me to travel so I get so seek out many different stores across the nation(s). Some of my favorite are:

-Publix
-Harris Teeter
-Schnucks
-Hyvee
-Dominicks (Safeway)
-Fresh
-Dominion
-Loblaws
-Sobeys
-Winn Dixie
-Fresh & Easy (please expand eastward)

Some of my least-favorite:

-Shaws
-Stop n Shop
-Price Chopper
-Hannaford
-Albertson's (just plain crap these days - used to be good)
-Piggly wiggly (needs a makeover)

 

[sudsmaster]

It depends...

I do most of my grocery shopping at Costco.

Otherwise it's usually Pak 'N Save, which is a branch of Safeway. The reason is that the local store is far less crowded than the local Safeway, but carries much of the same items. It's a bigger store with bigger aisles, and often better stocked than the neighborhood Safeway. I guess it was meant to be the bulk version of Safeway.

I used to shop at Lucky's 15 years ago, but that was in a different town where I preferred the local Lucky's over the Safeway that was on the next block.

Costco doesn't have the selection of a local supermarket but he quality is generally higher, especially for fresh meat products. If I want a rib steak, I'll try to get it at Costco, which carries Choice grade, vs. the local supermarkets which carry their own non-standard grades like "Ranchers Reserve" which is lower quality than Choice. Not that I eat steak that often!

Around Thanksgiving I'll hit up the local Pak 'N Save or Safeway for a frozen turkey or three on sale. Still working through the supply stored at the bottom of the chest freezer!

 

[mattl]

If it's Michigan, it's Meijer's

Second Jamiel, Meijer's! Surprisingly they are growing and competing VERY well against the slimy Wal Marts. Guess that tells you where I WONT shop...

I shop at three stores, 90% Meijer's, 7% Kroger's, 2% a small local owned and operated store called Bueches (pronounced a BeeKee's), and 1% another small local chain VG's The last two are doing well competing against all the major's.

 

[petek]

I don't really favor one or the other around here although I tended to avoid A&P until they were changed to Metro stores and got a better selection and better prices.
I go thru the Thursday flyers that come with the newspaper and look for what's on sale that I know will get eaten/used then over the course of the week I pick that stuff up at the various stores when I'm passing by them and I buy quite a few of each. I do go to the Walmart Supercenter if they have what I want at the right price, they're not always the cheapest by a longshot but then they do "price match" and you don't have to show them the competitors ad..They take your word for it usually.
I cross the river occasionally to go to Kroger and Meijer but mostly Kroger for milk and cheese.. We pay a fortune for milk in Ontario (about $4.50 a gallon roughly) but in Michigan it's less than half the price and I can often get a gallon for less than $2. Now though the bridge toll has risen to $6 return so that can offset any savings. Oddly the rest of the Michigan grocery prices are about the same and quite often a little more expensive, even the California and Florida fruits and vegetables can cost more in Michigan than we pay here in Ontario Canada.
You really have to shop around though and know your prices and whether it's worth driving extra miles for not much savings.