I live in a small city. Publix is the best here, worst is probably Sav-a-lot.

It's a few hours to a Trader Joes.

For gourmet stuff, an upscale Fresh Market just opened; hope it makes it.

I was so excited when we got a "real" fish/seafood place in town. My first trip, I picked up about 200.00 worth of fish for a big cookout. When I asked them for a dozen shucked oysters, they told me they don't shuck oysters, but they would sell me an oyster shucker for 25.00! I left everything on the counter and walked out. I go to our old Safeway because I can park close and get the heck in and out. DH does all the other shopping.

I don't know where I got the name "Fresh Plus" (unless I made it up), but I meant Sprouts Market in Culver City. I keep forgetting to go there because it is not one of the places we normally drive by - unless we are going to a back entrance to Fox Hills. Anyway, it is very close to us, and I will just have to remember to go there. It's not as cheap as TJ's, but it's better than Bristol Farms or Gelson's.

Lars

My all time favorite is Crest, up in Edmond (up, cause it is north of OKC).

I buy a lot at Buy 4 Less, on Hefner Parkway and north west expressway. It is the nicest Buy 4 Less EVER!

I also shop at the commissary on Tinker Airforce Base, and SAMS.

It all depends on what I want.

Lars, we have a Sproutz too, but it is so hard to get out of.

Moni

Kroger is my least favorite. Stopped shopping there when they jacked up their prices after the A & P chain closed up around here. My favorite is a small chain Westborn market. Their prices & quality on fresh foods far exceed KrogerâÂÂs. I get the rest of my groceries/dry goods at Target, or rarely, Kroger. Once a year if there's an item neither has, I venture into the Walmart next to Target. My Target is expanding so I don't expect to have to do that anymore.
Forgot Costco. I shop there a lot, but not really for groceries per se. More paper products, Rx, pet stuff. We also have AldiâÂÂs in my town, and thereâÂÂs a TJâÂÂs nearby but I donâÂÂt like them as well. I prefer when possible to spend my money on locally owned stores, and am lucky to have a great market 5 minutes from me.

I dont like to buy any food in Walmart with all the birds flying around, unless its in a can or sealed box I stay away from Walmart food.
I like Aldi's, they have great prices & the store is always very clean. I wish there was more of them in my area.

Your link is down.

Food Lion is definitely the worst I've ever been in, Walmart is not so bad. I don't like Aldi at all, kind of weird, and I don't like Trader Joe's, either, they never have anything I want, and the staff is not helpful.

Wegman's is my favorite, and we have some local chains that are good, too. We have Whole Foods, which I like, and Fresh Market, which is OK, and now we have MOM's, which, if I need organic stuff, has a good selection, though it's expensive.

Thanks, Momj47 - there was a quotation mark out of place - I have noticed this happening seemingly spontaneously from time to time. Anyway, I move the mark to the correct place, and it seems to work now.

Lars

Wegman's #1 and Harris Teeter's is #2.... Fresh Market is coming to Northern VA and that will be up there as well... No Trader Joe's within immediate area.. There are some in Northern VA, but not in my specific area and I usually don't want to drive 20-25 minutes to go there when Wegman's and Harris Teeters is less than 5 minutes away

Welcome to the Cooking Forum, KMBC.

We have all kinds of typical supermarkets. Endless options.

In addition, we have a large Hmart (Korean) and a few large Chinese, and Spanish markets.

Plenty of opportunities to catch great sales.

dcarch

In our little town, there is Wal Mart, a larger local chain and a small local chain store (by local read headquarters 3 hours away) -- Some things I go to WM for because of the cost -- things I need everyday (water/dog food) cost me almost $1 per DAY less at WM -- and that $1 means more to me that the smaller "local" grocery so . . . but I go monthly to TJ's and Costco and get what I need -- meat and things that's hard to find in our little town and I shop during the summer at the Farmer's Market -- hardly buy any vegetables at the grocery in the summer.

Living in a very small town certainly limits your grocery shopping.

Oh, and I like Aldis, too, but it is 25 miles away -- TJ's and Costco are 100.

Martha

We have some very nice grocery stores.

Zuppans is an very upscale, gourmet local chain. My pocket book doesn't tolerate shopping there too regularly, but it is nice to pretend I could. New Seasons is also upscale but more for the affluent organic vegan gluten-free hippie type. Whole Foods has a small store about six blocks from my house where we run for quick stuff. There are larger Whole Foods around as well. The nearest Safeway is about a mile away, I think it is a pretty good conventional grocery chain, the quality is pretty good and they always have some good deals. Trader Joes is a mile away. For large quantities of meat and some fish, Costco is hard to beat.

For the specialty stuff, my favorite place for veggies and fruits is the urban market operated by a local farm, the produce is inexpensive, fresh, local, and interesting. Purple potatoes, rainbow carrots, several kinds of beets, etc. They do bring in stuff from other farms but it is local too. I stop there on the afternoon commute, load produce in my bag and get some extra exercise lugging it home. About half a mile away there is a small grocer with gourmet meats, cheeses, good produce, tucked away between a bookstore and a coffee shop, feels very continental. My little Asian market with the piles of salmon heads and mystery meats. A big multi-ethnic Asian market is about two miles away. An excellent and large Japanese market, Uwajimaya, is in the next town over, and is a "once every couple of months" trip. There is a small Japanese market much closer to me, with a good but limited fish selection, the usual dry and canned and chilled Japanese staples, and weirdly awful vegetables - it is so unusual to see any produce of poor quality in a Japanese market, and at this one at least half the produce looks inferior - very strange.

I'd guess we do about 1/3 of our grocery spending in small local places, 2/3 in Safeway, Whole Foods, TJs, and Costco.

I was surprised to see Acme there. We have them around here and I never thought they were so bad, although I don't shop there.

I shop at Super Fresh (used to be A&P) because I can walk to it (but I drive). The one near me is small. Some people call it a large Wawa (which is the Philadelphia version of 7-11, but better).

Other stores I like are Wegman's. TJs, Whole Foods (remember when it was Fresh Fields?). Stores I don't like are Giant and - ick- Pathmark.

I have always wanted to shop at a Piggly-Wiggly ever since I saw Driving Miss Daisy. Love the name.

Pam, that's funny, I just told Elery I'd shop at Piggly Wiggly just because of the name, LOL.

Of course my tiny town of 800 residents has one independent food store, Houseman's. All their cashiers know me by name and the kids they hire to pack groceries all know that I know their mothers and they treat me well. (grin)

The prices are somewhat high but they have a lot of fresh local produce and their customer service is excellent, so I do most of my shopping there.

I hate Walmart, the only other choice in the county. I'd rather go hungry than venture into Walmart. The shelves are always empty or understocked, the employees are rude and unhappy, the store is generally unkempt and bordering on dirty, and they are constantly moving things around so you can never find anything. It's so frustrating that I mostly just leave before I even find what I went for. Ugh. Hate Walmart.

Every month or so I go to Grand Rapids and go to the Mediterranean Market, the Asian Market, Aldi's, Sam's and I just made my first trip to Costco. A couple of times a year we drive into Ann Arbor and go to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, but it's a 4 hour drive one way, so it's limited to times we are visiting his kids and grandkids, no way do we make that drive otherwise now we sold his house.

Truthfully, though, I'm fortunate not to have to go to the grocery store very often. Since I have my huge garden and I can/freeze/dehydrate everything we don't eat fresh and I have chickens for eggs and meat, grass fed beef, homegrown pork, my shopping requirements are limited. I buy cleaning and laundry supplies, fresh produce in the winter when my garden isn't producing, dairy products and paper goods, baking supplies and some grains like steel cut oats or quinoa. Other than the produce, those can mostly be purchased in bulk and stored in the basement, so I don't have to shop very often.

I did stop today at a little convenience store in Big Rapids and buy a quart of my favorite organic milk from a local dairy. You actually have to shake the cream into it, it rises to the top, and still comes in the glass bottle. It tastes like milk used to taste so once a week I buy a quart for $2.99, which is an outrageous price for milk but once a week, I splurge.

I checked the "best" list and the "worst" list and the only store on either of the lists that's anywhere near me is Walmart. Most of the others aren't even in Michigan, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing...

Annie

Being in Australia I don't really have a dog in this hunt, but one of the things that really annoys me is the fact that the large chain grocery I usually shop at is gradually deleting brand products I prefer in favour of stocking their own house brand products. It seems like every time I shop there are fewer choices. Do you have the same issue over there?
I used to do most of my shopping at the local independent store until two or three years ago when they got a new hotshot manager who decided the way to crack down on the shoplifting problem they had was to demand to search every female customer's handbag, whether or not they had been seen to be behaving suspiciously or not. I refuse to shop at a place which assumes that I am a potential thief. What really irked me was that they weren't checking men's pockets, or looking under sweatshirts to see what was tucked into waistbands, or screening their own staff, who turned out to be a big part of the problem.

That's insane. I can't believe that store didn't go bust instantly.

Own brand - there is a lot of "private label" (our name for it) in the USA, but in grocery I don't think the balance is changing too much between that and "branded" (which is what we call the rest). In some other types of consumer product, private label is growing.

We have a wide array of grocery stores here in the Twin Cities, all within easy driving distance. But I typically stick to just two: Aldi and Target. I eat a lot of fresh veggies and fruit, and I get all of this at a fabulous price at Aldi--their fresh foods are a lot fresher than other groceries. I also get my oatmeal, some cleaning supplies, and Fage yogurt there--don't know why they stock it, but it is always there and again at a great price. Aldi carries organic produce, too, some of which I buy (the "dirty dozen"). Whatever I can't buy at Aldi I then buy at Target. I think because I am single and a pretty simple, routine eater I do best at stores with more limited selection--in and out is the way I like to shop!

There are two stores here in my little town .
Walmart and HEB.
There are also quite a few 'convenience' stores
that carry a few groceries.
But personally, I can't conceive of anyone actually 'shopping'
in one of them.
The high prices and lack of selection pretty much
Limit them to 'impulse' type buying.

Colleenoz, here in Texas, both Walmart and HEB
are getting worse all the time.
Adding more and more 'store brand' products,
And eliminating the 'good' brands.
What's even worse, they package their store brand products
to look like the name brands.
Then display them side by side.
So it is very easy to grab their crappy stuff by mistake.

I'll admit, there are a few (VERY few) store brand products
That we like just as much as the brand name.
But I personally, am always very hesitant to try
The store brand.
I hate wasting money!
Now if the stores were REALLY convinced that their product
is just as good as the name brand,
Why don't they sell small 'trial' sizes? ?

And to clarify, I am talking about food products here.
Although the same thing is happening
with other types of products, too.
I can almost visualize,
in the not-too-distant future,
Both stores carrying nothing BUT their own brands.
Scary!

So 'best' and 'worst'?
Not much choice here,
But I believe both stores are both 'best' and 'worst',
Depending on what you are shopping for.

I do envy those of you with choices!

Rusty

This thread was originally about supermarkets (not local markets), but the comparison is valid. I do shop at local markets (including farmers' markets) for 1/3 to 1/2 of the food we buy, and we have very good Japanese, Middle Eastern (Turkish, Lebanese, Syrian), Indian, Brazilian, and Cuban markets nearby. I have to travel a bit further - about 20 minutes away, to get to 99 Ranch for a Chinese market - the Japanese markets are more numerous in WLA where I shop. There are huge Korean markets about 30 minutes away in Koreatown, which is close to Thai Town and Little Armenia. I don't get to that part of town very often unless I need specialty items.

As for supermarkets not carrying certain brands - that happens a lot here, not only because the supermarkets carry their own brands (which sometimes I like and sometimes I don't), but also because large name brands such as Coke and Pepsi will buy shelf space and therefore push smaller brands out. Then there are specialty stores like Bevmo who will capitalize on this and sell a lot of unusual sodas and drinks. Galco's is another shop selling specialty sodas.

Lars

This post was edited by publickman on Wed, Jun 12, 13 at 15:13

We have a number of good grocery stores here on the Island. Thrifty's is my favourite because it also has a butcher, with a meat counter and a fresh seafood counter.
There are also a couple of speciality markets in Victoria that I get to on a regular basis.

My all time favourite grocery store though is Wegmans. When we lived in the US, we were about an hour from a number of different Wegmans and I would shop these stores at least a couple of times a week. I could go to Buffalo or the other direction to Erie, PA. I've always felt it was worth the drive to shop at great grocery stores.

~Ann

Annie and dedtired: You wouldn't want to shop at Piggly-Wiggly here in The Heart of Dixie!!! They may be been better years ago, but now I wouldn't even want to step inside one.

Thanks dcarch. I have been a long time lurker and decided to start poking my head up every now and then.

I can't add more than Lars has already stated about L.A's supermarkets and small stores. I pretty much agree with everything he has said. Gelson's is my go-to store, Ralph's/Krogers when absolutely necessary, T.J's regularly and Whole Foods every couple of weeks. Costco when entertaining or for cleaning products or papergoods. I like many products but the large sizes make them wasteful. We eat out or simply many nights, I fill in when or where I can.

I'm not a fan of store brands/ house brands. I especially dislike it when a drugstore like CVS/OSCO/Caremark has decided to remove most of the brand name products and package their brand similarly to deceive the customer. They jack up the price leaving people little choice but to purchase the store brand. The shelves are filled with many generic "equivalents" and offer little selection or backstock on the brand named product. Surprisingly there is a large Bed Bath & Beyond near my office and their prices are surprisingly competitive on items like shampoo, toothpaste, personal care products, hair product, makeup etc.

Yesterday's LA TImes had an excellent piece about drug pricing across different chain stores. It's revealing and worth reading. Like Annie, I patronize my local (pharmacy in this case)store rather than the big stores, however I realize many insurance plans do not offer this option.
This is one in a series of excellent articles exploring healthcare pricing.

Here is a link that might be useful: LA Times article-- Drug Pricing

Our largest local chain Jewel-Osco made the list. I actually don't mind Jewel, but I will admit their pricing can sometimes be high. They have unionized employees though and the ones that have worked there a long time get paid very well. Within 2 miles of my house I have the aforementioned Jewel-Osco, an Aldi, and a local supermarket. I find myself switching between the three depending on what I'm buying. One of my favorite grocery stores is a small Wisconsin chain called Woodman's. they are employee owned and the staff is great. Unfortunately it's about an hour drive to them so I only go if I happen to be out that way. Biggest selection of grocery items I can imagine and decent prices too. Not too good on fresh meats or deli items though.
We are fairly lucky in the Chicagoland area as lots of locally owned grocery stores have popped up in the last decade or so. While their shelf items may not be the best pricing - the produce, meat dept, deli, are great.

We don't have most on the list here but I think stores can vary so much from store to store that it's hard to get an accurate review.
The Food Lion here is quite upscale because it was built as and was a Bloom for several years before FL eliminated the Bloom stores. So in essence, it's as nice as a nice Publix, in someways better and our best grocery store locally for an "upscale" grocery experience.

WalMarts vary wildly but all around here they are newish and certainly as clean as any of the other grocery stores.

When I was in Miami, I visited a Fresh Market. I loved that store. Great produce, great meat, great layout, hardly any packaged or canned or frozen "food". None in Oregon.

There is another store I'm interested in. Natural Grocers Vitamin Cottage is coming to Portland. Supposedly it is all organic food but priced for the paycheck not "whole" enough for Whole Foods.

I'd like to find a good Indian and a good Middle Eastern market near me. I'm sure there are these in Portland, but I tend to shop on my bike so proximity is desirable.

I always get giddy thinking of all the food chain choices I'm missing out on when everyone lists theirs. Out here in the middle of nowhere my choices are Dillons (Kroger associated) and we're down from 4 to 3 of them now, Aldi, Wal-Mart, Sam's, and one good meat market left (I can remember when there were 5 of them in town).

I spread my "wealth" ($125.00 per MONTH for my food budget for 2 adults) evenly between the competition because they each bring something different to the table (pun intended ;-). I also happen to live where the cost of living is one of the lowest in the state, and lower than most places in the nation. You can check your town's rating at the link below. The U.S. average is set at 100. Our average for food is 90.

All of our stores are clean, have good service and friendly help. Maybe that's a mid-west thing. However, I won't buy meat at Wal-Mart or Aldi - I like the sources to be a little closer to home - and I rarely purchase food from Sam's because I can usually beat the prices elsewhere.

After watching the movie "Driving Miss Daisy", the first time we passed a Piggly-Wiggly while on vacation we stopped and did a little shopping just for the "experience" because of the movie.

When we go through St. Louis, MO on our trips to see our daughter and her family in Tennessee, we always stop at a World Market and stock-up on Salad Cream (that got started from watching Fawlty Towers - after all, what kind of a dump wouldn't have Salad Cream :-) and Lyle's Golden Syrup.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Sperling's Best Places

I have heard before that Piggly Wigglys aren't so nice, but like Grainlady, I'd like to go just once to maybe get a shopping bag with the name, although here you mostly get plastic bags. I miss the days of double paper bags. Hate the darn plastic ones.

I believe the reason A&P became Superfresh around here had something to do with unions. I remember having to cross a picket line to shop one time. Very uncomfortable.

The Piggly Wiggly is the anchor grocery in a nice shopping area destination ( Pb, WS, Anthropologie, etc.) of Myrtle Beach and it is quite on par with other nicer midstream grocers.

The Piggly Wiggly aka The Pig, in central North Carolina seems to be the basic super market. I have seen some sketchy produce, but generally it is ok. I have heard that locals prefer The Pig for meats. That may not be totally surprising since our other regular supermarket is Food Lion. They appear to provide good quality and service but they were the organization that was caught repackaging outdated meats and then had the gall to sue ABC for catching them by getting hired under false pretenses.

We can go more upscale at the Harris Teeter chain.

The History of Piggly Wiggly is pretty interesting. There used to be one in Temple, Texas (where I was born), and my mother used to shop there. I thought it was somehow associated with Porky Pig from Loonie Toons. I don't remember much about the store, however, except that it got replaced by an A&P.

Lars

Hard question. There was a time I was a fan of Meijer's which is a superstore here in Michigan. They have every thing from Tofu to shells for my .30-06. Much of their advantage is simply turn over... the produce is fresh because they just recently put it out. In college I had 3 of them within a 30 minute drive... Okemos, Lake Lansing, and the old Lansing store. Recently prices have been rather steep on basic things like beans and rice. Walmart is my favorite because they are the only place open at 3am. I won't buy meat at Walmart... I used to buy the uncut round roasts but those went away. For awhile I could get decent lamb chops but I think I was the only person in the store buying them (Tuna loved lamb).

We have a meat market in town that does nice pork. A 30 minute drive and I can get short loins for under $7/lb so they get most of my steak business. My "hamburger" I buy from a local dairy farmer which is currently $3/lb in one pound frozen packages... also get free hearts, tounges, and oxtails with my hamburger. Simply love oxtail soup.

Local market had a baker that worked there for many years. When she retired the baked goods section just faded to nothing. The third time in my life a baker has retired and it changed my life. Growing up there was a wonderful bakery in the middle of town... cinnamon twists to die for. Then they closed and we had Stanley's. Then they closed so it is store bought bread or bake your own.

Unions are not perfect but they can do good. Much of what is wrong with Unions is the direct planned actions of Management. A common stunt is to pick a Union worker and allow them to get away with anything... being late, poor work, being drunk, sitting around doing nothing. The idea is to make the normal workers angry at the Union for "protecting that guy". On the other side my non-Union employer has sent me for drug testing twice this year because I wear a respirator. I been sent for "medical" examinations and had blood draw 5 times this year by direction of the company. No I don't think people should be high at work and don't object to genuine concern about my health but things are getting a bit sadistic. Even after the company's comp Doc advised me to continue wearing the respirator the Plant Manager informed me the company does not think I need it. I now have written orders from my MD and if there is more trouble over this the next "doctor" will be a JD. Either God or the Devil loves me because my lawyers has been working for free... as the regulars here know I've a running battle over Safety issues (yes, I am the Safety person).

: )
lyra

I shop at Trader Joes and Vons. I like to get the organic vegetables and fruits from both places. TJ's has good prices on bread, butter, milk, nuts and a good selection of cheese.

Walmart was the only store in my area on that list. I'd rate that my least favorite within driving distance. Yup...empty shelves and rude people. And it's not that inexpensive. I do, however, pick up TP, cleaning supplies and cheap CDs and headphones for the library since I'm all set up for tax exempt (and our closest store is good about giving donations).

Now that there's a Trader Joe's a little over an hour away (yay), we wind up there a couple of times a month. Our route is TJ's early before the crowds, then Costco (although not a lot of fun if it's sample time), sometimes Cash & Carry (restaurant supply), and then a fairly local chain, I think...Yoke's Fresh Market (used to be Yoke's Pac'n Save). Good fresh/often local vegies and raw milk.

In between, we have one grocery store in town and we are lucky that they have great produce, decent prices and really nice people. It was an IGA, but is now a Harvest Foods. There's a Safeway six miles down the road, but...eh.

Lyra, I went to a Meijer's when I stayed at Sherry's for canning camp. Interesting that we have Fred Meyer's and they are very much alike.

Lars, thanks for that link (and I don't mean sausage -- yuk, yuk). Piggly Wiggly was ahead of it's time and a trend setter. Now I really have to visit one.

I wish they still price marked each item. I get tired of searching for the price and being sure that what I have in my hand is the item on the tag below it.

That logo sure looks like Porky Pig, although I think Loony Toons must have stolen it since PW came first.