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I mentioned in a thread about Denver that you have to choose between being a Safeway person or a King Sooper's person in Colorado. I've lived three places in my life and it's always seemed kind of funny that everywhere seems to have 2-3 grocery stores and people generally have their favorite and only go to that one. So this thread is where you can tell me where you live and what your grocery store options are, which ones are preferred, reputations and sterotypes, etc. In Iowa we had Hy Vee and Fareway. Fareway's are generally smaller, more expensive, but family owned and kind of a friendlier vibe. There are always a lot of old people in Fareways. Hy Vee is bigger, more selection, etc. They do things like food samples and they generally just have their poo poo together. There was also Dahl's which is now CashSaver. I didn't get into Dahl's a lot, but it seemed more like Hy Vee than Fareway to me. I was a Hy Vee person. In Minnesota we had Cub and Rainbow. In my experiences, Cub was more run down, possibly lower prices, but a more lovely environment. Rainbow was nicer and had more options and seemed to just be a friendlier place. Some locations would have quotes about food from famous people painted on the walls, that was neat. I was a Rainbow person. In Colorado we have Safeway and King Sooper's. They seem pretty equal to me, I think King Sooper's has more selection and bigger stores, but Safeway certainly isn't bad. I believe we have Albertsons too, but I've never been there and haven't heard much about it. I would like to be a King Sooper's person, and I do go there sometimes, but there is a Safeway two blocks from me, so I am kind of a Safeway person by default. So what about you guys? I'v always liked finding the regional grocery stores when I travel - Piggly Wiggly, Winn Dixie, and Harris Teeter come to mind. It'd be interesting to hear what their reputations are to locals.
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Oct 9, 2015 18:12
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 23:53 |
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Wegmans, originally from Rochester NY is the best grocery store. I miss it and wish they would move down south. 
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Oct 9, 2015 18:19
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Back home in Alaska there was Carrs/Eagle which were the best grocery stores I've been in, but I think they got bought by Safeway and so who knows, now.
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Oct 9, 2015 18:24
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KROGER FUCKIN SUCKS
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Oct 9, 2015 18:27
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OctoberBlues posted:In Minnesota we had Cub and Rainbow. In my experiences, Cub was more run down, possibly lower prices, but a more lovely environment. Rainbow was nicer and had more options and seemed to just be a friendlier place. Some locations would have quotes about food from famous people painted on the walls, that was neat. I was a Rainbow person.
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Oct 9, 2015 18:27
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HEB here in Texas is pretty cool. 
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Oct 9, 2015 18:36
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Publix is the best and if you say otherwise you can gently caress right off back to your igloo you carpetbagging yankee trash. Publix makes the best sub sandwiches in the world and their fried chicken is also p amazing.
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Oct 9, 2015 18:48
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Grew up in FL with Publix. Publix is the best. It is by far the best grocery store I ever shopped at in terms of price/quality ratio. I miss Publix.
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Oct 9, 2015 18:49
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Cocks Cable posted:Grew up in FL with Publix. Publix is the best. It is by far the best grocery store I ever shopped at in terms of price/quality ratio. I miss Publix. Publix is just trying to emulate Wegmans. http://fortune.com/best-companies/wegmans-food-markets-7/
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Oct 9, 2015 22:53
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In SE Michigan, there was a chain of stores called Hiller's. They were awesome. A little bit pricier but nothing outrageous and their selection was amazing. But then the owner sold it to Kroger and I haven't even bothered going. Where I live now, there's a place called "Holiday Market" and it has a decent selection but everything is expensive, they regrade their meat into some bullshit "premium", and charge like 30 bucks/lb for some cuts. Oh, and their premium? Prime + top 20% of choice. Yeah, I love paying 30 bucks a pound for choice. No thanks. gently caress Holiday Market.
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Oct 9, 2015 23:09
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schnucks. it is called schnucks at it is in St. Louis. Hooray for schnucks.
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Oct 9, 2015 23:19
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skipdogg posted:HEB here in Texas is pretty cool. This. Of course, it's also the only grocery store chain around here aside from poo poo like walmart and target.
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Oct 9, 2015 23:26
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totalnewbie posted:In SE Michigan, there was a chain of stores called Hiller's. I totally read that as Hitler's.  Here in Austin, we have HEB (decent), Fiesta (ghetto), and Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck). In Euless, my crappy hometown, we had Kroger (meh), Albertson's (meh), and a really gross, lovely Winn Dixie. When I was visiting California I shopped at Safeway a lot, but noticed a disturbing lack of beef jerky.
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Oct 9, 2015 23:49
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SE Wisconsin has Pick n Save, Woodman's, Meijer, Sendik's, and a Piggly Wiggly here and there I think. I like Woodman's and Meijer best for prices and selection. I lived in NYC too and the store selection seemed to differ by borough, like Manhattan had some higher end chains like Westside Market, D'Agostino's, Dean & Deluca, Morton Williams... Brooklyn and Queens had C-Town and Key Food, neither of which were great. I mostly shopped at Whole Foods because I could buy smaller amounts of produce and not pay/waste so much.
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Oct 9, 2015 23:53
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totalnewbie posted:In SE Michigan, there was a chain of stores called Hiller's. They were awesome. A little bit pricier but nothing outrageous and their selection was amazing. I went to one of the converted Hillers today and it makes me sad. I like Holiday Market but I worked at one in college. Try going to Plum - that place is insanely expensive. We go to Busch's now but there aren't any super close.
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Oct 10, 2015 22:17
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If you're close to the right kind of heeb its almost heavenly. World Markets have an enourmous range of high quality stuff including any ethnic thing you'd want and an honest to god cheesemonger. And prices aren't crazy like whole foods. They stuck one down less than a mile from my folks' joint, it makes me mad that I don't have one near me. The normal neighborhood heebs are still fine or even good but the big flagship joints are like an adult toy store.
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Oct 10, 2015 23:03
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I don't remember NE Ohio a whole lot, but when we visited, we went to Giant Eagle. I remember it being kinda gross and dingy, but I was pretty young. Western Arkansas was all about Wal-Mart because well, it's the land of wal-marts. The town I lived in also had a grocery called CV"s, but I think that was a family owned outfit. East Tennessee had loads of Kroger's that I remember. We mostly shopped, I think, at like... Food Lion and Food City. Central Alabama had Publix's everwhere. Publix is by far the best in terms of quality. Some towns had Kroger, which was my go-to as it was decently cheaper than Publix. Then there was Winn-Dixie which is kind of mediocre, but they had decent 10 for $10 deals. I live in Northern California now, and we pretty much just shop at Safeway. And Costco for bulk stuff. If I want expensive as poo poo loving fab produce/products, though, I go to Oliver's which is a local grocery focused on Sonoma county products & produce.
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Oct 10, 2015 23:14
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Arizona has Frys, founded by the same family as the west coast electronics store, Frys (much to the confusion of GPS apps). At some point they sold to Krogers but kept the right to use the name for non-grocery stores. Cheaper than Safeway, with a bigger selection, but more limited hours. Bashas is a more independent grocery store that both targets the high end, old white person market in their stores, while at the same time owning Food City, a bargain Hispanic-targeted chain.
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Oct 10, 2015 23:16
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queertea posted:IIRC, Rainbow is owned by Roundy's, a regional grocery store company based out of Milwaukee. (Where I live!) Roundy's here owns both Pick 'n Save and Metro Market; Metro Market is basically just a slightly more upscale version of Pick 'n Save. Luckily I have one of each within walking distance of me, so I can mix it up. There are a few other chains scattered throughout Wisconsin, but I like my Roundy's stores. They're pretty much always clean, well-staffed, and even the generic brand food is pretty good. They have Mariano's in the Chicago area too, which is where I shop these days. They have a fantastic hot food bar, and many also serve alcohol. Grew up in the south, and I have to agree publix is fantastic. I'm not sure I could choose between publix and Mariano's. Bummed to hear hiller's in Michigan got sold and went to poo poo, though. I used to shop there sometimes when I lived in Ann Arbor.
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Oct 11, 2015 00:32
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Alterian posted:Publix is just trying to emulate Wegmans. As everyone should, because Wegman's owns. They opened one in my area and pretty much every competitor has been remodeling or changing their product offers just to compete. We're also supposed to be getting a Trader Joe's in my area soon...
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Oct 11, 2015 02:01
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Oklahoma ringing in. We have Homeland and United. Both are approximately the same and I can't endorse either. I go to Homeland because it's closer.
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Oct 11, 2015 02:14
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Rick posted:Arizona has Frys, founded by the same family as the west coast electronics store, Frys (much to the confusion of GPS apps). At some point they sold to Krogers but kept the right to use the name for non-grocery stores. Cheaper than Safeway, with a bigger selection, but more limited hours. I hate Frys and Bashas. And I'm not too keen on Albertsons and Safeway either. Nothing in AZ compares to the awesomeness of Publix back in FL In addition to those, we also have off the top of my head: Sprouts, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, WinCos, Fresh & Easy, Super Walmart, Super Target, Sam's Club, Costco, AJ's Fine Foods. The Phoenix grocery market is fractured as hell with a ridiculous amount of options. But people probably just go to whatever is close, or Costco. We typically have to buy groceries at several different stores as they each have their strengths. But we end up going to Target and Albertsons most. Wish WinCos and Sprouts were closer as I probably would shop there almost exclusively. I really love WinCos and Sprouts but they are a bit of a drive.
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Oct 11, 2015 07:58
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Texas Panhandle, you've got your choice between Lowes (not the hardware store) and United. United is generally a pretty good store. Lowes is all over the damned place - some are decent, most are terrible, but they tend to have better sales on meat. Fun fact, almost every grocery store and convenience store in the Texas panhandle are all supplied by the same grocery wholesaler, with the only exceptions being United and Walmart.
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Oct 11, 2015 09:41
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Alterian posted:Wegmans, originally from Rochester NY is the best grocery store. I miss it and wish they would move down south. They are very slowly drifting down the East Coast - Richmond VA is getting two next year, and one is like a mile from my house. Which is great, because Martin's is terrible.
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Oct 11, 2015 12:02
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I feel so sorry for you disadvantaged souls who have to live without Wegmans. Wegmans is the best supermarket. 
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Oct 11, 2015 20:29
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Wegmans is the best because they carry Zweigles red hots.
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Oct 11, 2015 21:27
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Robo Turnus posted:schnucks. it is called schnucks at it is in St. Louis. Hooray for schnucks. I used to be a schnucks person until all the ones in my city got bought out by kroger. I loved their bakery.
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Oct 12, 2015 04:02
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I can't be the only one from the Philly area who misses Genuardi's. Their pizza was pretty good for a grocery store.
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Oct 12, 2015 04:34
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rndmnmbr posted:Texas Panhandle, you've got your choice between Lowes (not the hardware store) and United. United is generally a pretty good store. Lowes is all over the damned place - some are decent, most are terrible, but they tend to have better sales on meat. We've got Lowe's down here in the Hill Country, too. They generally seem to be the grocery store that pops up in places that are too small to get a 'real' grocery store(which means an HEB).
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Oct 12, 2015 04:39
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Manitoba has Safeway (now owned by Sobeys), Sobeys, the Loblaws stores (Superstore, No Frills, Extra Foods), Food Fare, Price Chopper. I buy food from Dollarama 'cause I'm poverty as gently caress right now. Loblaws stores own though, both President's Choice and No Name stuff is great. http://www.buzzfeed.com/sarahaspler/no-name-products-that-get-straight-to-the-point#.ogqMEA0VG
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Oct 12, 2015 04:41
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lidnsya posted:Manitoba has Safeway (now owned by Sobeys), Sobeys, the Loblaws stores (Superstore, No Frills, Extra Foods), Food Fare, Price Chopper. How is Price Chopper? All the Dahls in Des Moines are now Price Chopper's and since I moved shortly after it happened, I haven't heard many opinions. People were pretty pissed at first, I think because "Price Chopper" sounds like a run down piece of poo poo store. You also brought up a dollar store, which is another interesting thing. I think the ones I have seen in the US are Dollar Tree, Dollar General, and Family Dollar. Dollarama appears to just be Canadian. Any other US ones? Or Canadian ones?
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Oct 12, 2015 04:45
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Khizan posted:We've got Lowe's down here in the Hill Country, too. They generally seem to be the grocery store that pops up in places that are too small to get a 'real' grocery store(which means an HEB). IIRC Lowe's method of opening stores is pretty much wait for a mom & pop grocery store to go out of business, then buy the property and open their own store. Which honestly explains why Lowe's is so variable in quality - they're just refitting a store that is of questionable age and upkeep. On the upside, they're supposed to treat their employees decently, and they're trying to keep the small-town grocery stores a viable thing. The Lowe's headquarter store in Littlefield, TX is a very nice grocery store. It's a shame that the little United in Littlefield routinely spanks their pants off in gross sales. It's the shabbiest United I've ever been in, too, but that's not saying a lot, because it's actually a nice store, just dated in decor and layout. e. One of the ways I judge the quality of a store is by the freshness of their produce, and Lowe's produce selection usually isn't heavily varied or super-fresh. But that's because their grocery wholesaler is Affiliated Foods, and AFI is pretty poo poo with their produce. rndmnmbr fucked around with this message at 06:16 on Oct 12, 2015 |
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Oct 12, 2015 06:13
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What's decent in Chicago? I'm in town on business and need to get groceries. I went to the Mariano's in Vernon hills and it was so disorganized and expensive that I put my food back and left. I ended up shopping at Super Target down the road, which actually had a much much better selection.
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Oct 12, 2015 18:18
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British Columbia here. I can go to a Fairway Market, which is locally owned, cheap, but the one near me is quite small, or I can go to Thrifty's, which is owned by Sobey's, has more selection, and is more expensive. We used to have Safeways here but they've all turned into Save-On-Foods. I live on Vancvouer Island, and would kill for a nearby discount grocery store. My kingdom for a Price Choppers!
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Oct 12, 2015 18:49
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I live in Los Angeles and there are plenty of bougie options like Whole Foods, Gelson's, and Lassen's but I opt for the other end of the spectrum with Super King. It's so drat cheap for produce and only costs like $10 to fill my whole fridge with fruits and veggies. The meat/deli departments are pretty great as well. The only thing Whole Foods has going for it is that they have a bar and you can drink nice beer while you shop.
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Oct 12, 2015 19:48
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Cermak is from Chicago but is starting to open up stores in Milwaukee, and it is the most wonderful thing in the world. Amazing quality produce and meat, and it's all cheap. Sendiks quality, but cheaper than Woodmans.
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Oct 13, 2015 05:08
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QVC Drinking Game posted:KROGER FUCKIN SUCKS Truth. I'll do HEB if I have to, but Fiesta or Trader Joe's is where it's at.
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Oct 13, 2015 05:10
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QVC Drinking Game posted:KROGER FUCKIN SUCKS I think I learned this the hard way. I purchased a little can of ground coffee for $3 from Target awhile back and it was good. So the other day I bought a similar little can of ground coffee at King Sooper's for $3 and it was Kroger brand. It tastes like dirt. Literal dirt. I called them up and got my money back, so they've got that going for them at least.
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Oct 13, 2015 05:23
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district 12 posted:SE Wisconsin has Pick n Save, Woodman's, Meijer, Sendik's, and a Piggly Wiggly here and there I think. I like Woodman's and Meijer best for prices and selection. Seconding Woodmans as the best. Other options in south central Wisconsin include Basics and Farm and Fleet, not to be confused with Fleet and Farm, the off brand rip-off. In DC it seems to be more Safeway/Walmart/Giant in the NE, with Target/Whole Foods/Trader Joes scattered throughout the NW and suburbs (completely anecdotally). People drive to the NoVa/MD Costco sometimes. E: also, different groceries will double prices on certain items i.e. the same chicken at 5/3 dollars, soda at $1 at Walmart, 79 cents target, $2 at Giant. I'm sure it's very well researched loss leading and whatnot, but it makes it hard to justify not stopping at multiple places in one trip and is the most erratic pricing I've seen anywhere I've lived. Also, what is the deal with Wegmans? Every upstate NY transplant raves about it, but it feels like no one can really articulate why. Sort of like NJ residents with Wawa but minus the "but there food is like, not gas station food" explanation. foutre fucked around with this message at 08:43 on Oct 13, 2015 |
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Oct 13, 2015 06:09
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RIP ZEEZ
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Cocks Cable posted:I hate Frys and Bashas. And I'm not too keen on Albertsons and Safeway either. Nothing in AZ compares to the awesomeness of Publix back in FL :( Ultimately I end up at Safeway a lot because it's 24 hours and I manage my life too poorly to get to the grocery store before 11:00 PM.
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Oct 13, 2015 06:39
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