Supermarkets

[Lanolin]

Please post what supermarkets you shop at regularly ---which ones have the best service/prices? The freshest produce? Good parking? Any extra services? What aisle is your favourite? Do you take a trolley or a bag, do you pack your own? Have you ever worked in one?

How far do you need to travel, and if you don't shop there where else do you buy your food/groceries?

Also hows about those self-check out ones? Do you like using them or do you prefer everything done for you?

I have 4 supermarkets alone on the corner where I live, and along that stretch of road (which is one of the main feeder roads off the motorway) a few more plus countless gas/petrol stations. I really am spoiled for choice.

 

[CarriePie]

Please post what supermarkets you shop at regularly ---which ones have the best service/prices? The freshest produce? Good parking? Any extra services? What aisle is your favourite? Do you take a trolley or a bag, do you pack your own? Have you ever worked in one?

How far do you need to travel, and if you don't shop there where else do you buy your food/groceries?

Also hows about those self-check out ones? Do you like using them or do you prefer everything done for you?

I have 4 supermarkets alone on the corner where I live, and along that stretch of road (which is one of the main feeder roads off the motorway) a few more plus countless gas/petrol stations. I really am spoiled for choice.

I like Aldi. They have good prices and I can try interesting and yummy imported foods. I think their Dubai chocolate bar and also their Dubai gelato is the best I've tried so far.
I also shop from Hellmart (that's what I call Walmart). Sometimes I need something from hardware or some other non-food department. So, Hellmart makes it convenient to get food and non-food from the same place. Also, they are the only place near me that carries Mallo Cups.
Once in a great while I will shop at Homeland. They are the only place near me that carries Shasta products and also they have bottles of Sarsaparilla. I'm not a big soda drinker, so I rarely shop there. But once in a while I like to have a soda if it's sarsaparilla or root beer.

I have an annual membership with both Instacart and Walmart+. With Instacart, I also get a year subscription for Peacock. With Walmart+, I get a year subscription with Paramount. Paramount means I can watch Tulsa King!

When I'm staying in Atlanta, I order from Kroger or Hellmart. Sometimes, I'll walk to Kroger on my morning walk if I just need a few things. This way I get my morning walk in and I get a few things I might need at the store. When I'm at Kroger, I use the self checkout. I really like Kroger's ice cream, especially their Brown Butter Bourbon Truffle ice cream and their Wedding Cake ice cream. It's probably a good thing I don't live full time near a Kroger.

Since I mostly only go into the store when I need just a few items, I usually use a hand basket. Also, I like to go in the morning when it's not very busy. I don't like being in a store when it's busy, it stresses me out.

I think my favorite area is probably the produce area. I like to pick out plenty of onions, mushrooms, Brussels sprouts, squash, zucchini, potatoes, broccoli, green onions, and other produce. The produce I need depends on what menu I've worked out for the week. I almost always need onions and mushrooms.

I have worked in a big retail store. I started out as a cashier, then I worked for over 2 years at the service desk before spending the rest of my time working in the accounting office. I did that for several years. Oddly enough, I really enjoyed the service desk. I liked helping customers and getting to know workers in other areas as well as our vendors.

 

[Bible_Locket]

Aldi and Lidl. Great prices at both stores though Aldi seems to stock more and xotic foods than Lidl.

 

[Mem]

I love Walgreens. If there are two other people in the store, they're experiencing a rush and everyone there seems to be ultra friendly and helpful. It's like I stepped into a time warp or wormhole into another world when I go through the doors. Is it like this in every Walgreen's? Maybe this phenomenon is exclusive to my Walgreens, idk. It's worth the little extra in cost for that little extra shopping experience that they offer. There, I can browse at leisure, but at Walmart I'm going straight for what I came for and only seasonally browse the garden center to see if there are any gems that need rescued where I last found a teeny tiny baby tradescantia that needed a bit of perking up. I find myself looking over at any garden center I pass as if my next adoption will jump up, waves it's leaves at me and shout, "Take me with youu!"
I went to Kroger and, right in front of the entrance, there is a gardenia bush on clearance! And its lower leaves are yellowing ...
I'm pretty sure it said, "Mom, Mom, Momm..." So, I'm going to swing by there tomorrow and see if it's still there.

 

[Templar62]

i use two convenience stores in my town.Co op and Sainsburys.nothings really cheap these days.sometimes i get lucky and they have deals on some of the brands i like.once a fortnight i have a home delivery from Morrisons my favourite supermarket,they have deals available all the time.

 

[TabinRivCA]

Target has the best selection of everything I like, need and don't need,

 

[Suze]

Aldi and Lidl. Great prices at both stores though Aldi seems to stock more and xotic foods than Lidl.

I did not know that Aldi and Lidl were in the USA .

 

[Suze]

i use two convenience stores in my town.Co op and Sainsburys.nothings really cheap these days.sometimes i get lucky and they have deals on some of the brands i like.once a fortnight i have a home delivery from Morrisons my favourite supermarket,they have deals available all the time.

I go to sainburys because it's my closest supermarket and I don't have a car , I live in the town centre in the north east of England . I do go to Morrisons sometimes but I prefer Tesco , we have a huge one just a ten minute bus ride away and it's very bright with loads of natural light , wide aisles and it always looks really clean . Their own brand products r really nice and good value as well . Always a good idea to go after 5pm if possible , that's when they start to mark things down that r about to expire . Unfortunately , lots of other people know this as well .

 

[SoulFaith]

I live in the countryside, so my nearest village grocery store is about 30 km away. The nearest village has only two markets and they're generally a bit more expensive than the stores in the city.

I commute to the city for work every day, about 100 km each way. Because of that, I usually do my grocery shopping on Fridays after work and buy enough food for my family for the entire week.

I mostly shop at Lidl because it's usually the cheapest option. It has a good selection of almost everything I need, although sometimes I can't find certain products there, so I'll stop at another supermarket to pick them up, even though it's a bit more expensive. Food is quite expensive in Finland, so you have to pay attention to prices and shop wisely. Lidl isn't always the cheapest for every item.

I always use a shopping trolley and pack my own groceries. I only use the self-checkout if I'm buying just a few items. For a big weekly shop, I prefer a regular checkout with a cashier. I should probably learn to use the handheld scanners that let scan items as shop and pack them directly into bags. Then just pay at the self-checkout at the end, which would be much faster.

 

[Lanolin]

How interesting
We don't have Aldi or Lidl or any of the above supermarkets in my country.
It's basically a duopoly between Foodstuff supermarkets (Pak n' Save, New World, Four Square) and Woolworths.

We have K mart but that doesn't sell food.
Warehouse does stock some food, I went there today to buy catfood.

I also shop at the Chinese supermarkets, which now have several chains, one called Golden Apple and the other is Taiping. Its funny that Chinese think of shopping for food as kind of like being in Heaven lol

 

[Suze]

I live in the countryside, so my nearest village grocery store is about 30 km away. The nearest village has only two markets and they're generally a bit more expensive than the stores in the city.

I commute to the city for work every day, about 100 km each way. Because of that, I usually do my grocery shopping on Fridays after work and buy enough food for my family for the entire week.

I mostly shop at Lidl because it's usually the cheapest option. It has a good selection of almost everything I need, although sometimes I can't find certain products there, so I'll stop at another supermarket to pick them up, even though it's a bit more expensive. Food is quite expensive in Finland, so you have to pay attention to prices and shop wisely. Lidl isn't always the cheapest for every item.

I always use a shopping trolley and pack my own groceries. I only use the self-checkout if I'm buying just a few items. For a big weekly shop, I prefer a regular checkout with a cashier. I should probably learn to use the handheld scanners that let scan items as shop and pack them directly into bags. Then just pay at the self-checkout at the end, which would be much faster.

Oh u think it would b faster , but it won't b . Firstly , the person on the checkout is an expert , they don't need to spend a minute finding the bar code , they know where it is . When u do it , u can't scan it and then put it straight back into your trolley or into a carrier bag , no , u have to place it in the bagging area first . It's always much quicker to get a checkout person to scan your stuff . If u don't believe me , do the experiment . I have already done it and it takes me at least four minutes longer if I try to do it all myself .

 

[Bible_Locket]

I did not know that Aldi and Lidl were in the USA .

Oh, yes.
I travel. One State has an Aldi on one corner on a major highway and a Lidl beside it on the next corner.

When people asked Their managers how they could build that close to each other as competitors, the storeanagers say they're friendly competstors.

When I was there for a few weeks, their parking lots were busier than any of the other grocery chains.

 

[JaumeJ]

Here in Spain, I use Carrefour, Lidl, and Aldi. Sometimes I go to Dia, the closest, but not as well stocked for my needs.
I use Aldi the most.

 

[Lanolin]

At the Woolworths (used to be called, for some strange reason 'Countdown')

'please place your item in the bagging area'

except sometimes I hear it as 'the begging area' because the voice says it in an aussie accent.

 

[seoulsearch]

Supermarkets are my gym.

There's a saying in some places in the USA that there is a Starbucks coffee shop on every corner; I live in an area that has not only a Starbucks on every corner, but also a grocery store.

We have about 3 major chains with locations literally everywhere, along with several specialty franchises like Trader Joe's.

I have always relied on walking for exercise, but there are too many homeless to walk safely through neighborhoods, and walking on the treadmill has become unbearably boring to me.

So, I take advantage of having so many stores around and will stop into a few every week to get my steps in (and yes, also do my shopping.)

I buy most of my necessities at the dreaded Walmart -- but I've always shopped there because things are often so much cheaper.

I'm very prone to nausea, and a certain over-the-counter medicine I used to buy regularly was $3 cheaper at Walmart.

For myself, I love a good shopping experience as much as anyone, but I don't mind the stigma of being a "Person of Walmart" if it means better prices.

Awesome thread, @Lanolin!

 

[Lanolin]

Do you have problems with shopping trolleys in your supermarkets or outside of your supermarkets?

The runaways always seem to end up in the creek where I live.

Thank God though, that single use plastic bags are banned. They never had them in the first place at Pak n' Save (I sometimes call it Pak n' Slave) but the others always gave you about 4 bags for your shopping that people used as rubbish bags afterwards, or to make pois.

When I made a fuss about them in the Banned Game thread, I swear some posters thought I was off my rocker. Had they never lived near the ocean or a river/creek where all the rubbish gets dumped as it rolls downhill?

Did they never venture forth to the Pacific Ocean? The giant Pacfic garbage patch?

Anyway, I was truly upset for a while, but I got over it. It's not nice to be the dumping ground for everyone else's rubbish.

 

[Suze]

Do you have problems with shopping trolleys in your supermarkets or outside of your supermarkets?

The runaways always seem to end up in the creek where I live.

Thank God though, that single use plastic bags are banned. They never had them in the first place at Pak n' Save (I sometimes call it Pak n' Slave) but the others always gave you about 4 bags for your shopping that people used as rubbish bags afterwards, or to make pois.

When I made a fuss about them in the Banned Game thread, I swear some posters thought I was off my rocker. Had they never lived near the ocean or a river/creek where all the rubbish gets dumped as it rolls downhill?

Did they never venture forth to the Pacific Ocean? The giant Pacfic garbage patch?

Anyway, I was truly upset for a while, but I got over it. It's not nice to be the dumping ground for everyone else's rubbish.

It's nice to know that eventually , everything will b clean and new as it was in the beginning

 

[Lanolin]

I went out for a walk today around my street, and I counted 3 supermarket trolleys left on the berms.

 

[Karlon]

Please post what supermarkets you shop at regularly ---which ones have the best service/prices? The freshest produce? Good parking? Any extra services? What aisle is your favourite? Do you take a trolley or a bag, do you pack your own? Have you ever worked in one?

How far do you need to travel, and if you don't shop there where else do you buy your food/groceries?

Also hows about those self-check out ones? Do you like using them or do you prefer everything done for you?

I have 4 supermarkets alone on the corner where I live, and along that stretch of road (which is one of the main feeder roads off the motorway) a few more plus countless gas/petrol stations. I really am spoiled for choice.

walmart, once in a while. healthy living ( food ), in saratoga has best service. i don't care what something costs, i buy it. healthy living or market 32 has best & freshest produce. they will carry groceries to your car. i pack my own because i don't know how to sit still. i worked in a grocery store back in 1975. 20 minute traveling time. i do not use self check out.

 

[Lanolin]

hmm you'd love Farro Fresh then Karlon.

The prices are eyewatering!! However, if you into gourmet food, that is the place to go.