Grocery Store Helper

[NCMFFD]

There are the Raley's Supermarkets under the Raley's, Bel Air Markets, Nob Hill Foods and Food Source names in Northern California and Nevada. On the pricier side but have excellent selection and quality.

[norty1]

When we are in NC and Georgia, it's Ingles first and Walmart 2nd.

In SC it's Harris Teeter or Publix.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

...Ralphs (Southern California)...

While Kroger stores are usually pretty good, in SoCal, Vons is much better, which is curious because Von's is a Safeway affiliate and Safeway in AZ stinks compared to Frys, the Kroger affiliate in AZ (actually, Safeway stinks, period, in AZ).

[Kim Gass]

Safeway in the West and Alaska.. Sobeys in some parts of Canada.
Makes Hannaford look second rate ( and I've shopped in Hannaford 17 years as thats the best around here)
Avoid Food Lion. Its also owned by Delhaize and I wonder why they are so crappy compared to Hannaford also owned by Delhaize

When you get to Alaska and the Yukon and the prairie towns or Northern Ontario you really have no choice. Shop whats available or bring your own
Smiths in Montana I recall as being good.

[Zinkow]

In southern CA, Food 4 Less is also a Kroger affiliate

[farnik78]

I prefer small independent stores. They might not have the largest selection or rock bottom prices but they get me what I need.


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[ifallsguy]

Southeastern Grocers LLC, parent company and home of BI-LO, Harveys, Winn-Dixie and Fresco y Más grocery stores, is the fifth-largest conventional supermarket chain in the U.S. and the second-largest conventional supermarket in the southeast based on store count.

They also are tied into the Plenti points system.

[Larry G.]

At our winter home near Casa Grande, AZ we like Fry's (Kroger) and Safeway.

Food City is another.

We will be in Eloy again, about 10 S. of Casa Grande, we also go to Food Town IGA mainly for meats, steaks, ribs, burger, pork chops et al. Their specials rival the bigger stores in Casa Grande and their Porterhouse's, Ribeyes and T-bones are actually MUCH MUCH better in flavor and tenderness...look forward to enjoying again real soon.

[Atlee]

And what do you find bad, disgusting, revolting about a Walmart Supercenter grocery store? What about them is so much lower in standard than the supermarkets you're listing?

Originally Posted by Griswald One

We have found that as we expand our horizon and travel to new locations, one of the challenges can be knowing what Grocery Stores are quality locations. Every Province or State seems to have it's own collection of quality food chains, most of which are a significant improvement over the standard WallyMart. Most decent GPS have the major chains in them, I know I have mine set to indicate Grocery Stores along my route, but without being familiar with the names it can be a crap shoot whether it is worth pulling off the highway.

My hope is that others will chime in with the Provinces or States that they are most familiar with and name the quality Grocery Chains in that area. Some that we are familiar with and think offer great selection and service are:

Ontario - Loblaws or Sobeys

Michigan - Krogers

Maine - Hannaford

North Carolina - Krogers

Vermont - Shaws

[vcbice]

my problem with brands is the huge differences between stores.

The local Food Lion is a great store. Others in town are bad. Same with BiLo Albertsons etc. We just start at the one closest to us and look at more if it is bad.

FWIW we judge based on cleanliness and produce. Frequently places like Trader Joes and such have poor produce.

Walmarts and Targets are pretty consistent and pretty good.

[Lolead]

In much of Missouri and Iowa "Hy Vee" is our grocer of choice. Spotless stores, plentiful and friendly help, and great quality produce and meats. They are also employee owned and for me that is a plus.

[Griswald One]

Originally Posted by Atlee

And what do you find bad, disgusting, revolting about a Walmart Supercenter grocery store? What about them is so much lower in standard than the supermarkets you're listing?

Pretty sure I did not use any of those words to describe Walmart. We have used their locations at times and generally don't have any major complaints. That being said all of the locations I listed consistently have good produce and butchers as well as hot kitchens. Most of them are focused only on groceries and don't have to worry about fitting in an automotive department next to the produce section. My experience is they are better at thier market due to a reduced focus. I can tell you that the local Butcher in my town is MUCH better then all of the stores I listed, because he only sells meat.

Additionally... I don't think there is anyone on here not familiar with Walmart name... This list was created to educate all of us with other options which we may not be familiar with. Use it or don't

[Kim Gass]

I walked out of Food Lion as they had card prices and other prices.. They would not use the managers card. yep I left some $50 of groceries on the belt.
We don't have any local markets that use the card system hence I have no card. Food Lion never offered me one. Safeway did and signup was instant.
Our Walmart is mostly disgusting in meat.. And the prices are high.. So I don't patronize other Wal Marts.

[Sundancer330]

I have been in Walmart twice and will never go back. The produce selection was limited and the quality didn't look appealing, same with the meat dept.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

The problem with Walmart is the merchandise varies from store to store (what they stock depends on the neighborhood). Walmart frequently changes brands and drops products, occasionally bringing them back later. When Walmart runs out of an item, it often takes over a month to get it back in stock. The quality of meat and produce will vary from store to store.

[Midnightmoon]

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

The quality of meat and produce will vary from store to store.

I have generally been happy with the quality of products we have received from Wal-Mart. However, I do have to admit that we just threw away a package of ground beef from there today. It was spoiled. We haven't come across that very often.

[pconroy]

Just adding in what's around here - Boulder Co area:

- King Soopers (Kroger)
- Safeway (Albertson's I think)
- Albertsons (Safeway I think)

Then we have:
- Whole Paycheck (aka Whole Foods)
- Sprouts
- Alfalfas
- Vitamin Cottage

And a new one we like:
- Lucky's Markets

We also have Trader Joes.

[fochman]

Publix if you run into one of them. Found primarily in the South East.