Which grocery stores do you prefer?

Aldi 100%. I can't imagine doing the bulk of my grocery shopping at the regular grocery stores (Around here we have a Price Chopper and a Hy-Vee). I am outraged by the prices every time I go to either one of those stores, primarily Hy-Vee. (I hate hy-vee, they are trying to put off a more "uppity" image and it just annoys me.)

I also buy my meat in bulk(ish) at Sams club. I want to switch to Costco but for the other items we buy (dog food, TP, etc) Sams club is cheaper, so I guess we'll stay there.

I refuse to go to whole foods, and I have never been to a Trader Joe's. We have a couple near here but the closest is like 30 minutes away. We also have a Sprouts but that comes across as similar to Whole Foods and so, I have never been inside.

I don't live in the US so I don't have any of the stores that are mentioned here, but my wife and I bought our apartment in a large part because it is a 3 minute walk from a nice supermarket. I do most of my base shopping there, and go to a specialty produce market to get most of the fruits and veggies.

Kroger stores, Natural Grocers, Target, and ethnic markets, mostly.

I also go to Aldi once a month for a few items but find their stock to be very hit and miss so I can't shop there for the bulk of my groceries. The nearest Trader Joe's is about 2 hours away and I go there a few times per year but less than impressed with it. It's fun to check out.

hesn92 wrote: »

lemurcat2 wrote: »

Aldi is inexpensive, isn't it -- that would be a reason to like it.

I've never been there because it's never been convenient for me, and I only go to grocery stores I can walk to. (I do keep toying with whether joining CostCo would be worth it, and I'd drive there.)

I do the majority of my shopping at Aldi. I save so much money shopping there, it's insane. If I bought the same things at a Hy-vee or something, I would easily spend close to double. I have a family of 4 so I need the savings. Although I usually can't get everything I need. Most weeks there's at least a couple things I need to stop at the regular grocery store for, but it's worth it to me.

Interesting. I have never been to Aldi.

I have always had a good experience with Hy-Vee in terms of selection, cost and quality of products. We switched to doing the bulk of our grocery shopping at Hy-Vee vs. Walmart and started spending $30-50 less. I get a lot of store brand items which saves us a bunch. I order groceries online and we pick them up. If the store did not have that feature we would probably stick to the Walmart down the street.

When I was a kid in another place we shopped at No Frills Supermarket and shunned Hy-Vee as being too expensive.

Lounmoun wrote: »

hesn92 wrote: »

lemurcat2 wrote: »

Aldi is inexpensive, isn't it -- that would be a reason to like it.

I've never been there because it's never been convenient for me, and I only go to grocery stores I can walk to. (I do keep toying with whether joining CostCo would be worth it, and I'd drive there.)

I do the majority of my shopping at Aldi. I save so much money shopping there, it's insane. If I bought the same things at a Hy-vee or something, I would easily spend close to double. I have a family of 4 so I need the savings. Although I usually can't get everything I need. Most weeks there's at least a couple things I need to stop at the regular grocery store for, but it's worth it to me.

Interesting. I have never been to Aldi.

I have always had a good experience with Hy-Vee in terms of selection, cost and quality of products. We switched to doing the bulk of our grocery shopping at Hy-Vee vs. Walmart and started spending $30-50 less. I get a lot of store brand items which saves us a bunch. I order groceries online and we pick them up. If the store did not have that feature we would probably stick to the Walmart down the street.

When I was a kid in another place we shopped at No Frills Supermarket and shunned Hy-Vee as being too expensive.

I don't know if they are doing this everywhere, but where I live they are trying to make Hy-vee a real uppity place. They put a restaurant/bar in, a large cafeteria (where the chinese and stuff is) a starbucks, a beauty section with a bunch of bath bombs and soaps etc. Every time I buy anything from Hy-vee I always remark how much more expensive it is than Aldi. Their restaurant and cafeteria style food is also really mediocre and over-priced. That whole store is a huge disappointment to me. But, people seem to like it so what do I know.

I usually end up st Loblaws. It’s a pleasant store to shop in and really convenient but if I’m being budget conscious I’ll go to No Frills or Freshco. There are certain items I can only get at Loblaws so another reason I shop there.

Boba_14626 wrote: »

I realize that not everyone has a Wegmans. Here in Rochester NY we are the home of Wegmans, the greatest grocery store ever!

I miss Wegmans

I get beef from local rancher and staples on amazon. We hit Sam's club and Kroger, but I live in redneckville and that's about all I get.

Wegmans is the best grocery store you could ever imagine!

lemurcat2 wrote: »

Aldi is inexpensive, isn't it -- that would be a reason to like it.
)

FL_Hiker wrote: »

I’ve really tried to like Aldi... but I don’t like the fact that if you forget your bags or your change for a shopping cart they don’t have anything for you. The staff are also usually very spacey.. my 100 year old neighbor won’t shop there, when I asked her why she said “they’re all a bunch of hippies !” Lol 😆! The produce at our Aldi is also very limited and it’s usually rotten.

Cheapest place around me for lean boneless chicken and pork. And their brands of protein & food bars. And lots of gourmet inexpensive junk/trigger/tasty foods - my goto place to pick up cheese, chocolate, other desserts, etc for snack assortments for potlucks/dances. Butter flavored spray oil also cheaper than other places. And $2 bags of frozen fruit - I love those - a good lower calorie replacement for jam in yogurt, cottage cheese (nuke, mash with splenda and a bit of gelatin, jar and fridge). The produce usually is somewhat closer to perishing than other places. I'm pretty bad with produce, so usually only buy what I'll have time to chop and freeze in the next day or 2 no matter where I'm shopping. Smaller store, so limited selection - lots of stuff I have to go to either PriceRite (mostly latin aisle) or Wegmans for because they don't have it there.

The clerks at mine are very quick and alert (definitely not spacy at all).

Nearby stores include: Wegmans, Tops, PriceRite, Aldi, Save-a-lot, a few small ethnic groceries & coops. I'm too lazy to drive out to the 'burbs for food - so no Trader Joe's, BJ's, Walmart, etc (or to another country for Costco).

I didn't mention a couple earlier - we do have a Wegman's but it isn't all that convenient to us; stopped in once and it didn't really stand out as much different from the other chains' newer stores. I also have a Whole Foods very near me bu like others, most of the stuff I would buy there I can get elsewhere cheaper. One of my kids went vegan for a while and we pretty much had to shop there at least some of the time. But for a lacto/ovo vegetarian, there are a lot more options.

I order non-perishables, cat stuff, and bathroom and cleaning products online at Wal-Mart for free delivery. I walk to a Publix for refrigerated and frozen items. I buy certain items in Europe when I am there for work.

Due to disability, I have to go with nearby convenience, accessibility, and cheapness - which leads me to Wal-Mart. I wish I could support local farmers markets and the like, but they're very difficult for me to get to. I usually end up buying store brand for most things.

One day I hope the Trader Joe's opens up a store in Canada, hopefully near me. I've always wanted to go there since I hear great things about them from my friends in the States - many of whom are also disabled.

apullum wrote: »

Grocery Outlet! They seem to be mostly a northwestern US thing, so for those who aren’t familiar, think Big Lots but just for groceries. They get a lot of random things in stock, sometimes stuff that didn’t sell well elsewhere, but other times really good things that they sell cheap. I was buying boxes of Quest bars there for a while, and they generally have nicer chocolate for $2-3 per bar. The produce is pretty good too. I always go there first to see if they have a good deal before shopping elsewhere.

If I can’t get what I need at Grocery Outlet, then I usually like Trader Joe’s, or Safeway.

I was shocked when I found Quest White Chocolate Raspberry bars there for $11.99 & then they lowered the prices to $9.99. I'm for sure looking there during January to see which brands of protein bars they get since it will be the onslaught of 'healthy items' to kick start some people's New Year's resolutions/weight loss journeys.

I finally found two food items that I have been looking for in Grocery Outlet for over a year (I would look whenever I was shopping there in case they got these products in). The first being Pumpkin Pie KitKats (only a Kroger exclusive) & Pop Secret's Popfetti Popcorn (Walgreen's exclusive last year & may be released to other stores this year).

Woolworths or Salamanca Fresh or the local Hill Street Grocers.