Where Do You Usually Shop?

[crossfire]

I'll go to a 24-hour supermarket that has a variety of bulk foods as well as a good selection of groceries at 3 AM to avoid the crowds and traffic.

I will fight traffic to get to some quality produce stands during the season when they are open.

There are quite a few small Indian grocers nearby where I will buy atta flour, rice, loose-leaf black tea, and some spices. (None of the grocery stores around here carry loose-leaf tea!)

There's a Korean supermarket I will visit to buy loose-leaf oolong tea (which is becoming increasingly more difficult to find) and Asian staples such as fish sauce, Mirin, etc, but they are very busy all of the time. Likewise, I'll go to Trader Joe's (to get balsamic vinegar and such) on occasion, but they are open for limited hours and they are so busy that it is hard to find a parking place.

I'll order spices that I use a lot of (like black pepper and whole cumin seeds) from Amazon so I can buy them in bulk.

 

[Subduction Zone]

I usually go to Safeway, now part of the Kroeger's monolith. They still have an instore butcher's department. I am not sure if that will last. There is a nearby Mexican shop if I need specialized material from them. If I am willing to take a longer trip I found that Trader Joe's which is my go to for certain imported foods, has a fantastic price on Centos imported certified San Marino tomatoes. Somehow half of the price of Safeway. They also have some good Italian pastas.

And sometimes I make the trip to Winco mainly to stock up on spices at their bulk herb and spice area. Some of them are dirt cheap when you do it that way.

 

[Sedim Haba]

Dollar Tree, like most poor folk

 

[Altfish]

I was buying groceries a few days ago, and it occurred to me that I rarely need to buy anything from hypermarkets or supermarkets. At least 90% of the time, everything I need as far as food and drinks go is available in smaller stores.

Do you usually shop at supermarkets/hypermarkets or smaller stores?

We tend to do a weekly 'big shop' at a supermarket, mainly for groceries, but then buy meat from the butchers, vegetables and fruit from the market, and 'top up' shopping from the shop at the end of our road.

 

[ChristineM]

About 50% big supermarkets, usually for goods we cannot buy in local shops.

The rest fresh veg, meat etc from local and specialist shops and market traders.

A butcher around 10km away produces his own beef, he has a herd cross between Aberdeen Angus and local cows and he makes the best (in my opinion) Toulouse sausage that i buy by the metre.

Another butcher local specialises in pork and boar.

There are several bio registered vegetable producers who sell their own products on a market. Just outside the village is a small holding veg grower, his products tend to be limited but always good.

And for whatever we forget/run out of, there is always the village minimarket

 

[PureX]

I was buying groceries a few days ago, and it occurred to me that I rarely need to buy anything from hypermarkets or supermarkets. At least 90% of the time, everything I need as far as food and drinks go is available in smaller stores.

Do you usually shop at supermarkets/hypermarkets or smaller stores?

I'm fortunate to have a locally owned market very nearby. So I only need to go to the Wegmans big chain store once in a while for a couple of things I can't get at the market. And I avoid ever going to Walmart if it's at all possible. I maybe go there once a year.

 

[Mock Turtle]

I have a supermarket (one of the more up-market ones) a five minute walk away (and closer than most other shops), so it would seem churlish not to use such a facility, and there is an abundance of made on the premises products too, although I could sample these a lot more than I actually do. And I do get some supplies delivered via the internet. I could probably pay less at other places but I'm not so poor as this to be an issue.

 

[VoidCat]

Online mostly or I walk to a food store that is a 15 minute walk to get there.

 

[Revoltingest]

Big grocery stores are best.
Aldi
Costco
Trader Joe's
Meijer
Kroger
Menards
Plum
Tsai Grocery
Hua Xing

 

[Revoltingest]

I'm afraid to go into a Wal-Mart...

I am totally fodder for one of those 'People of Wal-Mart' calendars. Actually... the whole family is. And so is the van.

So we've seen....

 

[exchemist]

I was buying groceries a few days ago, and it occurred to me that I rarely need to buy anything from hypermarkets or supermarkets. At least 90% of the time, everything I need as far as food and drinks go is available in smaller stores.

Do you usually shop at supermarkets/hypermarkets or smaller stores?

Supermarket, butcher, fishmonger, cheesemonger and a greengrocery stall. So a mixture. And I buy wine mostly on-line from the Wine Society - and beer from a Majestic warehouse which is just down the road.

 

[Kenny]

I was buying groceries a few days ago, and it occurred to me that I rarely need to buy anything from hypermarkets or supermarkets. At least 90% of the time, everything I need as far as food and drinks go is available in smaller stores.

Do you usually shop at supermarkets/hypermarkets or smaller stores?

Canned goods and paper goods - Walmart
Meat - Winn Dixie
Deli and bread - Publix
On occasions - Thrifty Produce - for produce, sometimes fish. (a growing local grocery store that I assume will continue to grow into a chain of stores)

 

[pearl]

Do you usually shop at supermarkets/hypermarkets or smaller stores?

Sometimes smaller stores can be more expensive. Since Covid I've done a lot of grocery shopping online and have it delivered. For the most part it works, but always problems with certain items that are misread by the shopper.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I was buying groceries a few days ago, and it occurred to me that I rarely need to buy anything from hypermarkets or supermarkets. At least 90% of the time, everything I need as far as food and drinks go is available in smaller stores.

Do you usually shop at supermarkets/hypermarkets or smaller stores?

I go wherever it's cheaper.

 

[John53]

Big grocery stores are best.
Aldi
Costco
Trader Joe's
Meijer
Kroger
Menards
Plum
Tsai Grocery
Hua Xing

I'm shocked and appalled that Menards only came in 6 on the list. I will fire off an angry email to Biden about this outrage.

 

[Revoltingest]

I'm shocked and appalled that Menards only came in 6 on the list. I will fire off an angry email to Biden about this outrage.

My list wasn't ranked.
But Menards does lack the variety of most dedicated
grocery stores. But their lumber selection is unmatched.

 

[JustGeorge]

So we've seen....

Like I'm as good looking as any of those fine folks...

 

[Revoltingest]

Like I'm as good looking as any of those fine folks...

I've no doubt.

 

[metis]

I was buying groceries a few days ago, and it occurred to me that I rarely need to buy anything from hypermarkets or supermarkets. At least 90% of the time, everything I need as far as food and drinks go is available in smaller stores.

Do you usually shop at supermarkets/hypermarkets or smaller stores?

I prefer smaller markets, preferably more mom & pop ones, but my wife likes Kroger. I don't like crowds and long checkout lines as it seems I always get into the wrong one.