I'm a one stop shopper. I'm not wild about grocery shopping and I only stop at multiple stores when I'm buying something that is only available in one specific store.

Also, I prefer to shop in smaller stores. We have a pretty small HEB near my house and it's sooo much easier to go there than to try to navigate the monstrously large "full selection" stores. I don't like to shop at Sam's for that same reason, the place is just too darn big! They're building a Costco directly across the street from my office and I will definitely check it out but it's going to have to be fantastic to make me really want to shop there regularly!

I generally do most of my shopping at Giant. It's farther away than the Safeway, but Safeway quite often makes me want to take an ax to the entire place it's so frustrating.

It's not uncommon to go into the Safeway and see 20 people in each of two lines, with no other checkstands open.

The Safeway remodeled a couple of years ago. They put in a row of about 12 checkstands.

The 3 to 4 checkstands all the way to the left? They're never used. They're piled under seasonal items, returns, stuff waiting to be staged, whatever.

A few months ago Safeway put in 4 U-Scan registers. It's very rare, though, that all four are working. Normally two are out of service.

But, I go to Safeway to get Mason his dog bones and they also have killer sales on soda and occasionally meat.

I hate grocery shopping so bad that not only am I a 'one-stop shopper'...I go for the 'clicks' instead of 'bricks'!

I order from PeaPod 80% of the time & DH shops the rest of the time. For some weird reason, I get anxiety attacks in grocery stores. That coupled with it being difficult for me to navigate physically...anyway, I just hate it. Going to the butcher, fishmonger, farm stand...doesn't bother me but that grocery store...whew just can't do that.

That's one of the many reasons I keep a food storage program. We eat simply. For example, I would never go to the store for chili oil. I would cook something else since we'd never use an entire bottle of chili oil it wouldn't be in my pantry.

Even for holiday meals, I rarely have to make a trip to the store. It's only once in a while for a special meal of some sort that requires trudging through a grocery store.

It costs me $6 for PeaPod to deliver my groceries right to the kitchen countertops. I tip well & my delivery person usually carts the frozen stuff to the freezer in the garage. Money well spent, IMO.

So, I feel for you. I'd have been frustrated also.

/tricia

I shop at different stores, depending on where I am and what I need. Safeway is by far the most expensive store in the Baltimore area, but it's close, so I do shop there. Giant Food (owned by a European company) is cheaper, but doesn't always have a good selection, but it is on the way home. I prefer Wegmans, always a good selection and prices are hard to beat, but it is kind of far so I make sure I have a list and need a lot of stuff.

Since I'm usually just cooking for me, my needs are simpler and my fridge is not bursting. I've stopped making a lot of the foods that left me with leftover ingredients that I probably won't use again, I buy them already prepared now or do without, it's much cheaper that way.

Between rising gas prices and rising food prices, I'm more careful now.

I loathe grocery shopping. They are just not pleasant stores to me. I can never find everything the way I like it at one store, that's one of the reasons I loathe grocery shopping. And my experiences with their customer service and organization and checkout staff have not been very good either. There is hardly anything that bugs me more than not finding what I need at the grocery store. That means I have to spend more gas to go to another store. Wish me luck on my "leek stop" tonight, lol!

Apparently the grocery business is very difficult as far as staying profitable, and I imagine now they are under even more pressure to cut costs. Hence I imagine customer service and selection will suffer.

I have to give shout out to Wegman's for their good customer service though. But that store rarely has everything I need and although their deli is fun and they have a nice health food selection, I find the rest of their shelves low on the selection side.

I visited my first "Whole Foods" last week. I liked all the natural and organic stuff on the shelves, but the produce and deli sections weren't that impressive. I can't afford all that organic and natural stuff anymore though. I wasn't there to grocery shop, I just picked up a snack for the ride home from a class I am taking at Temple.

The only place that is fun to shop for me for food is at local farm markets. There I can be pleasantly surprised. But I have no expectations, lol!

I've been trying harder and harder to find simple recipes I like for this very reason, I hate to have to shop any longer than I have to!

I go to different stores. Most of my shopping is at Albertsons and QFC but I also go to Safeway, Costco and Central Market. I really don't mind grocery shopping. Since the stores are so far away, (40 minutes) I just make a day out of it also stopping at Target and doing other errands while I am in town.
Teri

My choice in stores is very limited. The closest is two miles and is smaller that the same store that is ten miles away. Another store that is eleven miles has to use the same grocery distributor but is not owned by that distributor like the other two, so they do have some different items. I end up going to the closest store most often unless I really need something that I know they won't have, then it's off to the bigger store.

I find that I really have to plan ahead if a recipe calls for something unusual. I'll just keep it in my head for one of my out of the area shopping trips. Meijer's (a mid-west chain) is building a new store only 1/2 hrs away, can't wait! I'll be doing most of my shopping there. They have an amazing produce selection.

Stacy, to answer your question, I have no choice on which store to visit for sale items, they all use the same ad. I've learned to live with it.

Nancy

I love grocery shopping and don't mind going to several different stores for what I need. I go grocery shopping almost everyday for something. A lot of time I'm hunting down sales, specific ingredients or better produce. I don't want to shop all the time but keeping fresh bananas alone means I would have to go every 3 days minimum.
But I like almost all shopping in general. The thrill of the quest, I suppose!
I only grocery shop locally, however, which means 3-4 grocery stores and produce stands. Whole paycheck is an hour away.
The thought of snow is exciting...the stores are always so fun if it's predicted.

I shop generally at three different supermarkets. Two are close enough for me to walk to in under ten minutes and a third is a 10 minute ride away by car.

No such things here as "sales" at supermarkets. (Unless you mean Christmas cookies still being sold at a reduced price on a separate table....as I saw this morning.) Prices stay the same or go up! But my favourite corners are always the produce and cheese departments or the city farmers' market.....another 10 minutes car ride away. I buy cheap table wines for every day....about $2.00 per bottle and don't have to look around as I know the brands and where in the store they are located. I avoid the middle aisles except for when I need coffee or cleaning and paper products.
I actually like grocery shopping but hate trying to find space to put them away at home or in the fridge.
There's never enough room in my tiny kitchen.

The only reason I go to different stores is because some products are at a lower price in one shop (eg lg bags of dry cat food or parmesano cheese) or because some things can only be found in a certain shop and not in another. One large Canary Island supermarket chain stocks only fresh produce from Spain and the Canary Islands and refuses to bring in long haul produce from South America or beyond. (Bravo!)

Another one is actually an outlet of a German chain...SPAR...and so has mostly imported specialties as well as things from Britain and goods from European Union countries, such as cheeses, tinned goods and deli meats.

There's an enormous quantity of dairy products here now, so different from former years where there was no fresh milk to be had.....and certainly no UHF longlife milk. The local people used powdered milk and that was often all one could find, except for some "cooked milk" that came in glass bottles sealed with a metal beer bottle type cap. It tasted terrible. But now we have every sort of yoghurt which fills long walls of supermarkets, fresh milk, longlife milk, butter from Holland, Ireland and all over Europe and today I saw even Australian butter.
I still buy a local Spanish brand, but we use very little butter now.

I have to mention how we used to buy whipping cream up in Mallorca (Spain) many years ago. You couldn't buy it as a liquid in any shop for whipping at home. You had to go to a bakery and they would open a fridge and take out a huge bowl of cream already whipped. They'd put a piece of waxed paper onto a scale and start spooning the whipped cream onto the paper. When you said "enough" (basta) ....they would take the four corners of the paper square and tape them together to form a tent-shape. Then you'd run home very quickly (!) and put it in the fridge before it flopped down and melted. LOL.

How easy we have it today when you can buy it in a carton and just whip it yourself when needed!

SharonCb

I prefer going grocery shopping any day over clothes shopping. I'm a "foodie" and I find it comforting to go around the store and find all different kind of products. Cooking is a stress relief for me and I enjoy making and eating good food.

I'm fortunate that I have wonderful stores to go to - Wegman's, Whole Foods, Harris Teeter, Safeway, Giant, etc. Far too many "Mom & Pop" type places to visit also.

I don't frequent every one of these places in one day but rotate during the week and pick up things "here and there." I have my frig/frez in the kitchen plus one in the basement so I stock up quite a bit.

Another who goes to several different stores. I always shop the flyers and that usually means at least three different large grocery stores. Today I actually went to two different locations of the same store trying to pick up lobster tails that were on sale. Ended up with 3 tails, yes 3, I was more than a bit annoyed. Irks me when they can't keep enough stock of the specials to satisfy demand.

Mind you I scored big while trying to track down the lobster tails. Found a Managers special on turkey, $1.04 a pound, typically turkey is well over $2 a pound in Canada ! Bonus was I found two halves that were reduced by a further 30% because the the "best buy date" is tomorrow. I paid $2.12 for one half a turkey an $2.80 for the other half!!!

Also picked up beef tenderloin at $9.99 a pound. However the price of gas will soon negate the savings for running the flyer route!

In addition to the larger stores I frequent several small specialty shops a week...butcher, fruit and veggie, bakery, deli and fish monger. Never a sale, far from, but great product!

All in all I bet I am in 7 or 8 food stores a week....and that doesn't count the farmers market.

Like Dixie, I'd much rather shop for food than for clothes, I hate and detest shopping for clothes.

Like Nancy, however, my choices are limited. Fortunately I grow much of my own food, so my shopping is limited. I have one small, local, independent grocery store, the next closest is 15 miles away. With the price of gas, if I go anywhere I make sure I pick up specialty items if I can.

when I go to Elery's I have a field day at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, and this weekend we have a family function/wedding dinner in Ohio (yes, for us, LOL). We're hoping to make a side trip to Jungle Jim's International Market. Now THAT'S fun, just don't make me shop for jeans!

Annie

Stacy -- what frustration! That has happened to me. I have my shopping list for a certain dish and when I get there the store is out of whatever I need.

We used to have a wonderful small Super Fresh right down the street. It was great. You could get in and out quickly (minus the time you spent talking to friends you meet)and generally could find what you need. Then they decided to renovate and make it all fancy-shmancy. No more ordinary up and down aisles. Now you have to wind through displays of ten kinds of olives and shrimp all cooked for you (boy does that stink). The aisles are narrow and they even got carts that are narrow and deep to fit through. It kills your back to retrieve heavy things from the bottom.

So now I shop at TJ's and the farmer's market. I just got back from Food Source where I picked up some take-out and a couple things. I tend to shop that way -- just picking up this and that as I go. Once every six weeks a do a real shopping where I stock up on TP and detergent etc.

I really don't like grocery shopping and I really hate putting it away when I get home.

I kind of enjoy it - if there aren't any unforeseen frustrations - lol - but it just seems that my entire day can so often be eaten away by running around...

I love visiting new and exciting food places/markets - like Jungle Jim's or the International Market that we visited in Toronto when we saw Sharon and Clive...but when I've got my list and can't find something - watch out!

LOL!

Stacy

I am with the "love-to" crowd. I actually browse in supermarkets. I love food, love to cook, eat, shop and talk about food. It is much better than shopping for clothes,household goods or anything I can think of. And I am with the "shop-several-times-a-week" crowd. There are several supermarkets within walking distance of my house and I have most orders delivered. I also really like taking my little red shopping cart up to the Avenue for in-between shopping. I don't spend much money on apparel and other more typical splurges, so I feel entitled to the occasional "extra" for a special ingredient.

Stacy,
I feel your pain! I love grocery shopping, I guess because one of my first jobs was in one, but I hate when they are out of stuff. As I only have Kroger and Walmart to shop at, it is more common that they simply don't carry an item. When I moved here, I couldn't buy things like cannellini beans or arborio rice. It's only been in the last year or so that the stores here have started stocking more "exotic" ingredients.

BTW, isn't Jungle Jim's the most amazing place? My SIL lives right down the road from there, so we make it over there every once in a while.

Here is a link that might be useful: Jungle Jim's

Living in the sticks makes grocery shopping a challenge. I have one small market in town that mostly caters to the tourists. The meat is very good but expensive. They do have the best tee shirts though. ThatÂs how much I hate clothes shopping. There is a Vons on the other end of the lake but with gas at $4.59 here today I try to limit my trips, 35 miles round trip, over there to when I go visit my dad. I used to go at least twice a week but now maybe just once.

I do most grocery shopping, well any kind of shopping, in Bakersfield, 120 mile round trip, and used to go just about any time the mood struck. Now I am limiting myself to only about twice a month. DH calls it a spending marathon. I have a plug in ice chest that live in the back of my car and my objective is to fill the car up so tight that nothing rolls in the tight part of the canyon. You may laugh but I one had a Costco chicken go flying and my car smelled like chicken until I got new floor mats. We wonÂt even talk about the 2 bottles of brandy that smashed and broke all over the back seat. Thank goodness I wasnÂt stopped the car reeked. That one cost a bundle to have the car detailed.

DH works in Bakersfield so I can have him stop at Costco but it usually doesnÂt save any money because he will see something he canÂt live without. One of the perks he has is gas so at least we donÂt have that expense.

My most recent complaint about shopping is the new thing about being asked at just about everywhere I shop to donate to the charity of the week. I sent an email to Vons asking them to reconsider their policy. The checkers have to ask but I feel itÂs an invasion of my personal business. I know I can just say no but I really take offence at being asked in the first place.

I guess I donÂt hate grocery shopping but itÂs certainly not fun. I usually get the car unloaded before DH gets home but the next morning I have to put everything away. One good thing is the rule that if I go to Bakersfield I donÂt have to cook dinner when I get home.

Claudia

One store usually except for the monthly trip to Costco. Sometimes the store doesn't have everything I need and I end up in three stores. Even though we recently got a Publix about a mile or less from me, they still don't carry everything I want and I asked them to carry a few items and they tell me they can't. These arent exotic items mind you. Yet they carry some more exotic items that no one wants. So I don't shop there as much as I used to. DH will sometimes go to Wal-Mart for paper products. I try to never go there.

I would give anything for a Pea Pod service here.

Like a few here, I'd much rather grocery shop than shop for clothes!!! I'm not a one-stop shopper though.

My main shopping is done at the Commissary at MCAS Miramar, once a month. That's what we call "Stock up".

Then we shop Wal-Mart's food section (limited; we don't have a Super Wal-Mart yet, and though they're planning one, the town criers are lobbying against it). I shop sales and fresh stuff at Stater Bros and Henry's (like a Wild Oats), but will only go into Vons if they have a really good sale on something I need/want (like the red seedless grapes they have today). Wal-Mart, Stater Bros, Henry's and Vons are all within a half mile of my house so gas is not at issue. If Albertsons has something good, there's one on my way home from work, but normally that's not a stop.

To Claudia near Bakersfield: I hear ya. My DH and I used to live in a small town in Arizona with one grocery store. Decent grocery prices were 70 miles away, down in Tucson or in Phoenix. We used to make a once-a-week run to Tucson for a class I had to take, so we'd take a cooler along and stop at the grocery store before class. Also, my daughter broke a bottle of Worcestershire in one of our cars about 6 years ago. Whew! It smelled until the day she wrecked that car!

DonnaR/CA

well, I haven't actually been to a Jungle Jim's - I was just taking Annie's cue - but tracey, it looks great!cannellini beans - exotic? LOL but I understand.

I guess, there's a give and take to everything. I love raising my son in a small town and the fact that small independent store owners actually have a chance of making it - but oh how I'd like a Target haha - or another large grocery store chain to come in and challenge the one we have. Some of the checkout people are so rude...Oh, well - we are actually getting a superWalMart - but I hate that store. They are the only place I've found fingerling potatoes on a regular basis though. sigh.

I'm enjoying hearing all the input - it's very interesting.

Stacy

Stacy, you've found fingerling potatoes at a WALMART? Wow, that sure doesn't happen here. All the local WalMart produce is not fresh, having been trucked from South Somewhere to Michigan and they only have the "usual" stuff. None of them in my area even have fresh herbs, I looked there for cilantro one time and was met with that blank stare I often get from the "Walmartians", those people who work there that seem to be from another planet.

Annie

Thank-you for rambling on! Popped Led Zepplin in my head... at least until work intrudes again.

Peace sister!

: )
lyra

I enjoy "doing the marketing". I'm a homebody, so going to the grocery store is an excuse to get out of the house. I actually look forward to it! Something about the housewife in me I guess.

I usually go to the same place. I only go elsewhere if I can't find something (like copper Choreboys, getting very rare, and they aren't even food!). Quite often, I've had to buy dried spices instead of fresh because they were out of fresh (usually, it's only the one I need that they don't have). I guess that's a good thing, because the fresh spices wouldn't have lasted very long and I probably wouldn't have used them all up. I'm sure foodies would agree that the flavor was compromised, however.

I've been to Jungle Jims. Talk about a HUGE store! I purposely stopped there on our way back home from Illinois to check it out. When friends heard that we were going to make a stop there on the way home, I was given a list to buy specific products that they can't get in our part of the country.

Our Super Walmart and Super Target have very good produce and products.

Here in Lakeland I have Publix, Winn Dixie , Sweetbay and Wal- Mart Super centers to shop at. The only problem is the gas to drive to the stores. If I need something quick I can run to Publix which is only 1 mile from my house. Everything else requires driving more than 7 miles to get to it. Publix does not always have a good selection of ethnic foods to choose from but they have gotten better than they used to be.

Daylilydayzed,

Publix is actually based in Lakeland! I have three of those stores within a mile of me (Sweetbay is not one of them)... I just wish there was a health food store close by!

I agree about Publix and ethnic foods.... though my problem wasn't with variety, but quality. I got some tahini there once, and it had gone rancid on their shelf. I should have brought it back, but I lost the reciept (who keeps grocery reciepts?). I imagine stuff like that doesn't have a very good turnover rate so it sits a while.