Hard question. There was a time I was a fan of Meijer's which is a superstore here in Michigan. They have every thing from Tofu to shells for my .30-06. Much of their advantage is simply turn over... the produce is fresh because they just recently put it out. In college I had 3 of them within a 30 minute drive... Okemos, Lake Lansing, and the old Lansing store. Recently prices have been rather steep on basic things like beans and rice. Walmart is my favorite because they are the only place open at 3am. I won't buy meat at Walmart... I used to buy the uncut round roasts but those went away. For awhile I could get decent lamb chops but I think I was the only person in the store buying them (Tuna loved lamb). We have a meat market in town that does nice pork. A 30 minute drive and I can get short loins for under $7/lb so they get most of my steak business. My "hamburger" I buy from a local dairy farmer which is currently $3/lb in one pound frozen packages... also get free hearts, tounges, and oxtails with my hamburger. Simply love oxtail soup. Local market had a baker that worked there for many years. When she retired the baked goods section just faded to nothing. The third time in my life a baker has retired and it changed my life. Growing up there was a wonderful bakery in the middle of town... cinnamon twists to die for. Then they closed and we had Stanley's. Then they closed so it is store bought bread or bake your own. Unions are not perfect but they can do good. Much of what is wrong with Unions is the direct planned actions of Management. A common stunt is to pick a Union worker and allow them to get away with anything... being late, poor work, being drunk, sitting around doing nothing. The idea is to make the normal workers angry at the Union for "protecting that guy". On the other side my non-Union employer has sent me for drug testing twice this year because I wear a respirator. I been sent for "medical" examinations and had blood draw 5 times this year by direction of the company. No I don't think people should be high at work and don't object to genuine concern about my health but things are getting a bit sadistic. Even after the company's comp Doc advised me to continue wearing the respirator the Plant Manager informed me the company does not think I need it. I now have written orders from my MD and if there is more trouble over this the next "doctor" will be a JD. Either God or the Devil loves me because my lawyers has been working for free... as the regulars here know I've a running battle over Safety issues (yes, I am the Safety person). : ) lyra

I do the actual Driving, Parking, Walking into the Store, thing. My favorites are Hancock fabrics, (they have online as well,) JoAnns........their coupons are always in my Sunday newspaper, and a neat place here in Fresno, called Harts for the Home. It's the bomb, but it's local. They have in house drapery people, to-die-for trims, and a ton of fabrics gorgeously displayed. They also check out samples. That's the best, because you can tape a sample on your window to eyeball it for real. Red

I will buy on-line, usually going to what are essentially local quilt stores with on-line businesses as well. One of my faves is a shop near my parents' house. I've gotten to know the owner and I know I can trust her to be honest and to help me if something's out of stock or whatever. In November, she was able to pick a great substitute fabric when she discovered that she didn't have the required yardage of my original choice. Just before we moved to Galveston, my LQS owner back in WI mentioned that she is considering on-line selling as well and I'll definitely go to her first if she does.

Thrift stores and garage sales...Used to be hooked on garage sales, have weened myself off them, only an occasional fix every now and then. I never have sales myself, just donate the stuff to charities, some of the things were even g.sale items.