WFM, TJ's and local places. Having spent some time in Central Texas, I must say I envy you your HEB and Central Market. I loathe our Northern California Safeways.

PS Costco gets shopped every few months for paper goods and Ling Ling potstickers, and random stuff that looks good, like imported cheese, or roses.

Trader Joe's is the only store I've been going inside because they won't do curbside pickup. It's 20 minutes away too, but there are certain things I can only get there.

The rest of my shopping is at Walmart & Aldi, mostly, and Publix and Target occasionally - all shopped with apps on my phone and picked up curbside.

No Meijers here, but we do have Winn Dixie, Fresh Market and various other local markets. I think I saw news that a Whole Foods is in the works.

Lococo’s for meat, fruit, and vegetables. Most of my shopping is there. For “pantry” stuff (pasta, tins of tuna, etc) I do Freshco because it’s cheap and the same brands as every other store. Sometimes I go to Fortino’s, mostly for cheeses because they have such an awesome selection...but it’s much more expensive.

H‑E‑B and Costco.

Safeway and QFC ( Kroger) and about every two months I make the trip ( about an hour) to Walmart, and grocery outlet. Love to shop there, as I can also go to home depot and Costco if I want or need to. I stock up on lots of things then.

I shop our local food co-op, which has a great selection of well priced organic produce and meats, dairy and local eggs, along with many staples (organic) that I use. I fill in with Trader Joe's for a few things each month and probably go to Costco a few times a year for a few specialty items I like (or that are great prices). I don't go to any regular supermarkets at all any more and have never shopped at Walmart (nor will I). We have a great seafood market where I get fresh wild salmon and other fish, Dungeness crab cakes, fresh Maine scallops, etc. so I am there every week. I shop a local bakery and wine store, plus our Farmer's Market just opened for the season, so I'll be there most often until November.

We go most often -- maybe 3 out of 4 trips -- to Krogers, Martins, or our local food co-op.

Publix for almost everything, but I will occasionally buy from Aldi, Costco, Whole Foods, or Fresh Market. If I am in Target I will get a few groceries there if convenient. And I put in a pickup order from WM on occasion.

My shopping has changed so much over the past 5 years. That‘s about when DH moved his office home. He likes to cook, and without a commute he found cooking to be his transition. Well, after several months I I realized if he was going to make it, he needed to shop for it. He and I have very different shopping styles. So while I used to enjoy my weekly grocery-shopping routine, I have adapted to a new style working around his weekly shop.

First I go to an Ohio chain that opened in the area, because their in-store-squeezed orange juice is so darned good. Since DH doesn’t plan/shop for more than 3 dinners, I might also pick up something for dinner, and maybe refill something we ran out of.

Then I stop at a localism chain I don’t like at all, and stop there only because our favorite wine is cheapest there. I don’t like the rest of the store, but they do have good ribs that I might pick up if we need something for dinner.

My last stop is our local chain. Five stores. I’ve been a customer since I was born! If I have to do a “full shop” that’s where I go. It’s a smaller store, has everything I need and nothing I don’t. And it supports a lot of local producers, like my friend’s baked goods and produce from the couple of remaining local farms. In the fall they’ll have corn from a farm 8 miles away, picked that morning. Nothing better.

DH teases me that my credit card route looks like a European going grocery shopping, something in each store, in a nice neat circle. But now that I don’t have as much of a schedule, picking up kids, meetings, etc, I can do it! It gets me out of the house and in an out of the car. I park at the far end of the parking lot to get as much walking in as I can.

I also go to the Jewel if I am in town or going to its pharmacy, to pick up something we are out of, or their potato salad, or their fried chicken.

I”ll go to WF for Doc’s Tomatillo Relish, made here in Illinois and great in tuna salad. I do like how they label their meat. I’ll go to TJ for their simmer sauces like masala. But they are not really convenient to me unless I’m running another errand in the area.

We used to go to Costco. It with the kids grown and DH not one to shop for the freezer, we just couldn’t justify it anymore.

I really miss my old routine. Shop once a week in under half an hour, have everything I need for all meals all week, could keep up with sales to stock up, and just grab some milk, bread, and bananas midweek. But, I do take advantage of my “route” now, I sometimes stop at a little indie coffee shop for example, or McDonald’s or Panera for lunch! ooh la la, living it up!

Grocery Outlet. My country town located on an island also has a Haggen, Safeway and a second discount grocery (in addition to Grocery Outlet) called Saar's.

By far the big hit with the locals is Safeway. To the extent that it is impossible to shop there during busier times and maintain any semblance of social distancing.

Safeway because I work there and employees get a 10% discount on everything plus we can combine that with the 15% off they offer the first Tuesday of the month. They did open a Freson Bros across the street from where I live. I went there shortly after they opened, it’s a beautiful store but very pricey. We have noticed that business has slowed at Safeway since they opened.

Funtobehere, I'm going to pretend I didn't read anything about Trader Joe's and cold brew popsicles. I already have an addition to cold brew coffee itself, don't need another one.

Too bad we don't have Sprouts here, I'd go check them out.

I forgot to mention I stopped by an Asian market too, to pick up some fresh made onigiri.

I'm sure I have at least ten grocery stores within five minutes of my house but I shop only at two of them. Giant and Aldi which is 1/2 mile away. I used to go to Wegmans' but when Aldi opened I stopped. I am anxiously awaiting the opening of our Trader Joe's which will be 3/4 of a mile from my house. My daughter loves TJs and goes there every chance she gets when she sees one.

I really hate shopping. I don’t go in person to any large supermarkets if I can help it. All the boring repeat store cupboard items I get delivered from a local store every six weeks or so. Before they delivered we would go to one store and be done with it. No way would I spend time going from store to store.

Fresh fruit and vegetables are delivered weekly from a local grower/green grocer. Fresh fish, meat and cheese we get from the weekly local farmers market and we pick up our bread order at a local baker on the same trip (on foot). Wine we get delivered from a local wine merchant. Personally I haven't driven anywhere for food shopping for years now. My town has 3 largish supermarkets with car parks plus several smaller ones which don’t have parking. I’m sure even the large ones would be considered tiny by US standards.

With our lockdowns and working from home many people have started to rediscover their local shops rather than travelling to large out of town supermarkets. I really hope that habit will stick. It would reinvigorate our towns, inhibit the spread of large retail into the countryside and reduce car use.

Meijer, Aldi and some things delivered from Sam's Club

Sue

Walmart,( as much as I hate going there) Aldi, and vary rarely Hy Vee. Hy-Vee is a dollar or more higher per item than Walmart. Occasionally, I go across town to Trader Joe's for fresh flowers.

I'm still doing curbside pickups, and will continue that indefinitely except at some point I'll start going into stores to choose my own produce. I'm happy to be able to stay away from fluorescent lights, for one thing.

We don't have many of the stores mentioned above, and I don't have a wide variety of choices. Most of my groceries come from Walmart, and I'm a fan. The prices are better than anyone's, and the people who put my order in the car are unfailingly friendly and polite.

We have Weis, and I shop there occasionally because they carry a couple of things Walmart doesn't have. And less often I make the 20-mile trip to Wegmans. Outstanding produce, but it costs.

I was thinking this morning that I really should have canceled my Sam's Club membership for 2020, and probably should do it for 2021. I haven't been to the store in well over a year, and don't see it happening any time soon. I don't know if it would make sense to cancel it at this point, as I paid automatically in November.

I mostly shop at a regional supermarket called Shaw's although I have lots of other choices. The store is reasonably sized and I know where everything is. I also frequent a small local butcher shop to pick up a nice steak now and then and an ethnic Polish market when I get a craving for the food of my childhood.

Aldi, Sav-a-Lot & WalMart. There are only two other chains in town. One is all the way on the north side of town; I live on the south edge of town so it is too much hassle to shop there. The other chain store has changed hands several times & is now Kroger affiliated. What has never changed is the pricing; remains to be the most expensive grocery in the area. Although it is the closest store, by far, I go there only once or twice a year & only for something that I need right now.

I buy most of our meat (pork & chkn) from Sav-a-Lot. Because most of the meat there is just meat w/o the 'enhanced' sodium solution laced meat at other stores (like Aldi). Kuddoes to WalMart, too, for upping their game in the meat dept. I've noticed less of the so-called 'enhanced' meats there than used to be the case. Most of the beef we consume is from a local farm. We split a half or quarter w/ DS.

No Trader Joe's in the area but we stopped at one in Vegas to satisfy my curiosity. Wasn't impressed. Don't get the hype. Have also been in Sprouts a few times in Phoenix & Yuma. Or, I should say $prout$. Last trip, we wanted some Dave's Killer Bread, a version that WalMart didn't have. The price in Sprouts was almost $2 more per loaf than the WMT price. Again, not impressed.

About once or twice a year, I get to a Woodman's. Love that store & wish we had one closer to home.

Also, we recently got a membership to Sam's again. $45 for membership w/ 2 cards w/ $45 store credit. IOW's, no cost to join. About 45 mile drive so it isn't worth it to be out of pocket for a membership as we will be there infrequently.

In Los Angeles, I shop at Ralphs, Trader Joe's, Bristol Farms, Marukai (for Japanese items), West LA International Market (for Middle Eastern and Indian food), and various farmers' markets - the one in Mar Vista is the best one that is very close. On occasion, I will go to Koreatown, Thai Town, Little India, Little Saigon, etc for other special items, but these are more of a drive than I normally make. The Japanese markets are much closer to me. We've been to Spouts and Whole Foods a few times, but they are less convenient, even though they are fairly close. We also like shopping at Papa Cristo's, but only go there when we want Greek food.

When in Cathedral City, we shop at Cárdenas (a Mexican market), Stater Brothers, and Gelson's. Gelson's is in Rancho Mirage but worth the short drive, as there is no traffic, and the speed limit on the streets is 50 mph. There is a TJ's in CC, but it is 5.2 miles from our house and not close to anything else we go to. Cárdenas is only a few blocks from our house and cheaper than TJ's. We get most of our groceries there, partly because it is the closest grocery store to our house, and I make a lot of Mexican food. The cheeses they have are mostly Mexican (which I like), and so for Italian or French cheese, I have to go to Gelson's. Gelson's also has good seafood and sushi. We shopped mostly at Gelson's during the pandemic because we felt safer there, and some other stores had lines to get in. There are no Japanese markets in the Coachella Valley, and so I have to take Japanese items with me when I go there. There aren't many ethnic markets either, other than Hispanic.

When we went to Michigan, we shopped at Meijer and liked it. I did not like Aldi's.

Trader Joe’s for about 80% of what we buy. We live less than 2 blocks from one. But they have a lot of odd holes in their selection, so we can’t do only them. Most of the rest at Whole Foods (Whole Paycheck!) And a little from the Jewel.

I would love to have food delivered fresh like Floral but there are no options for that, just grocery stores with the same old stuff you can buy yourself. I did take a trip out to an up and coming CSA in another town years ago but after talking to the owner on her farm I realized I didn't want to pay so much for so little. That was when I had taken a break from my own gardening.

I also prefer Trader Joe-sized stores to massive ones like Meijers. I didn't even go into the other 3/4 of the store with clothing and toys. When we walked in my exchange student said it was just like Costco, very cavernous and huge. I didn't like that part of it.

I also like Save A Lot in my little town because it is small and cheap. Some of the items I like better than name brand stuff too.

I mainly go to Trader Joes for flowers, dog biscuits, a few of their frozen meals, red pepper sauce, frozen dumplings and Monterey Jack cheese sticks. I used to buy their salads but after getting a few not-too-fresh ones I quit buying them. They were great size for work meals.

I don't have many choices out in the country but when I travel I love to go to grocery stores and pick up snacks for the road.

HEB - wonderful store & good selection

Wegman's - one of the best - my favorite, this is the one I wish I had here but this area wouldn't be able to support it

Publix - similar to HEB but less selection

Sprouts & Fresh Market - lower selection versions of Wegman's

Aldi's & Lidls - great for getting European treats and wonderful prices.

" I used to buy their salads but after getting a few not-too-fresh ones I quit buying them. "

One of the reasons I don't frequent TJ's that often. Their "fresh" stuff is not always that fresh :-) Often goes bad long before the sell-by date.

We use Costco about every six weeks; Jewel for everyday items (no meat); A N-NW suburban chain for meat, bakery, wine/booze; Fresh Market (Italian cookies). Rarely Heinen's (specialty foods and their store brand frozen Italian pasta dishes). There are no Walmarts or Aldi's near us -- no regrets. Mariano's has been a dud since Kroger bought it.

I see in today's Chicago Tribune that Bob Mariano can't stay out of the grocery biz -- having lost Dominick's to Safeway, then selling Mariano's to Kroger. He's betting on small stores that people would shop 2 - 3 times a week, leaving the 'staples' business to warehouse stores and the big chains. His stores will have dine-in sections. He sees these as 'gathering places' as well as groceries.

When my aunt and uncle lived in Yorkshire for two years just after WWII, my aunt toted her wicker basket to each individual shop a couple times a week. It was the timeless tale of Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker -- well, Greengrocer, Cheese Shop, and Dry Goods. They had a teeny fridge and no freezer.

About 95% Walmart pickup and the other 5% is from special sales the local grocery store has. We don't have Aldi's, Trader Joes or any of the other stores

Walmart and Safeway...

Aldi's has hummus in variety of 4 per pack and each has separate plastic. It's pretty good. Their french toast sticks are nice divided up and in same skillet as my eggs.... butter yum

Our Aldi's sells organic marinara sauce - and other organic items cheap....

I'm encouraged to clean 'green' and healthy when I buy large bag of baking soda at Costco's.... safe for scrubbing anything with vinegar etc.

Rotisserie chicken very good... Their pumpkin pie is ok.

I go to our local grocery chain most of the time. It's pretty good, and the meat is supplied locally too quite often. There's a little local outlet place I go to as well- the often have some interesting and good stuff randomly, and regularly stock my favorite blackberry gelatin. Sometimes the dollar store down the road if I just need something quick and don't want to drive into town.

I get a Misfits box weekly, though I will be needing to cut that back as I start getting my own garden goods coming up.

Meijer, Aldi, a big pet store, and Gordon Food Service are in the big town a bit further away. I get out to them maybe every couple months depending on if I need to stock or I'm doing other business while out that way.

I have two choices, Walmart and HEB. I shop them both. I really don't understand why so many seem to hate Walmart. Ours is nicely maintained, the employees are friendly and helpful. The same can not always be said about the customers, but that seems to be true in any store.

Rusty

Rusty, I'm okay with Wal-mart, not my favorite place since it's massive but they were open today when me and Leo, my exchange student, went to pick up some orange juice we forgot yesterday. We went to Frankfort to bowl but it was closed, so walked around the cemetery where Daniel Boone is supposedly buried. Since we were close, we went to Aldi's because it's a fairly small store but they were closed. So, on to Wal-mart in my town. I sent Leo to the opposite side of the store to get his juice since my feet were already sore from our long walk. I went to the garden area for potting soil, seeds and allergy meds. I do like that I can find everything in one place but it's still a massive store that isn't my favorite.

Since we are at our camp 5 days out of the week I do all my shopping up there and bring home the items I need. Except for something like ice cream, then I go to the local Shop n Save. At camp the closest town (7 miles away) has a Giant Eagle and a small local chain. I really dislike GE and have been in there only once this past year. I use the local store for their specials, milk, bread, lunch meat and cheese. For larger shopping I go to the next closest town (20 miles away) and go to Aldis and Walmart.

trader joe's, our local produce store, Acme or Giant, where i am the closest at the time. every other month or so Costco

At home I shop equally between Aldi, Walmart, and Price Chopper. Probably once a month at each. At the lake cabin the only choice nearby is an independently owned grocery called Alps that also sells alcohol, basic hardware supplies, fishing gear and bait.

Occasionally go to ethnic stores for Tamales, spices, seafood, and specialty meat cuts that few others carry.

Have shopped at a lot of the above mentioned and liked most of them....don't like Walmart, but

that is mostly because the store is so chaotic. Loved Giant and Wegman's in the East, Meijer's

in MI, and Woodman's in WI. Love Sam's for "fruit or munchie trays" and Pumpkin Pies and

large amounts of something once in a while. Haven't been in a Costco in several years, so

not sure. There is a PIggley Wiggley close to me here...and it is the cleanest store I have

ever been in...nice produce..but a bit higher on most things. For bread, milk, or something to

run in and grab I love PikQuik (can fill up your car with gas at the same time. :)

We have Kroger, Walmart, Meijer, Aldi, and Save-A-Lot here, but I do most of my shopping at Kroger. I order groceries for pickup, and Kroger is on my son's way home from work. I feel bad for asking him to pick up groceries for me, and won't ask him to go out of his way after a long day of work.

I haven't been to Aldi yet, but I've heard good things about it. I don't have one store that I love. Some of the produce at Kroger isn't the best, don't like the layout of Meijer and they don't carry some brands I like, and Walmart is just way too crowded. I'm thankful to have so many places to shop here, but no store is perfect.

HEB, Kroger, Costco, Aldi.

Walmart if I am going there for other things.

Walmart and Aldi's

I can't stand ginormous stores either. Pre-pandemic, I liked TJs and Aldi for that reason. Curbside pickup @ Walmart is so much more pleasant than having to go inside the store. I agree about the friendly, courteous employees too.

I buy organics as much as possible, and FWIW, Aldi has organic whole chickens for $2.69/#, which is the lowest price in town. Trader Joe's organic chickens not only cost a bit more per pound, they're usually full of liquid. Aldi's aren't.

Walmart has great prices on their organic products too.

Before the pandemic I shopped between 2 stores most of the time. Metro which had better meat, produce, bakery and deli counter but prices ran 25 per cent more than the discount grocery store Freshco where I shopped for pantry or freezer items and produce in the winter if it was good quality . During the pandemic I wasn't doing the shopping any longer so I would order online for pick up from Walmart. I did that a few times and found it to be more expensive. Now all our shopping is done at Freshco where through my brother I get a 20 percent discount on everything in the store. They also do price matching. In the late spring and summer and fall when the produce stands open up in the county I get all my produce except citrus, tropical fruits and vegetables we don't grow here at the stands. I wish we had a Trader Joes or Whole Foods.

I only noticed one person specifying where they buy wine. We buy ours at Beverage Warehouse, which is very close to us and easy to get to - less than 10 minutes, and just off of the Marina Freeway. They have an excellent selection of wines, and so we stock up when we go there, which is maybe once every two months. We do not always have wine with meals, but there are certain times when we do. Our favorite wines are Sangiovese, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir, and Côtes du Rhône (both red & white). We also keep Cabernet Sauvignon on hand but it is not really a favorite.

I mention this because I have noticed that in certain parts of the country, wine is not available in grocery stores. I think I noticed this in Philadelphia - at least we were directed to a specialty liquor store when we were there. I also remember that in Washington State, one had to go to a state owned liquor store, similar to what I had to do in British Columbia. In BC, the government would threaten to have liquor strikes, and so everyone would rush to buy out all of the inventory, and then the government would decide not to have the strike after all - probably because they had all of their inventory cleared out, which may have been the reason for threatening to have the strike in the first place.

I remember going to a special liquor store in Salt Lake City, but I don't remember whether grocery stores in St. George had wine or not. I would expect Utah to be a bit strict about this.

When I was growing up in Texas, counties were either wet, dry, or damp, and I grew up in a damp county, meaning that you could buy beer and wine, but liquor was illegal, unless an incorporated city decided to legalize it. Harker Heights, just outside Ft. Hood decided to legalize it and grew tremendously because of that. I think that this has all changed by now, however.

Lars, you can buy wine in some grocery stores here. Next to our Wal-mart is their alcohol store. Same with Trader Joe's.

In PA you can buy wine and beer in some grocery stores now. The store has to have a special permit from the state to be able to sell it. So not all stores sell it.

"I think that this has all changed by now, however."

There are still some dry counties in Texas and a number where there are restrictions for certain hours and days.

A bit over 40 years ago, I used to spend 2-3 weeks a year in Texas for business. Where I worked was a bit to the west of Dallas, not far enough to be in Fort Worth. The county I worked in was dry. However, if you got on an east/west road (not freeway), the county line was at a river and on the other side of the bridge were 4 liquor stores, two on each side. I also remember going to a restaurant with a friend (who lived in Dallas). It may have been in Farmers Branch but I'm not sure and it doesn't matter. As what I think was a pre-arranged setup, my friend left the table to go to the restroom. The table server came over and asked if I wanted a drink. I said no, I'd wait for my friend, but we'd probably have wine with dinner. She asked "do you belong to the club?". I said "What club?". She said "Sir, this is a dry area but liquor can be served in private clubs. We have a private club here that you may join if you wish and then you can buy wine". I said "Well, I'm just visiting, I wouldn't have future use for a membership". She said "Sir, you can get a lifetime membership for an initiation fee of $10, and we'll subtract that fee from the cost of the wine." I said "Okay, bring me a membership application and the wine list".

My friend returned to the table with a smile on his face, knowing full well what I'd just experienced. What a farce blue laws are.

Kroger. Hands down. Just the right crossroads of inexpensive, but good quality. If they don't carry what I need/want, I go to Publix. For instance, pasteurized crab or creamy havarti. That's about it though. Kroger carries the water crackers and brioche buns for my crabcake sandwiches (https://www.inspiredtaste.net/25964/maryland-style-crab-cake-recipe/). So that's a visit to both stores. Once or twice, I've bought a specific flavor that can only be found at Walmart. Can't remember off the top of my head, but I think it was a type of Kind bar. Mmm. Love those. Far more dessert than protein bars.

I have a lot of options... HEB, Costco and Kroger top the list. Walmart and Aldi would be next. There are other places I can go also, but I usually don't.

I do remember restaurants in Texas having clubs that you had to be a member of in order to be able to order mixed drinks, but I have not had any personal experience with them. The county where my parents lived (Bell County) was a damp county, but restaurants could serve mixed drinks to members of their clubs. I never wanted more than wine or beer at a restaurant in Texas anyway, and so it didn't matter. There are liquor stores all over Bell County now, but I guess that is because the cities have decided to all compete with Harker Heights. Here's a map of counties in Texas with coded liquor information.

I consider wine to be a grocery item, and I guess beer as well, although I cook with wine more than I do with beer. I do use beer when making tempura batter, however, and also when making hush puppies. I also use a lot of liqueurs in cooking (mostly desserts), and those have more alcohol than wine, but no more than vanilla extract.

Mostly Wal Mart, Costco. I like Trader Joes but not about to stand in line to shop there. I'll go sorta late, like 7:30 - 8 right before they close. I only get a few things there anyway. Nothing I have to have. Just bought a bag of Chicken Cilantro wontons at Costco yesterday...we'll see how they compare to the ones from Trader Joes.