consumer reports rates supermarkets

[.:.impossible]

I've been to a Wegmans. Ridiculously large. And the buffet rivals the store! I couldn't shop there regularly. Too big.

Grew up with Ukrops. Fortunate to have a beautiful Harris Teeter right down the street, one of the nicer Food Lions across the road, Lowe's Foods back there, and Whole Foods and Trader Joes opening late spring.

Though when it comes right down to it, we'd prefer to shop at Lovey's and the seasonal farmers markets.

No problem with groceries down here!

Edited April 4, 2012 by .:.impossible

[PHILLYQ]

Wegman's is a hometown product, although they are in five states now ( in fact one of the Wegman dynasty used to live across the street from me).

The stores and the produce are immaculate. Picture perfect, in fact.

The store closest to me has so much variety, along with restaurants, prepared meals and products of every variety that I couldn't begin list everything here.

I know that the stores in other states are so popular that they are actual destination for people and families. No shit.

They are also generous employers who take check out boys and girls, pay towards their education, and turn them into managers.

Really a class organization.

I went to one in Virginia and I'm a food fanatic and I was impressed. You could eat lunch(my sister does sometimes)just by going around the store and eating free samples!

[mr jazz]

wegmans did not impress me at all-overpriced. TJs is great but not a full grocery store. I really like Harris Teeter-balances quality and pricing quite well. Safeway over Giant if for nothing else than their meats. Produce a little better as well. Never been to Aldis (owner of TJs)

[Tim McG]

Trader Joe's is okay, I guess...unless you want to buy produce. What they've got gets packaged in some pretty weird ways, and I don't think I've ever seen any produce sold in bulk/by the pound. But hey, their stuff has cute names.

True. The produce leaves a lot to be desired, but you can't beat their wine, cheese, frozen fish, pasta and bread prices. EV Olive Oil is very good, too. Tons of other good food stuffs there as well.

[Quincy]

Trader Joe's is okay, I guess...unless you want to buy produce. What they've got gets packaged in some pretty weird ways, and I don't think I've ever seen any produce sold in bulk/by the pound. But hey, their stuff has cute names.

I don't get their appeal at all in this town as we have several better options for organic, top-thru-low shelf wine, cheeses, etc. I guess I don't have as much faith as some have in the TJ name slapped on ever-changing supplier product. For example, I know at one time they sold a cracker made by Late July (w/ the TJ name on it of course) as everything about it lined up, yet at any time TJ may change companies to make the same shaped cracker. Just give me the damn Late July one, hence one reason why I go elsewhere. The produce is ridiculous, I don't want a bag of lemons, I want 1 lemon or 2. Their cheese is inferior compared to alternative stores. I don't drink the 2 buck/3 buck whatever that stuff costs now. I'm not fond of the layout, I loathe how they carry something and then don't (and it's not seasonal stuff I'm talking about). I can see how if someone lives in a place where they only have conventional grocery stores how it would be appealing but this town several stores that slay TJ's. Maybe the "paradox of choice" is a problem for some that TJ's solves. Or maybe just cheap wine wins.

[thedwork]

put me down as another self-checker. i use Hannaford mainly in my town. there are 2 and one is slightly better than the other (availability of products, service, produce, etc...). but they're both much better than the local Price Choppers. and i occasionally use the local co-op - but it's pretty expensive and regularly they don't carry everything i'm looking for so i can't get everything in one shot and that's a pain in the ass. a small pain, but a pain nonetheless...

[David]

I sure miss Wegman's -- the only store (of any sort) I didn't mind shopping at. When they came to the NoVA area, they sure shook up the competition there. I read an article in the Washington Post saying how typical grocery stores in the area would be happy to gross $20-$30 million per year, whereas each of the Wegman's locations in NoVA were grossing $75+ million. It's what a private company can do when it doesn't need to worry about shareholders breathing down its back each quarter. The investment they made in each store in the DC area was MASSIVE, but it clearly paid off for them.

I also disagree about their prices being high -- they had the most extensive array of private label brand products of any store, and at very good prices. Of course their prepared foods were expensive, but worth the price in my experience.

Here on the West Coast I frequent Trader Joe's and Sprouts, which I like, but are no substitute for Wegman's. We also belong to a co-op and receive deliveries of local produce every so often. It was hard to get that on the East Coast.

What amazes me is that Whole Foods is so popular -- THEY have high prices. In fact, a friend of a friend supplies a product to both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. He says the only difference is the label, and that Whole Foods charges double the price. Craziness.

[.:.impossible]

CSA delivery is very easy to come by in RI, and in the mid-Atlantic.

[marcello]

Here's a few photos of the Wegmans in Pittsford, N.Y. where I live: