Grocery Stores (Alexandria, Vienna, Falls Church: organic, prices, shoppers)

[2tnvols]

Hi, I'm moving to NOVA soon... I see you guys have Safeway and Giant. Do you have any other grocery stores? Kroger? Food Lion? Food City? Winn Dixie?

In your opinion, which grocery store has the lowest prices? Where do you prefer to shop if they were all equal distance from your house?

Last time I was there, I made the mistake of going to Harris Teeter. WHAT A JOKE! Talk about a froo-froo store! lol... I asked where the salt was, they looked dumbfounded. I was like, "Salt... you know? The condiment?" He replied, "Yes, sir, I know what salt is... Do you want Kosher salt, iodized salt, sea salt, organic salt, etc...?" Nuff said... not my type of grocery store! lol

I'm just looking for a no frills, down to earth, BASIC grocery store with good prices.

Let me know what you recommend! Thanks!

[dkf747]

Shopper's Food Warehouse for me. Prices tend to be better than Giant or Safeway. NOVA has a few of them.

[car54]

You must be down south...but no Winn-Dixie, Publix, or Kroger around here.

Shoppers is great as previous poster mentioned.

Food Lion is called Bloom here.

The granddaddy of them all is Wegman's! There's only a few of them but Wegman's puts 'em all to shame. The gourmet stuff can get pricey, but Weg's beats them all on price for all the run-of-the-mill grocery items (according to a Consumer Checkbook survey).

Wegman's deliberately builds their stores as stand alones...never in a strip shopping center like the rest of them. Weg's considers itself a "destination" in itself. I agree.

[twinmma]

I only shop at Wegmans...I find their prices are better than anyone else, which shocked me! They have all the great basics and yet have some nice high end things as well. I hate Harris Teeter...I find the layout of the store weird (especially the check out lines) and I think their prices are a rip off. Giant is okay for a quick trip (since it is a block away) but every week we make the trip to Wegmans, which is only 10 minutes from us. (It is in Ashburn)

[car54]

I'll give you an example of Wegman's pricing. A jar of Miracle Whip (don't groan!)....$4.29 most places....$2.99 at Wegman's. Durn, I'm getting hungry for a Wegman's Sub just thinking about it!

Giant has really, REALLY gone downhill since it was bought out by a Dutch conglomerate after owner Izzy Cohen died about 10 years ago. Giant was founded right here in DC in 1935...my mom always shopped there or A&P (NEVER Safeway) when I was a kid in the '50s-60's. There were a few Super Giants back then which combined the grocery store with a department store...sort of like a Super WalMart nowadays...not as big...but absolutely HUGE by '50s standards.

Super Giant didn't work out...Izzy's ideas were way ahead of their time.

[mlv311]

If you have a Wegmans near you, try it out. It has very good prices and you can find almost anything you need. Shoppers Food Warehouse is also good as far as prices. We have a very good Safeway nearby, which is convenient when time is of essence.

[Fern435]

Trader Joe's is a winner in my book. Great selection, prices and employees!

Is MacGruder's a Maryland chain only? My sister-in-law likes that store.

[lchoro]

Magruder's is local and has stores in Maryland and Northern Virginia. They're in downtown Vienna, Falls Church, and in Alexandria (Foxchase).Their stores are very small and have the basic necessities.

The Korean supermarkets now fill most of the niche of the low-end supermarkets since they also carry American brands in addition to meats and produce.

[Novamom06]

This is slightly off topic, but speaking of Harris Teeter - the problem I have with it is I feel like I'm always getting shocked at those stores. I mean an electric shock from the shopping carts. Strange, I know, but it has happened now at three different Harris Teeters that I've shopped at, multiple times. Sometime the shocks are pretty strong, and almost every time I shop there now I kind of brace myself for it.

Am I the only one?

[2tnvols]

I'm currently in Arizona, and I get shocked all the time at our local WalMart. Sometimes I'll let the shock build up and then shock my wife in the butt through her jeans... heheh... it's THAT strong!