Groceries, Grocery stores, & Supermarkets (Reading, Springfield: co-op, costs, shopper)

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by selhars

Anything that leads to lower prices works for me.
I'm a Shoprite (weekly), Walmart (weekly to every other week), Trader Joe's (once a month), Whole Foods (2-3 times a year), Wegman's (couple of times a year) shopper.

FYI, Lidl brings in various foreign foods on weekly specials, as Aldi does. It's definitely a different mix. Off the top of my head, I've seen British week, Greek week, Middle eastern week, Italian week, Iberian week, Asian week. I'm probably missing something.

Keeping in mind that Lidl stopped down construction for almost a year while they tried to right the ship, some prices on some items have crept up because they weren't buying in the anticipated quantity. Things should even out now that they're constructing again. They recently opened 2 new stores in the Charlotte area. Aldi & Lidl have the most impact when they are in proximity to each other. They go after each other. You see price reduction signs taped up in both stores.

[newmarlig]

I believe I posted above about Sprouts' planned opening on Broad and Washington. Well, they've been opened now for few months. I haven't been there yet, but I've heard good things. It's supposedly a mix of Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and Acme.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by newmarlig

I believe I posted above about Sprouts' planned opening on Broad and Washington. Well, they've been opened now for few months. I haven't been there yet, but I've heard good things. It's supposedly a mix of Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and Acme.

Caroline Cunningham of our "BeWellPhilly" section went comparison shopping at Sprouts, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's last month. Here's what she found. It's not a long piece, and you should look at it to see the exact market basket of items she bought - she couldn't buy the exact same items at each store, and apples priced by the pound at WFM and Sprouts were priced by the individual unit at TJ's - but the tl;dr version is: Sprouts' prices are comparable to TJ's, and both are a few dollars cheaper than Whole Foods. And she bought private label wherever she could (which is everything at Trader Joe's; since only one company makes chickpea pasta right now, she had to substitute a comparable product there):

Is Sprouts Farmers Market Cheaper than Whole Foods or Trader Joe's? | Philadelphia Magazine

I just realized that this headline flouts Betteridge's Law of Headlines ("Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered with the word No").

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

Caroline Cunningham of our "BeWellPhilly" section went comparison shopping at Sprouts, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's last month. Here's what she found. It's not a long piece, and you should look at it to see the exact market basket of items she bought - she couldn't buy the exact same items at each store, and apples priced by the pound at WFM and Sprouts were priced by the individual unit at TJ's - but the tl;dr version is: Sprouts' prices are comparable to TJ's, and both are a few dollars cheaper than Whole Foods. And she bought private label wherever she could (which is everything at Trader Joe's; since only one company makes chickpea pasta right now, she had to substitute a comparable product there):

Is Sprouts Farmers Market Cheaper than Whole Foods or Trader Joe's? | Philadelphia Magazine

I just realized that this headline flouts Betteridge's Law of Headlines ("Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered with the word No").

Once you get a near enough Lidl, she should spend a day comparing with all stores near it.
The Delaware County store will make 3 in the viewing area. I wonder if they'll run TV ads.

ETA: The Lidl in Folsom opens December 5th.

[Fireshaker]

Originally Posted by newmarlig

I believe I posted above about Sprouts' planned opening on Broad and Washington. Well, they've been opened now for few months. I haven't been there yet, but I've heard good things. It's supposedly a mix of Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and Acme.

That's actually a fairly accurate description. It's sort of like a discount Whole Foods; some of the same fresh and organic focus, in a smaller and slightly cheaper package. The meat / seafood section is probably the least impressive part of the store, but overall it's definitely the best store within walking distance (sorry, 10th & Reed Acme).

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by southbound_295

Once you get a near enough Lidl, she should spend a day comparing with all stores near it.
The Delaware County store will make 3 in the viewing area. I wonder if they'll run TV ads.

ETA: The Lidl in Folsom opens December 5th.

And I see that Lidl has decided to buy rather than build its way into one East Coast market:

Lidl Acquires 27 Northeast Grocery Stores in Best Market Buy | Bisnow Washington, DC

The market in question is Greater New York. Probably a better bet to buy than build there anyway.

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

And I see that Lidl has decided to buy rather than build its way into one East Coast market:

Lidl Acquires 27 Northeast Grocery Stores in Best Market Buy | Bisnow Washington, DC

The market in question is Greater New York. Probably a better bet to buy than build there anyway.

Definitely a better idea.

Lidl has more imported foods in their regular stock than Aldi. This makes sense. Aldi has been in this country for at least 40 years. They know us very well.

Where it gets interesting is when they feature foreign foods, the foods really are imported foreign foods. This is most noticeable when they do Italian week. When Aldi does Italian week even the imported foods are americanized. When Lidl does Italian week, the most americanized foods are frozen.

[campion]

The new Lidl is opening right next to my regular Acme. I am so disappointed in what I've read about it. I'm not necessarily looking for lower prices - I'm looking for variety and the ability to do my entire week's grocery shopping in one place (not three).

I read their description.

We’re expert product curators. Instead of offering a myriad of brands in every category, our stores offer carefully curated selections that are top-quality and best-prices. So your precious time is not spent sifting through endless versions of products you don’t want.
You’re busy. We get it. That’s why we’re masters of store efficiency. All our stores have the same intuitive layout, making it easier for you to find what you need quickly.

We’re more than just food. We aim to surprise and delight our customers with a diversified product assortment that changes twice a week. You’ll find anything from essentials for the home, such as small appliances or kitchen gadgets, to stylish gear for the whole family, to toys and power tools, to home décor and gardening supplies, and much more.

I'm not looking for "curated selections." I want reliably available variety every time I go into your store. I like multiple pasta options, tomato options, rice options, and so on. My precious time would be better served by the store providing a wide variety of food products and brands and skipping out on the "delightful" (read: unnecessary) home decor and gardening supplies. /end rant.

With Acme going downhill rapidly and Shoprite not being a very acceptable alternative, I'm looking at a significant drive to get to a decent one-stop grocery store. The price of living in Delco, I guess.

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by campion

The new Lidl is opening right next to my regular Acme. I am so disappointed in what I've read about it. I'm not necessarily looking for lower prices - I'm looking for variety and the ability to do my entire week's grocery shopping in one place (not three).

I read their description.



I'm not looking for "curated selections." I want reliably available variety every time I go into your store. I like multiple pasta options, tomato options, rice options, and so on. My precious time would be better served by the store providing a wide variety of food products and brands and skipping out on the "delightful" (read: unnecessary) home decor and gardening supplies. /end rant.

With Acme going downhill rapidly and Shoprite not being a very acceptable alternative, I'm looking at a significant drive to get to a decent one-stop grocery store. The price of living in Delco, I guess.

For what it's worth I've been shopping at Lidl for over a year. I do Lidl then go to Aldi. I do fill in at a regular supermarket. Honestly, I can't remember when I did one stop shopping. On the average I do 3/4 of my shopping at Aldi & Lidl.

The system is set up that you can't do one stop shopping. Stores buy the right to be exclusive with products. The store where you've been buying product X no longer carries it and you need to go elsewhere for it.

[campion]

Originally Posted by southbound_295

For what it's worth I've been shopping at Lidl for over a year. I do Lidl then go to Aldi. I do fill in at a regular supermarket. Honestly, I can't remember when I did one stop shopping. On the average I do 3/4 of my shopping at Aldi & Lidl.

The system is set up that you can't do one stop shopping. Stores buy the right to be exclusive with products. The store where you've been buying product X no longer carries it and you need to go elsewhere for it.

Until Acme started tanking, I could do one-stop shopping regularly. I'd say that was four or five years ago that they started getting worse. What kinds of products are "exclusive" to stores other than, say, deli brands and store brands?