Which grocery stores are best in terms of price, customer service and fresh meat and produce (how much, organic)

[AZ Manager]

Originally Posted by DougStark

I like Walmart because they have "everyday low prices", not phony "sale" prices like some grocers advertise. I refuse to look for "sales"-- waste of time and energy IMO (although my sister disagrees with me on this point.)

The main negative I see with Walmart is that their checkout seems understaffed. Most times I scan and bag all of my groceries with little help from staff. I guess that's a big cost savings for them.

We do most of the shopping with Walmart online because of their savings catcher finding us a decent amount back based on other store advertisements and the fact that all I have to do is pull up and they will load everything into my trunk for no additional cost. Fry's has a similar online shopping thing but they screwed it up too many times for me to bother messing around with it anymore and they might charge for it I don't remember.

For meats and not pre-packaged veggies we go to Fry's, nice new marketplace up here by Lake Pleasant has great selections. No real reason on the veggies other than my wife likes to pick that out herself and we do the online ordering from Walmart so she can't there otherwise we would probably get veg from Walmart too. I don't have any real problems with the quality of meat at Walmart I just know the stuff is rotated out very quickly at the Fry's, you would swear every day was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving at this location. My wife also loves the sushi bar at Fry's, and they are on sale on Wednesdays.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by locolife;49894987[B

]The items I put in bold above just don't go together. Good prices rarely come with great service or quality produce/meat. [/b]The way commodities like food is priced makes it very difficult to say one place is always cheaper than another, even if the marketing is done so well at WalMart or another place that they have convinced the masses it's true.

Locolife. You said what I was going to mention. The OP wants "Price, Quality, and Service." It doesn't work that way. Pick two of the three (you can never get all three in the long term). Unfortunately, some businesses only give you one of the three. It's a universal law. Every so often there are companies that have higher quality or service than your personal expectations and people inaccurately conclude those companies have all three attributes. For me, Southwest Airlines and Costco are such a companies. I digress.....

Originally Posted by locolife;49894987[B

]As others have said Winco appears to be the perceived price leader here, which may be the case I don't have one nearby and have never been to one.

Winco's pricing are normally lower. Often, the produce isn't as good (quality); it's hit or miss. But pre-made salads for instance aren't nearly as good pricing as Costco or Sam's. Their deli is inexpensive on what they carry but they only sell a fraction of what any other chain sells (less service). As in maybe 10% of what a Fry's sells. There meat department isn't as good as Costco's quality either.

I do use Winco for staple items. Also, like other stores, Winco has their cardboard comparison prices proving they are lower. Mysteriously, they never have those cutouts on items when they are higher in price and I do see them priced higher on some items that I shop for. I don't have the patience to go mega shopping. So I am in Fry's, Bashes, Safco, Trader Joe's etc often to pick up a few fresh items or lost leaders when I am driving by. But on average, Winco's pricing is lower and as the economical law suggests, something does give in order to accomplish that feat.

[Dewey59]

You really can't judge a store by the name of the chain. As others have said, one Frys may be great and another terrible. You really need to go to all of them in your area and see which ones fulfill your individual needs. For me in Sun City West, I have found that I buy most perishable stuff (fruit, fresh vegetables, dairy, etc.) at Frys, and the non-perishables at Target (cheaper). But I almost always buy my meats at Bashas - I have not found anyone that beats them for quality and value (when the meat is on sale).

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by Dewey59

You really can't judge a store by the name of the chain. As others have said, one Frys may be great and another terrible. You really need to go to all of them in your area and see which ones fulfill your individual needs. For me in Sun City West, I have found that I buy most perishable stuff (fruit, fresh vegetables, dairy, etc.) at Frys, and the non-perishables at Target (cheaper). But I almost always buy my meats at Bashas - I have not found anyone that beats them for quality and value (when the meat is on sale).

You make a good point.

The Fry's store in Sahuarita/Green Valley is a nicer store than many of the South Tucson stores. HOWEVER, the deli prices and many of the fresh foods are much higher prices. When you live in a retirement areas like Sun West and Green Valley, many of the merchants seem to think that everyone is wealthy and price accordingly. Over the last year, I spend more in Tucson than Sahuarita.

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There are two other options that I did not mention above.

First, Food City, a division of Basha's, has pretty good produce and generally, the lowest prices on produce. They also have some good prices on meat. It is a Hispanic market so the produce is more geared to that market.

Second, Borderlands Food Bank "rescues" produce from the produce brokers in Rio Rico, AZ. They provide you with 50# of produce for $10 on most Saturdays from October - May at a number of locations in Phoenix and Tucson. Currently, they are also adding in a 22# box of dates each week at no additional charge. Their expectation is that you will use whatever you need and give the rest to your neighbors or friends or contribute it to a local food bank

[hikernut]

Originally Posted by Minntoaz

Sprouts and Costco. Meat from Costco.

+1

Yup, those are our mainstays. Produce is overall better at Sprouts than at the big chain stores. I do buy meat at Sprouts too when it's on sale. Whole Foods is too expensive, although merger with Amazon may change that(?)

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by hikernut

+1

Yup, those are our mainstays. Produce is overall better at Sprouts than at the big chain stores. I do buy meat at Sprouts too when it's on sale. Whole Foods is too expensive, although merger with Amazon may change that(?)

I only go to Whole Foods for 1 or 2 specific things I can't get anywhere else and I'll look around a bit. I have not noticed the price of anything change so far. I checked out a few items that I sometimes buy at Target and they were still nearly $2 more (nearly double) what they are at Target.

[Voebe]

I'm horrified that anyone would want to "stick with Wal-Mart" considering their scummy reputation - considering how poorly they treat their employees, considering how they destroy jobs, etc. I buy something at Wal-Mart only when it absolutely can't be found anywhere else. I think I've bought one item there in the last decade. The Walton family has the equivalent of the entire bottom 40% of the country, so they don't need my money.


That said, most markets don't have all the qualities you want. Of your options, Fry's is my choice. If you have a Sprouts anywhere in the vicinity, you might check out their produce.

[jgustav]

Originally Posted by CEBMurray

My husband and I just relocated to Arizona from California and did most of our shopping at Stater Bros, Aldi's and Costco. Right now we live in Gilbert (near Gilbert Rd and Baseline) and usually shop at the Wal-Mart down the street. However, we are looking for a grocery store that offers good prices, great customer service and fresh meat and produce. Should we stick with Wal-Mart or consider the following stores that are located nearby:

• Whole Foods Market
• Safeway
• Fry's
• Basha's
• Trader Joe's
• Natural Grocers

Thanks in advance for your kind assistance!

Fry's is part of Kroger so if you shopped at Ralphs in Southern California it will probably feel more similar to that chain than Stater Bros. to you. The Ralphs card can be used for card pricing within Fry's, this also works with Smith's in Nevada since these are all Kroger supermarkets.

[pbenjamin]

Originally Posted by jgustav

Fry's is part of Kroger so if you shopped at Ralphs in Southern California it will probably feel more similar to that chain than Stater Bros. to you. The Ralphs card can be used for card pricing within Fry's, this also works with Smith's in Nevada since these are all Kroger supermarkets.

King Soopers in Colorado is also part of the chain, although my Fry's card does not work at their gas pumps.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by pbenjamin

King Soopers in Colorado is also part of the chain, although my Fry's card does not work at their gas pumps.

That is weird. My Fry's card works at Smith's, Fred Meyer, Dillon's, the Kroger convenience stores, and the Kroger's stores both in the store and at the gas pumps.

There are two differences. At many of the Kroger divisions, you can redeem your Fry's points at the pump. If you choose not to, at some divisions, you still get a $0.03/ gallon discount. Fry's does NOT offer that as I tried using an old Kroger's card that I had before.

Second, you do NOT get surveys (for the 50 fuel points) at other locations.

OTOH, you get senior discount days in Arizona and at Smith locations. You don't get anything like that at the Kroger stores in cincinnati.