Grocery Shopping? (Dallas, Wall: buy, prices, shops)

[mbd723]

I am curious as I had this conversation come up with a friend recently. When you grocery shop, how do you go about it? Do you do 'big shops' every trip, or do you do lots of little trips and do a monthly big shop? I never use a list, and often do little ones on the fly. I hate doing big trips - too time consuming and I hate grocery shopping (and grocery stores!) already. So what would make me enjoy grocery shopping again? So I put the question out there: Besides good location and decent prices, what would the ideal grocery store (if it doesn't exist yet) be like? Would it offer new foods and products? Would it offer services that make shopping easier? Would it have cooking shows or other things that inspire you to make new and different meals? Is there something else?

[BVH]

Target has the best food prices by far. I only go to Giant Eagle for meat and produce. Grocery prices here are far higher than they were in Dallas. There, we had Kroger, Albertson, Tom Thumb, Target, Wal-mart, Whole Foods, Super Walmart, and a couple others. There is virtually no competition here, and the prices reflect that competitive disparity.

[guylocke]

I only shop at Market District. It's my fav. And they do having cooking shows and classes they offer some nights of the weeks. You'll pay a bit more at Giant Eagle than, say, Target or Walmart (ew), but you don't save THAT much.

I'm much rather go someplace and have a nice shopping experience and have a huge selection including gourmet meats, fish, and cheeses than plain jane (and often disgusting) walmart and spend a few extra bucks.

I actually worked for Giant Eagle for several years and had to take some seminars and company meetings. Their prices really aren't that far off from Target. Giant Eagle does not have a long-term goal to have prices as low as Walmart because it's fiscal suicide but they DO have a long-term goal of only being a few cents off of Target.

For every so many thousands of dollars they save each year through negotiation, new contracts, and PR departments, Giant Eagle drops their prices. They've been doing it for several years now, and as someone who has worked for the company and who does a lot of comparison shopping, I can tell you Giant Eagle has come A LONG LONG way.

I love Target, too, don't get me wrong, but you can't exactly do your "grocery shopping" at Target. You can do "necessity shopping."

BTW, Market District is by Giant Eagle. It's a new concept by them and I love them. They currently only have 2 open (both do VERY well for themselves) in Shadyside and South Hills Village. Cranberry/Wexford are getting one, too, next year.

I love them so!

PS. I no longer work for them and have no stock in their company.

[Country_Girl_23]

I wish Pa has Krogers, I work in Krogers at West Virginia, their food prices are far cheaper than Giant Eagles, I normally pick things up on they days I work so less big shopping unless need to be. Also Krogers brand foods are far better than GE, FL and SNS foods too.

[mbd723]

Originally Posted by guylocke

I love Target, too, don't get me wrong, but you can't exactly do your "grocery shopping" at Target. You can do "necessity shopping."

Wait - help me understand the difference between 'grocery shopping' and 'necessity shopping...

[mbd723]

See, I don't think anyone does BIG shopping like they used to in the past. Do you agree?

[Country_Girl_23]

Originally Posted by mbd723

See, I don't think anyone does BIG shopping like they used to in the past. Do you agree?

Yeah I do agree. The only time we go big food shopping is if we really have no food and was short on money for a bit. We do a huge food shopping to fill our cupboards up and fridge that last a long time, we buy meats weekly. Once we are low on food we do another big shopping, that is normally every few mos.

[guylocke]

Wait - help me understand the difference between 'grocery shopping' and 'necessity shopping...

Target's have like half a dozen small isles of foods. And most of it is boxed or canned. Pop, cereal, crackers, soup, mac N cheese, etc.

I mean, you could run there and find yourself dinner and most even have refrigerated sections for milk and frozen pizza, etc.

But you can't get fresh produce, meats or cheeses, fish, fresh baked goods, sushi, prepared meals, etc.

[Country_Girl_23]

Yeah I heard they are better than Wally World (Walmart) It is called Super Target

[guylocke]

See, I don't think anyone does BIG shopping like they used to in the past. Do you agree?

Meh I usually go about once a week and need a dozen or so things.