Which Supermarket Do You Use? (Cleveland, Parma: neighborhoods, buying, college)

[pinkieblonde]

Folks, I received an offer in the mail to shop at a place called BJ's -- no membership charge on a first visit. It is a members-only discount supermarket. So my question is, has anyone been using this company to buy their groceries? I have never had such a business for groceries in the other places where I have lived, unless you count Sam's Club.

When you do your food shopping, are you going to just one store? I love Marc's but I just do not have time to do Marc's and then Giant Eagle.

Anyone doing Aldie's? Are you satisfied with the quality of their store brands? I gather that buying their store brands is why Aldie's can be less expensive? What are their prices like for national brands? I haven't tried an Aldie's yet but there's one not that far from me, in Parma I think, so if this is a better alternative to Giant Eagle I would change over.

I miss Tops, if only for the competition. We even had the last little family-owned grocery on Fulton near Memphis close just recently. I think it's a shame. Not everyone wants to shop in a super-huge box store. And I bet there were older folks who can no longer drive who could walk to that little grocery to buy...now what are they going to do? I wish City Government would do more to reach out to such businesses.

I had wanted to go to the West Side Market regularly to buy produce, but my brother says no because the trip is long for me...over half an hour. Is he right? Old Brooklyn to Ohio City is like 30 minutes or more? I don't suppose anyone knows of a produce market closer to Old Brooklyn?

I might not go grocery in Marc's + Giant Eagle, but I do love that new bread store, Fred's Breads at 2330 Broadview near Pearl. Not a huge selection, but the prices are wonderful and the food is good. Saves me at least $5 a week. (That helps buy my monthly manicure, he he.)

Even if money is tight, who can spare 12 hours and visit 4 or 5 stores just to get groceries in for the week? Anyone have a solution? I hear you can order groceries online...has anyone tried that? It's hard to imagine that could be a reasonably-priced way to shop. Seems as if the shipping costs would be overwhelming.

O ya, and here's a well-kept secret. In the winter, when I get seriously snowed in, I can call one of the Dave's Supermarkets, give them an order by fax or over the phone, and they will deliver for only $7.50. 216-361-51309. I suppose you could shop this way all year, but I don't have a reason to when it's not blizzard-ing here. I thought maybe this factoid could be a big relief to anyone who has to shop for an elderly parent. I think that Dave's chain is just wonderful. They are in some poor neighborhoods and have a real commitment to Cleveland and to their employees...ever read up on them? There's some terrific profiles on the company on sites like wikipedia.

Dave's Markets - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Love to get some feedback on this. Man, zowie, has food gotten expensive. I paid like $4 for a box of cereal last night at Giant Eagle, and I could swear it was only like $2 the last time I bought it.

[poohbaby518]

Personally, I shop at both Aldi's and Marcs.

Generally, Aldi's does not carry name brands. Aldi's store brands are excellent quality and much less expensive than anything that you will find at Daves or Giant Eagle.

I only shop at Marcs because we prefer name brand toiletries (toilet paper, shampoo, etc.) and we prefer the produce at Marcs. We get everything else at Aldi's.

Its at least worth a visit to Aldi's to explore the potential savings. We are a family of 3 and I spend only $480 per month on groceries, toiletries, cleaning supplies & alcohol.

[YaFace]

We shop at Aldi's occasionally, but there cost cutting approach is just too much sometimes. (their diapers leaked for example) The wife works at Giant Eagle, so we go there a lot, just for the fact that they always have what you want no matter what. Marc's depending on the day, and Drug Mart just because they are right down the street, and I hate lines.

Sometimes we will go to the West Side Market, although not too often, because we spend WAAAAY to much there. On a related note, who the f**k told you that Old Brooklyn to Ohio City was 30 minutes? Are you somersaulting there? It's a 5 minute drive TOPS, and that is in bad traffic.

[costello_musicman]

Zagara, Westside Market, and Giant Eagle


For specialty Italian items -- Alesci's on Mayfield Rd. and Gallucci's in Cleveland

[jlawrence01]

Marc's was always my favorite shop in Cleveland. My wife worked at a retailer and did a lot of focus groups. People said that Marc's stores were cluttered and dirty ... but they were their favorite place to go. Good products at a good price and they have cleaned up their stores.

I liked the Westside Market as they had cheap, surplus produce at a great price. You had to use it up quickly but it was a fraction of the cost.

Alesci's, Gallucci's, the two pita bakeries in town, The Lake Road Market and occasionally Heinen's (when I had the money) filled the rest of the bill.

[Cleveland_Collector]

Costco>>>>>>BJ's>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>Sam's Club

I buy groceries primarily at Costco and the West Side Market. I fill in the blanks with specialty shops, Whole Foods, and Heinen's. I'll go to Giant Eagle only when it is out of convenience as, let's face it, with their prices they aren't much better than a convenience store though the quality is about the same. The only thing that really sets them apart is that they have a large selection.

[marence]

It'll take you a half-hour to drive to Trader Joe's, but only 5 minutes (10 if you hit every single light just as it's turning red) to get to the West Side market.
There's also a fresh produce store on Brookpark west of Ridge, across from the K-Mart.
I do most of my shopping at Giant Eagle, some at Trader Joe's, some at Aldi's, and the rest at farmer's markets & local shops. Trader Joe's and Aldi's are owned by the same company, a German supermarket company, and contract with small suppliers to make their name brand stuff. IMO, about 80% of the Trader Joe's brand stuff is great; about 50% of the Aldi's brand or other "no-name" brands there are good - and the not good stuff is pretty bad, sometimes.

[pinkieblonde]

Originally Posted by YaFace

We shop at Aldi's occasionally, but there cost cutting approach is just too much sometimes. (their diapers leaked for example) The wife works at Giant Eagle, so we go there a lot, just for the fact that they always have what you want no matter what. Marc's depending on the day, and Drug Mart just because they are right down the street, and I hate lines.

Sometimes we will go to the West Side Market, although not too often, because we spend WAAAAY to much there. On a related note, who the f**k told you that Old Brooklyn to Ohio City was 30 minutes? Are you somersaulting there? It's a 5 minute drive TOPS, and that is in bad traffic.

My brother told me that YaFace. How delighted I am to find out he was wrong. That just never gets old, he he.

[pinkieblonde]

Thankies to everyone who replied. I stupidly tried to "poip in to get a few things" at Giant Eagle at about 4pm today and was on line longer than I shopped by a factor of three. I will never go back unless it's at 4am.

Why doesn't Giant Eagle hire cash register people and then charge a fee to use them? I'd have paid another $5 to get out of that hellish place...and so would the mom with the 8 month old baby stuck in line behind me.

I cannot understand how a Walmarts can afford to hire people to run cash registers but a damned grocery cannot.

But I know I'm a dinosaur. I still grieve the passing of the full service gas station, LOL.

[Flee to the Cleve]

I shopped at Aldi's when I was in college. Same food, cheaper price. I didn't trust their meat considering I got sick off of it a couple of times.