[shoehoard]

LOL! Shelton is getting a Shop Rite. I've never stepped foot in one and now I'm not sure I want to. But even worse was the Shaw's in Shelton (being replaced by Shop Rite - trading one bad apple for another?).

Good point on the older grocery stores built in the 60s, 70s, or 80s. I do remember about 10 or so years back in FL how Publix started either building new, bigger stores or completely remodeled their existing stores. Gone were the separate bakeries next door. In came bright lighting and better store layouts. I somewhat agree with you on the baked goods at Publix. Their glazed donuts are horrible. But their bread and cakes are really good. Interesting tidbit. Not sure if anyone else remembers this but Publix used to bake croissant donuts. Not just croissants that were glazed after baked. These were dense, heavy, and sweet donut/croissant creations that I would often stop for a few mornings each week on my way to work in Sarasota or St. Pete. Unfortunately, I found out from Publix that their distributor of these heavenly delights burned down.

Oh, and what about Publix's Apron cooking classes? Yep, you could sign up for cooking classes! And how about Publix's salad restaurant - Crispers. Kind of like a Sweet Tomatoes with limited options and lacking the buffet. I miss salad places. Can't seem to find any up here - just exclusive salad places.

I actually think the A&P in Branford is nice. Bit spendy, though.

Originally Posted by Yankeerose00

Shoehoard I do agree with you about the grocery stores here. I know when I first moved to Virginia, I was pretty disapointed with the stores there because I did compare it to Publix.
Now living here in CT, I do think that Stop and Shop is better than Kroger, but not much. It's kind of an old school grocery store that was fine in the 80's, but stores have come a long way. In newer areas where there has been a lot of growth like Florida and North Carolina, you see the newer models of grocery stores and they are pretty nice. It's hard for a store that was built in the 60's or 70's to compare.
Even Big Y is pretty nice but not so nice that it warrants their prices.
If we could get a Wegman's here, I'd be in heaven. Publix would probably be my 2nd choice after Wegaman's.
I don't believe that Publix deserves all of the raves it gets like it's the epitome of a grocery store, but it is a nice store, and yes admittedly it is nicer than Stop and Shop. For baked goods, I think Publix is completely overrated and only hold their title in Florida due to no competition. But for groceries, it is a nice store.
But hey, IMO worse than all of them is A&P or Shop Rite. Yuck. Talk about old school.

[Lowerdeck]

There's an A&P in Danbury on North St. that is fairly new and pretty nice. On the other side of town, the one on the south end of Main St. is pretty old, small, and a dump. One nearby in Carmel was nothing standout, but not horrible.

The one in Dayville, before it became a Stop n' Shop - that was small and becoming outdated. Not a dump, but not good either. The site would have been better for the IGA than a bigger chain. I don't blame Stop n' Shop for building a new store in Dayville Commons though.

All depends really.

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by shoehoard

LOL! Shelton is getting a Shop Rite. I've never stepped foot in one and now I'm not sure I want to. But even worse was the Shaw's in Shelton (being replaced by Shop Rite - trading one bad apple for another?).

Yes, they are getting a ShopRite! I just found out about it an hour before your post, lol. ShopRite is a co-op store, like IGA's are. They're not owned by a corporate entity, they're owned by individual "franchisees". If the new Shelton store will be owned by the Cingari family, it should be a clean and well operated store. That family owns multiple ShopRite's(and Grade A Markets) in Stamford, Norwalk, Brookfield, and Derby.

If this store is going to be owned by the Garofalo's of the Milford ShopRite, it will be good, but not nearly as good as a Cingari owned store. If it's owned by the operator of the ShopRite in West Haven............. Meh, no thanks.

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by Yankeerose00

Even Big Y is pretty nice but not so nice that it warrants their prices.

If the people stay away, then they'll lower their prices. Prices at the Stratford store have come down significantly over the last 3 months. People were staying away from the store because their prices were a bit crazy. A colleague of mine feels that he has noticed the same thing at the Monroe location recently. That trend will probably continue there as well, seeing as there's a new S&S nearby. My aunt however, reports that the prices at the Big Y in Ansonia are as ridiculous as ever. YMMV.

[shoehoard]

Took the attached photos at my local Super S&S last night.

Originally Posted by JayCT

Shoehoard - I have not seen the problems in the meat department that you are talking about at our local Stop & Shop's. Ours are very clean. You may see meat on the table as they are preparing it but I have NEVER seen it just lying around like you indicate. Also you can buy beer in the supermarkets here, but you are correct that you can not buy wine.

As for your comments on Dutchess, I find this odd since I believe Chick-Fil-A has fried items too and their restaurants are just as greasy. Also, I am not sure what you expected since Dutchess is a fast-food restaurant and most have fried foods, even the ones in Florida. The only thing is Dutchess does offer non-fried items, certainly more than other fast-food places.

Finally, my driving experiences in Florida are equally frustrating. There always seems to be some older driver in the left lane going slower that the rest of traffic. Plus I have found that signing on local raods in Florida is virtually non-existant. Why aren't there stop signs at four-way intersections in the middle of towns? How does one know who is suppose to stop and who has the right-of-way? Jay

[JayCT]

Definitely then complain and I mean directly to the corporate office, not the manager. I have not seen this in our stores but I would not tolerate it. Jay

[Yankeerose00]

those pics are nasty

And how about Publix's salad restaurant - Crispers.

I have no idea what that is. Was it attached to Publix? I lived in an around Tampa for 15 years and I've been to lots of different stores but never even heard of Crispers.
But yeah, the stores up here need to evolve into 2009, but I realize that cost of transforming stores is probably what is stopping them.
But there is a glaring difference between stores that were built in the 70's-80's to stores that are less than 10 years old. In the "new south" ie parts of FL, NC, SC, you see these new and gorgeous stores. Even if the chain is crappy, the new stores are nice. For example, Food Lion is a crappy chain in the south. But they had built a new one not far from my house in Virginia and it was gorgeous.
Stop and Shop is fine and clean. I don't mind shopping there, but it doesn't wow me. Is there something that is stopping the Wegman's chain from coming into CT? I know they had built one as far south as Fredericksburg VA. I'd love to see them come here.

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Definitely then complain and I mean directly to the corporate office, not the manager. I have not seen this in our stores but I would not tolerate it. Jay

It happens everywhere. That was another reason why i became turned off on the Stew Leonards in Norwalk. Take a look at the shelving where they keep their whole beef roasts, they're always blood strewn. Most of the time we don't notice it in the supermarkets because the cases are usually well filled. When the shelves are barren like they are in shoehoard's pics, it's more obvious.

[seain dublin]

Shoehoard, I had to laugh at your comments regarding left lane drivers in CT. Florida is the land of left lane drivers and no one seems to know how to use their turn signals.

My main issue( besides the heat and humidity) with FL is the mentality down here. There is a lot of ignorant people the likes of which I have never seen in CA or other places we have lived.

An example, a 17 yr old boy drove reckless and killed a 43 yr old police officer. He crossed over the line and hit officer head on. The officer left a wife and 3 children.

These morons down here( sorry but that is what they are) have said well it was an accident. They don't seem to understand about reckless driving( which is really bad here). Reckless driving isn't an accident. It is creating a "perfect storm" for a car crash.

It is out of their realm of thinking to "get" that driving reckless is just as bad as drunk driving.

As I posted earlier I have had natives of FL use the N word when talking about black people. We were introduced to a guy who is a contractor and he starts telling me how he ripped off N*****s in New Orleans by finding jewerly and keeping it after going there to "help" rebuild after Katrina.

This is someone I had just met, don't know, and he using the N word and then telling us he kept jewerly he found that some poor soul who lost everything in Katrina owned.

I have never met people like this in my life.

[Yankeerose00]

You'll rarely find someone from the south to admit it, or they say "well northerners are just as racist" but as racist as people can be up north, they are far worse in the south.
I was always amazed at how many times people would just start using the N word or talking about black people in front of me. I may be white, but how did they know that I wasn't married to a black man? The first time it happened it was my chiropractor, then my dentist, hairdressers, manicurists, check out person. I used to think, do I look like someone who is racist? Granted, I'm not much of a PC person. I prefer to see it and tell it like it is, but using the N word in everyday conversation was just over the top for me.
Honestly, the nice things I said about Publix is about the most postivie you'll get from me regarding Florida. I wish I never had to step foot in that state again but unfortunately my inlaws will never leave.