Who's Winning the Grocery Store Wars? (Arlington, Little Elm: appointed, neighborhood, prices)

[elan]

I'm surprised that so many people like Kroger. The one at the Mockingbird Station is nice. However, the one in Coppell is ratty as is the one on Belt Line in Irving. Don't get me started about the one on Forest and Greenville, it's dirty.

[RJ312]

Originally Posted by mastershake575

My last job was in the same shopping center as Tom Thumb and I swear everytime I went in there, everything I would normally purchase at Kroger was instantly 10-15% higher price for absolutely no reason (it was the same item).

Due to having greater scale, Kroger is able to negotiate better prices from suppliers than Tom Thumb. Tom Thumb was once owned by Safeway, but Safeway and Albertsons merged in 2015. The Albertsons-Safeway merger was intended to create scale to be more competitive with the Krogers and Walmarts of the world.

Originally Posted by Treasurevalley92

I get alot of staples at Aldi, I love the small store format and the prices. Produce is pretty good too, and great prices.

I'll usually get toiletries and stuff at Walmart.

I went to Aldi's once when I was really feeling poor one week. I did not like it. I didn't like having to put a quarter in a machine to get a cart. The place seemed dirty and dingy.

Walmart can be good for toiletries. Walmart is the largest scale retailer and can negotiate the best prices with suppliers. Only Kroger comes relatively close. The advantage of Kroger over Walmart is that one can buy food with higher quality ingredients than you'd get at Walmart without having to pay Whole Foods type prices.

Originally Posted by jgn2013

Oops I forgot to pick up?? = Tom Thumb since it's only a minute away from my house

Central Market is great when you're looking for something unique....special cheeses, cuts of meat, unique produce etc. I can spend $100 without even trying.

That's basically Tom Thumb for me as well. Every so often, it will be my primary grocer for that week's supplies, but that usually goes to Kroger.

Accurate statement about Central Market. I like the place.

Originally Posted by arpitsheth

I am surprised there is no love for Sprouts Farmers Market here.

While I like Kroger and it is typically my primary grocery store, I usually round out my shopping with one more place besides Kroger. It is usually either Sprouts or Central Market. I really like Sprouts because there are a lot of high quality items there at not so exorbitant prices like Whole Foods. Central Market is in a similar niche to Sprouts, but Sprouts seems to be a little bit lowered priced than CM.

[mastershake575]

Originally Posted by arpitsheth

I am surprised there is no love for Sprouts Farmers Market here. We regularly use Krogers, Walmarts and Patel Bros based on convenience and need. Sprouts is little more upscale.. kind of like trader joes but some of their stuff is really good.

Sprouts is great but relatively new (they've more than doubled the DFW locations since 2015 and went from 160 stores to over 300 nationwide in just 5 years).

It will just take a little more time for it to become more popular/regular. Up untill a few years ago they where literally space out by like 12 miles each location (not gonna gain a ton of traction with locations spread out that far in such a big metroplex)

[tcualum]

When I lived in Arlington I shopped at a Signature Kroger that was wonderful. The produce was excellent plus they had delicious freshly made tortillas and sushi. I could even sometimes find tortillas with salsa baked in them which I loved. Around Valentines Day there was someone there on a little stage hand dipping strawberries in chocolate. Since I moved to Fort Worth, I've missed shopping at that Kroger because I have not found a comparable one near my new home. I mostly shop at Albertson's for daily groceries now because it's clean, has decent produce and is very convenient. It isn't nearly as good as that Kroger though. Occasionally I'll go to the Hulen Tom Thumb, Costco, Whole Foods, Sprouts, Trader Joes, or Central Market when Albertsons doesn't have what I need. I only buy groceries at Target if I'm already there and in a hurry. I haven't been to a single Target that has had consistently good quality produce.I never shop at Wal Mart Neighborhood Market because every one I've been in has lighting that was so poor I had trouble picking out my produce.

[serger]

We do CM for most, Sam's across the street for few things, and Trader Joe's mostly for wine and few other things like chocolate, cheese, etc.

[Katana49]

Originally Posted by calgirlinnc

I realize Wegman's and Punlix are regional; that's why I was asking. Because regional or not, in poll after poll after poll, Wegman's is voted the among the best / favorite grocery store in the U.S.

Wegman's is usually ranked first or second.

You can find dozens of results just like these:

https://www.businessinsider.com/best...america-2018-6

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.tod...amp/tdna153332

https://www.rd.com/food/fun/top-groc...ores-by-value/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.the...ets-2019%3famp

Please note that Kroger rarely makes any list of best / favorite stores regardless of how many stores they have.

The ranking I gave is for total sales/size. Wegman's and Publix aren't even close to the top as far as sales go, though they may be popular in their respective markets.


The thread title was "Who is winning the Grocery Store wars" and by that metric, it's the retailers with the most sales. Walmart has been the most disruptive to the industry... 20 years ago, there were only a handful of Walmart Supercenters, the majority of their stores did not sell groceries. Same for Target. When they both entered the grocery space, they squeezed out a lot of traditional grocers.

[NTXPerson]

Originally Posted by Katana49

The ranking I gave is for total sales/size. Wegman's and Publix aren't even close to the top as far as sales go, though they may be popular in their respective markets.


The thread title was "Who is winning the Grocery Store wars" and by that metric, it's the retailers with the most sales. Walmart has been the most disruptive to the industry... 20 years ago, there were only a handful of Walmart Supercenters, the majority of their stores did not sell groceries. Same for Target. When they both entered the grocery space, they squeezed out a lot of traditional grocers.

Yes, but if you read the post that goes along with the title, they are asking about stores specific to the Dallas area.

So Wegman's and Publix aren't relevant to this forum.

[Katana49]

Originally Posted by NTXPerson

Yes, but if you read the post that goes along with the title, they are asking about stores specific to the Dallas area.

So Wegman's and Publix aren't relevant to this forum.

...And I'm not arguing that they are, so what was the point of your post?

[GigiTer]

We’re another family that shops all over! We came from Wegmans country and I find I shop at more stores here than back home. Costco, Target, Walmart, Kroger’s, Aldi are staples at our house. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at Kroger’s (did not have those). Been to a Tom Thumb but not close to us, liked Kroger’s better. Also been to Sprouts and did not think their selection was any better than Kroger’s for stuff I was looking for and higher priced. Whole Foods is close to us and will very occasionally stop in. Want to stop in and check out Central Market but not super close so doubt I will use often.

[RJ312]

I perceive that there are three categories of grocery stores. This is how I would break it down, and my list isn't comprehensive:

Majority of Items

Kroger
Tom Thumb
Walmart
Target
Albertsons

Specialty

Central Market
Whole Foods
Sprouts
Trader Joe's

Warehouse Clubs

Sam's Club
Costco

I sense that most people combine regularly from two of the three categories. I combine from Majority of Items and Specialty. I don't use the Warehouse Clubs category because shopping for a household of one is difficult at the warehouse clubs.

I would find it difficult to do my entire grocery list at a Specialty category store.

Although Tom Thumb is generally more expensive than Kroger, it can be worthwhile to shop TT if you buy wisely. I have regularly found good Buy 1, Get 1 Free steak/meat deals at TT.