Grocery shopping in Denver (Aurora: mortgage, how much, buying)

[emm74]

Originally Posted by daprara

it would be nice to see the return of the neighborhood bodega. Could this be Aldi.

nope, Aldi is not a bodega. They are smaller than a regular supermarket, more of a Trader Joe's size, but that is still many times larger than a bodega. And they have parking lots and shopping carts (that you have to rent with a quarter) as opposed to being on an urban corner with a basket to hold your shopping.

And no cats

[BarryK123]

Originally Posted by emm74

nope, Aldi is not a bodega. They are smaller than a regular supermarket, more of a Trader Joe's size, but that is still many times larger than a bodega. And they have parking lots and shopping carts (that you have to rent with a quarter) as opposed to being on an urban corner with a basket to hold your shopping.

And no cats

The one Aldi I've been to (Langhorne, PA) was the same size as a non-expanded KS. Certainly larger than a TJs, unless you're comparing to the one in Denver with an adjacent wine store

[alloo66]

Who goes grocery shopping now a days. I get my groceries delivered from Walmart, Safeway, or King Soopers.

[BarryK123]

I do. These days I use every excuse I can to get out of the house!

[Westerner92]

Despite being a pretty tech savvy person, I just haven't gotten on board with buying physical goods online for some reason. I generally hate grocery shopping, but I always recall items I've been needing but didn't list, and seeing new items shakes up some ideas for cooking. That said, I shop at:

- King Soopers @ Yale/Colorado. General go-to for all the standard groceries. Their Latin American spice/chile section covers the bases most of the time.

- Trader Joe's @ 7th/Logan. For when you don't want to cook, but don't want to eat out (which gets expensive and unhealthy easily). I generally don't like their sauces and find their standard grocery items overpriced, but their frozen and/or vacuum-sealed items are usually perfect meal bases when throwing together a quick meal for one or two. Many of their items are perfect for weekend backpacking meals (and they could get away with jacking up the prices if they ever caught onto that). They're also good training wheels for convincing the SO they can branch out with their cooking.

- Pacific Ocean Market For Thai curry pastes and pho/ramen produce. I'm often here for snowstorm prep over any other store.

- Whole Foods @ I-25/Washington. The only place you can find ripe avocados in town. And, living up to the stereotype, it's the best place for granola and trail mix by far. I mostly come here for last-minute prep for gatherings or weekends in the mountains and shell out a few extra bucks for the convenient location relative to me.

- South Pearl Street Farmers Market. When it's running, I try to get into the habit of getting as many Sunday meal prep items there before going elsewhere.

Every Safeway I've been to bums me out. Almost always smaller and worse selection than at King Soopers, and the employees clearly aren't treated as well. I keep hearing good things about Sprouts, but in my limited experience, it has my least favorite aspects of TJ's and Whole Foods combined into one store. And not to be one of those people that gripes about a place they voluntarily moved to, but listing all this out reminds me that I miss HEB like every other person who moves away from Central/South Texas. It's like having Whole Foods quality food, farmers market local-ness and freshness, and King Soopers convenience/pricing/service.

[Willy702]

These things are all nice if you live in Denver, but Whole Foods and Trader Joes seem to have made the decision to basically stay out of Aurora. Racially motivated? I won't go there...

So out here we end up at Walmart and King Soopers more often than not, with only the Asian markets as an alternative.

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by Willy702

These things are all nice if you live in Denver, but Whole Foods and Trader Joes seem to have made the decision to basically stay out of Aurora. Racially motivated? I won't go there...

But, you did.

A few years ago I spoke with a Whole Foods real estate person and asked him: why not a WF at 52nd and Wadsworth?
His answer: not enough college graduates.

[BarryK123]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

But, you did.

A few years ago I spoke with a Whole Foods real estate person and asked him: why not a WF at 52nd and Wadsworth?
His answer: not enough college graduates.

So higher education is associated with buying overpriced staples?

[Moonwalkr]

Places with free pickup: KS, Sam's Club, Walmart, Home Depot. I will go in store if I need to, but it's so nice to just drive by a store after work and have the car loaded up and be on my way.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by BarryK123

So higher education is associated with buying overpriced staples?

Yes. High education is considered indicative of higher income thus lots of companies search out those areas for development. There is a whole world of data analysis where income and other demographic data is sliced and diced to describe the general vibe of any given zip code, with investment decisions flowing from that. They have clever names for these areas, like Volvos and baby seats, etc.