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Living in NJ, i have access to many many stores within a 1/2 hour of my house. Even doubles. Pathmark went downhill over the past few years, and being bought by A & P brought some of them to their knees. My nice friendly store which carried a decent assortment turned into a place which pushed store brand and otherwise costlier name brands - no middle class in that store :+) Shoprite always rated the best here. Acme always on the edge of bad. Stop & Shop is what my old Pathmark used to be - A&P & King's are tonier here than elsewhere I think. Have been in a COSTCO twice - not my thing --Walmart or Target also not my thing.
What I have found though is that chains vary widely with location. Must say it ticked me off that a location frequented by mostly "less well off" was charging more for some basic stuff [milk, flour]than than the same chain 7 miles away with a more middle class base. Why the heck would you do that? mess with the captive poorer and give the breaks to those who can afford to drive a few?
Anyway - local farmer's market beats them all for pricing, variety - not only produce but deli & fish vendors. I also don't think there is any "ethnic" ingredient I couldn't find within 10 miles, and I appreciate that!
I understand your distress and share it, but usually stores in low income areas have a lot more theft and they would tell you that they must raise prices to cover that.
I cannot STAND WalMart! I'd rather stab a knitting needle into my eye than go there for anything.
We have regional chain - Brookshires - which I much prefer. And when you use your Brookshires card (I know, I know, it's a marketing tool, Big Brother, a scam, yada yada yada) you can receive up to $1 off PER GALLON of gas (up to thirty gallons). I just filled up yesterday, got .40 cents off per gallon - so I paid $3.18 a gallon for gas.
Not shabby.
Clean stores, good selections, they will special order just about anything for you, and the staff is polite. Prices aren't as low as WalMart, but overall it's worth going to Brookshires.
At a guess I'd say I spend more than 80% of my food money at Walmart. But I'm apparently in a tiny minority. Therefore, I wonder how Walmart became and remains the largest grocery chain in the country. Perhaps I'm the only poster from the despised and feared "flyover" country.
At a guess I'd say I spend more than 80% of my food money at Walmart. But I'm apparently in a tiny minority. Therefore, I wonder how Walmart became and remains the largest grocery chain in the country. Perhaps I'm the only poster from the despised and feared "flyover" country.
there are a lot of reasons: 1st; they offer a product that cetainly has a place. For people who want to know they can everything in one place, Wal Mart is the answer: in towns, especially small ones, rural ones or low income ones, you will always find a WalMart, and last but not least, my guess more people shop at Wal Mart than want tol admit it, plus remember, those of us on CD do not represent all that many people.
Ralph's....that place sucks...overpriced, too much yuppy junk, cranky employees.....YUCK!
I haven't shopped at Ralphs in ages, well I did buy a few things a couple of years ago while in the L.A. area for a few days. I thought the prices were high and yet, I can remember when Ralph's was the supermarket of choice for so many. As for Walmart, they still have great prices on non parishables, but you are right, on other things not so much so...especially produce, which I have mentioned on several occassions.
There isn't a Walmart that close to me so I almost never go there. The only time I go there is when my husband wants Good Humor Almond Crunch ice cream bars. They are the only place that has them!
I will say the WM I go to like twice a year is very clean and nice. And of course cheap.
I haven't shopped at Ralphs in ages, well I did buy a few things a couple of years ago while in the L.A. area for a few days. I thought the prices were high and yet, I can remember when Ralph's was the supermarket of choice for so many. As for Walmart, they still have great prices on non parishables, but you are right, on other things not so much so...especially produce, which I have mentioned on several occassions.
Walmart is hit an miss with a lot of stuff. The prices of beef, man, too much...but that is the case everywhere. I usually try to score some maked-down meat....have to get there before the fat-cart people take it all.
Ralph's is trying to attract more of the yuppy/organic crowd.....stocking more and more fru-fru inventory.
Another problem with Walmart is that when they come into town they put mom and pop places out of business. When they moved into a small Indiana town where I lived in 1996 the local butcher shop which had been a family owned and operated business for sixty years closed down. Likewise a hardware and garden store that had been operated by a family for five generations.
Everyone complained that the meat at Walmart wasn't as good as the butcher shop, and that they didn't get the good customer service at Walmart that they received at the hardware store. Yet they shop at Walmart because of the low prices.
Now towns and cities are fighting back, and have refused to allow Walmart to open locations in their towns. I know of one town in Illinois where the residents fought against a Meijer locating there and won, and several Indiana towns that have fought against Walmart.
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