Which Supermarket? (Houston, Spring: sales, buying, live)

[Lady1981]

Hi all


Today's our first full day in Texas. We're currently staying in the Woodlands and I'd be grateful for input on which supermarket(s) to use. When we lived in the UK we tended to shop at Aldi for its cheapness.


Any input on cost/quality would be gratefully received!


Thanks


Lady xx

[Liljo22]

The closest Aldi is in Spring so that will probably be too long of a drive. HEB is the big grocer in Texas with Kroger close behind. Neither will give you the cheapness of Aldi's though.

[Svensk08]

Two longtime Houston favorites for quality, selection and price are HEB and Kroger. Aldi is relatively new to this area. Virtually all supermarkets have weekly 7-day "specials" that are advertised on their websites and in the Houston Chronicle newspaper on Wednesdays.

You can sign up for a Kroger loyalty card that will provide additional discounts on a variety of items.

Welcome to the Houston area! Please post often about your experiences here.

[Vicman]

Not sure about exact Woodlands locations... but as an Inner Looper I prefer HEB.

I shopped at Randall's while I lived in Braeswood Place... now when I'm in the states (Museum District) I do HEB and Kroger (Kroger is slightly more convenient from the house)

[Lady1981]

Hi all

Thanks very much for the responses, that's really helpful.

We did pop to HEB last night. We liked it but found it expensive compared to what we're used to. Having said that we were shopping through a fog of tiredness so we weren't really paying attention to prices! It's useful to know it's good value compared to some of the other supermarkets, that's all we're looking for really. We're fully realistic that some things will cheaper and others more expensive here, we just don't want to spend more than we need to.

Had a wonder around Market Street, the Woodlands Mall and the waterway earlier. It was definitely a good start!

Thanks, Lady xx

[creekstone]

Because you're familiar with Aldi which almost exclusively stocks private label brands, I recommend Kroger and their private label offerings. Kroger has been in the private label business for a long time. The quality, prices, and particularly the variety are hard to beat.

Because of Kroger's national buying power, much of their private label is produced by the national brand manufacturers. Personally, I think their private label products are of a higher quality than Aldi.

If shopping Kroger, be sure to sign up for their loyalty card.

[Lady1981]

Thanks Creekstone.


I think we'll give Kroger a shot next and compare the two.


Lady xx

[Svensk08]

Originally Posted by creekstone

Because you're familiar with Aldi which almost exclusively stocks private label brands, I recommend Kroger and their private label offerings. Kroger has been in the private label business for a long time. The quality, prices, and particularly the variety are hard to beat.

Because of Kroger's national buying power, much of their private label is produced by the national brand manufacturers. Personally, I think their private label products are of a higher quality than Aldi.

If shopping Kroger, be sure to sign up for their loyalty card.

Generally speaking, HEB private label brands are also good. The company's HQ is in Texas, but products are sourced nationally. Like many lovers of good food shopping on a budget, I tend to cherry-pick most grocery items from HEB and Kroger, with very occasional forays into Costco, Central Market, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods for special things.

[jerbear30]

HEB is less expensive than Kroger, even factoring in the Kroger card. HEB is also one of the best grocery stores I've been to for meat and produce. I honestly think it rivals Wegman's back in the northeast for quality of shopping experience. The only thing that I think HEB could really improve on is their in-house meals, which are really lacking.

(I should add that I shop at the Bunker Hill HEB, which is among their nicer stores. Some HEB's are more on the level of Kroger in terms of selection.)

[Lbjen]

You might like Trader Joe’s, it’s a sister brand of Aldi. It was my go-to when we were new to the US from Europe. I found the big stores too overwhelming.

Some things are cheaper at Kroger and some at HEB. You can either shop at both as needed, or figure that the prices even out eventually! Both have pretty decent sales each week, check the flyers for those. Certain things are always cheaper at Walmart too, if you’re open to shopping there. Don’t bother with Randall’s, it’s usually more expensive than everywhere else.

If you’re missing certain British foods, Fiesta is actually a great place to shop for those, they have a much bigger selection than the regular grocery stores have and the prices are good too.