Iowa Grocery Stores vs. Other States (Des Moines: coupon, buying, quality of life)

[atler8]

burrrr
Winn-Dixie, as you pointed out at the start of the thread, is a terrible chain.
Based in Florida, whenever they opened a new store in the Atlanta market, it became a dingy, dark & depressing store in a few short years. Filthy actually comes to mind. Not to mention their poor produce with wilt, mold & gnats flying around all commonplace.
Their slogan was "Winn-Dixie: The Beef Place" & yet their meat counter was 2nd rate. It all caught up to them eventually though as they closed their entire division in Georgia due to loss of market share. Since then, the impression I have gotten from the Winn-Dixie that I've visited in Panama City, Fl. in recent years is that it's a horrible & old- fashioned store.
Publix is generally a good notch well above that level in their Georgia stores & Kroger down here is hit or miss but generally on the upswing finally. As a small kid I remember that Kroger was in Iowa as far west as perhaps Waterloo.
The upshot is that after living in Georgia for many years, whenever I ventured home to Iowa or Wisconsin to visit family or friends, I noticed the better quality of grocery stores in terms of super markets up there. It baffled me as to how a major metro like Atlanta could be so 2nd rate in terms of it's stores as compared to the offerings in the midwest. The specialty sections & bakeries & deli areas up there are still way better than what is found down here but the Publix & Ingles chains growth in the Atlanta area have narrowed the quality gap somewhat.
I also know that my mom lamented the loss of access to Hy-Vee stores when she relocated to a town 30 miles southeast of Madison, Wi. in 1987. She actually kept a couple of Hy-Vee cans stuck away as momentos that I found in her kitchen when I cleaned it out after she had to leave to go to assisted living.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by atler8

burrrr
Winn-Dixie, as you pointed out at the start of the thread, is a terrible chain.
Based in Florida, whenever they opened a new store in the Atlanta market, it became a dingy, dark & depressing store in a few short years. Filthy actually comes to mind. Not to mention their poor produce with wilt, mold & gnats flying around all commonplace.
Their slogan was "Winn-Dixie: The Beef Place" & yet their meat counter was 2nd rate. It all caught up to them eventually though as they closed their entire division in Georgia due to loss of market share. Since then, the impression I have gotten from the Winn-Dixie that I've visited in Panama City, Fl. in recent years is that it's a horrible & old- fashioned store.
Publix is generally a good notch well above that level in their Georgia stores & Kroger down here is hit or miss but generally on the upswing finally. As a small kid I remember that Kroger was in Iowa as far west as perhaps Waterloo.
The upshot is that after living in Georgia for many years, whenever I ventured home to Iowa or Wisconsin to visit family or friends, I noticed the better quality of grocery stores in terms of super markets up there. It baffled me as to how a major metro like Atlanta could be so 2nd rate in terms of it's stores as compared to the offerings in the midwest. The specialty sections & bakeries & deli areas up there are still way better than what is found down here but the Publix & Ingles chains growth in the Atlanta area have narrowed the quality gap somewhat.
I also know that my mom lamented the loss of access to Hy-Vee stores when she relocated to a town 30 miles southeast of Madison, Wi. in 1987. She actually kept a couple of Hy-Vee cans stuck away as momentos that I found in her kitchen when I cleaned it out after she had to leave to go to assisted living.

The only time I find Hy-Vee prices to be good are the loss leader sales on particular items. Otherwise, they tend to be higher priced than the competition, at least in my area.

[EastCB]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

The only time I find Hy-Vee prices to be good are the loss leader sales on particular items. Otherwise, they tend to be higher priced than the competition, at least in my area.

But it seems that most people here in the midwest are not too concerned about prices. Here in Council Bluffs they are the leader and Council Bluffs is not is not known to be upscale!

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by EastCB

But it seems that most people here in the midwest are not too concerned about prices. Here in Council Bluffs they are the leader and Council Bluffs is not is not known to be upscale!

That would pay more attention if additional competition showed up like Meijer or Woodman's, but I understand your point.

[fezzador]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

The only time I find Hy-Vee prices to be good are the loss leader sales on particular items. Otherwise, they tend to be higher priced than the competition, at least in my area.

That's the way it is with most major regional supermarket chains. Hy-Vee is the Midwestern equivalent of Publix, and shopping at Publix can be incredibly expensive - you'd probably be spending $125-130 on groceries and probably spend just $100 on the same stuff at Wally World.

However, Publix *does* offer some good deals, but you have to be aware of their specials. Every week they have a BOGO (buy one, get one) sale for a fairly decent assortment of items, and even if you just purchase one you still don't have to pay regular price for it. They are advertised on their website, along with their printable coupons (which aren't as varied) and the in-store weekly coupon book. If you go through all these, you can save a considerable amount of money. But just buy the sale items, and get everything else at Wally World.

Not sure if Hy-Vee does the BOGO stuff (haven't been to the Midwest in a few years) but I'm pretty sure that when their items are on sale, it's best to get them there because they are almost always cheaper than Wally World's regular prices.

[ElleTea]

I just bought grapes at Fry's for 75 cents a pound. Try to beat that price at HyVee!

I also bought some sweet corn. I am sure this Iowa girl will not think it is as good as it was there, but I am going to give it a shot

[fezzador]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

I just bought grapes at Fry's for 75 cents a pound. Try to beat that price at HyVee!

I also bought some sweet corn. I am sure this Iowa girl will not think it is as good as it was there, but I am going to give it a shot

Two pounds of Grapes at Publix is about $4.00. And this is in Alabama. If anyone thinks the South is a cheap place to live, they might want to think again. The Midwest is hands-down the cheapest part of the country to live in, and the salaries are usually a bit higher than those in the Deep South to boot.

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by fezzador

Two pounds of Grapes at Publix is about $4.00. And this is in Alabama. If anyone thinks the South is a cheap place to live, they might want to think again. The Midwest is hands-down the cheapest part of the country to live in, and the salaries are usually a bit higher than those in the Deep South to boot.

I just bought over 5 pounds of grapes for $4 here in AZ.

I find the cost of living cheaper here, actually, than Des Moines.

[fezzador]

Well, as a whole I do believe the cost of living in the Midwest is the lowest of any of the major regions (probably because while not necessarily culturally Southern, DC and Florida easily boost the South's average COL).

PHX is easily among the cheapest places to live in the West but I would have imagined it being more like, say, Minneapolis in terms of COL (in other words, inexpensive relative to the rest of the country, and less expensive than several major metros in the region, but pricier than others).

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by fezzador

Well, as a whole I do believe the cost of living in the Midwest is the lowest of any of the major regions (probably because while not necessarily culturally Southern, DC and Florida easily boost the South's average COL).

PHX is easily among the cheapest places to live in the West but I would have imagined it being more like, say, Minneapolis in terms of COL (in other words, inexpensive relative to the rest of the country, and less expensive than several major metros in the region, but pricier than others).

I find things to mostly be cheaper here than DM.