Best place to do groceries in South Florida? (Miami, Ocala: real estate, buy)

[MadManofBethesda]

Originally Posted by bale002

The last time I checked about six months ago I was not satisfied with the range of products available, but now I am taking another look and I see that it has improved noticeably since then, also in terms of price.

Maybe the subscription fee and tips would be worth the time saved in going to stores.

Thanks for the prompt.

Are you satisfied with the way the shoppers choose the loose fresh produce?

Haven't had any issues whatsoever with loose, fresh produce; however, I did have an issue with bagged lettuce (salad mix) a couple of times where the shopper didn't pay attention to the use by date and the contents started to wilt shortly after delivery, so I just quit purchasing that item.

[Gator Fan 79]

Former South Floridian here. IMO, Florida residents are getting hosed on grocery prices because of lack of competition. When I return to visit family I'm shocked at the high prices I see at grocery stores, especially near-monopoly Publix. BTW, where's Winn Dixie on the OP's list? In my new neighborhood in Eastern Washington I've got the following high quality grocery stores within a 15 minute drive of my house:

Safeway
Trader Joes
Albertsons
Super 1
Rosauers
Fred Meyer
Target
Walmart
Costco

Our food budget is significantly lower than when we lived in Miami and we can actually find a parking spot at Trader Joes.

[MadManofBethesda]

Originally Posted by Gator Fan 79

BTW, where's Winn Dixie on the OP's list?

It's basically there listed as Fresco y Mas. Winn-Dixie converted many of their local stores to the FyM nameplate to cater more to Miami's Hispanic population. I believe that there are more FyM's than W-D's in Miami now, although I could be wrong. (And I'm too lazy to look it up.) Coincidentally, I have both within ~1 mile of my house.

Originally Posted by Gator Fan 79

In my new neighborhood in Eastern Washington I've got the following high quality grocery stores within a 15 minute drive of my house:

Safeway
Trader Joes
Albertsons
Super 1
Rosauers
Fred Meyer
Target
Walmart
Costco

Who wants to drive 30 minutes r/t to a grocery store?

Not that I'm interested in shopping in-store right now, but I have the following supermarkets within 2 miles of my house:

Publix
Winn-Dixie
Fresco y Mas
Milam's
Fresh Market
Sedano's
Presidente Supermarket
Gordon Food Service (GFS)

There's also two year-round farmers' markets within that same 2-mile radius.

Going out 3-4 miles from my house get's me to both a Whole Foods Market downtown and a new Trader Joe's that will be opening shortly in Coral Gables. (I'm about equidistant between the two.), as well as a Target that opened last year.

And finally, if I did want to get in my car and drive to a different warehouse club to grocery shop, I have a BJ's 6 miles away and Costco 8.7 miles away. So I'm not sure how your selection of supermarkets in Eastern Washington is better than what we have here in Miami. But I will agree that the prices are significantly higher here than they were where and when I lived out west (Las Vegas). They're even higher than our grocery prices were in the D.C. metro area.

[k350]

Originally Posted by Gator Fan 79

Former South Floridian here. IMO, Florida residents are getting hosed on grocery prices because of lack of competition. When I return to visit family I'm shocked at the high prices I see at grocery stores, especially near-monopoly Publix. BTW, where's Winn Dixie on the OP's list? In my new neighborhood in Eastern Washington I've got the following high quality grocery stores within a 15 minute drive of my house:

Safeway
Trader Joes
Albertsons
Super 1
Rosauers
Fred Meyer
Target
Walmart
Costco

Our food budget is significantly lower than when we lived in Miami and we can actually find a parking spot at Trader Joes.

Prices are generally no different than anywhere else I lived in the US. Sure, can point to some thing, but can also point to other things that are lower in cost.

I have a few stores within 15 minutes of me, Publix, Trader Joe's, Aldis, Target, Whole Foods. Probably others but never been, would not know where they are at.

[sonnyinmiami]

Publix, hands down. They tore down the WestBird Publix at about Bird Road (SW 40th Street) -&- The Turnpike. They are building an All-New Publix Supermarket on the site and I, for one can't wait till they build & open it. I'm hoping that they have covered parking like the one at Miller Road & about 93rd Avenue.

[BNBR]

Aldi for sure. Surprisingly good quality and our bill tends to be damn near half of Publix. We shop for most items at Aldi nowadays. They have some really decent meats as well as fresh never frozen seafood. If you want to save money, go there. Worst case is you don't love it. Just bring a quarter for the shopping cart.

[BNBR]

Originally Posted by Gator Fan 79

Former South Floridian here. IMO, Florida residents are getting hosed on grocery prices because of lack of competition. When I return to visit family I'm shocked at the high prices I see at grocery stores, especially near-monopoly Publix. BTW, where's Winn Dixie on the OP's list? In my new neighborhood in Eastern Washington I've got the following high quality grocery stores within a 15 minute drive of my house:

Safeway
Trader Joes
Albertsons
Super 1
Rosauers
Fred Meyer
Target
Walmart
Costco

Our food budget is significantly lower than when we lived in Miami and we can actually find a parking spot at Trader Joes.

No competition?

Within 15-20 minutes I have:

Publix
Winn-Dixie
Whole Foods
Aldi
Fresh Market
Trader Joe's
Wal Mart
Target
Walmart neighborhood market
Bravo
Foodtown
Neighbors
New York Mart
Costco
Sam's
BJs
Fresco y mas
President's
Sedanos

And countless niche markets (Indian, Asian, Italian) and a bunch of farmers markets. And I'm probably missing something in my list as well.

No competition?

Publix isn't cheap (they do have great bogos and sales though), but there is countless less expensive options all over. People just like Publix and are willing to pay more for it.

[BNBR]

Originally Posted by czargreat

Eggs, milk and bread and several items can be had at 30-40% cheaper at Aldis. There are some things like Almonds, Cashews and Dates were Aldis has excellent quality items better than Publix. What sucks is fresh produce.

I find Aldi fresh produce to be perfectly fine, and about half price compared to Publix. We go through a ton of produce so the savings are substantial. Overall, we'll save $50+ vs going to Publix on a typical trip to Aldi.

[Jimrob1]

Originally Posted by Gator Fan 79

Former South Floridian here. IMO, Florida residents are getting hosed on grocery prices because of lack of competition. When I return to visit family I'm shocked at the high prices I see at grocery stores, especially near-monopoly Publix. BTW, where's Winn Dixie on the OP's list? In my new neighborhood in Eastern Washington I've got the following high quality grocery stores within a 15 minute drive of my house:

Safeway
Trader Joes
Albertsons
Super 1
Rosauers
Fred Meyer
Target
Walmart
Costco

Our food budget is significantly lower than when we lived in Miami and we can actually find a parking spot at Trader Joes.

I'm with you. The lack of grocery stores in Florida is a disgrace. Aldi's is a small store not what I would call a major grocer. Publix controls groceries in this state, with outrageous costs. No one and I mean no one should only have a choice of just Publix and Walmart, and that's what you get in many areas of Florida. It's all I have in Ocala. It makes no sense in a state of 22 million and god knows how many snowbirds and visitors, and there is nothing but Publix and Walmart for many of us. Yet in Oregon and Washington with a fraction of the population that Florida has. Yet people there have all those choices in grocers. I'll add another grocer to your list that is in much of the Northwest. QFC and Winco.

[k350]

Originally Posted by Jimrob1

I'm with you. The lack of grocery stores in Florida is a disgrace. Aldi's is a small store not what I would call a major grocer. Publix controls groceries in this state, with outrageous costs. No one and I mean no one should only have a choice of just Publix and Walmart, and that's what you get in many areas of Florida. It's all I have in Ocala. It makes no sense in a state of 22 million and god knows how many snowbirds and visitors, and there is nothing but Publix and Walmart for many of us. Yet in Oregon and Washington with a fraction of the population that Florida has. Yet people there have all those choices in grocers. I'll add another grocer to your list that is in much of the Northwest. QFC and Winco.

Posters including myself just listed a whole lot of other stores.