Groceries, Grocery stores, & Supermarkets (Philadelphia, Scranton: crime, disposal, softener)

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by rowhomecity

The Shop Rite store was dirty.

You could tell the floors had not been cleaned in weeks. It just was not a clean store. And most ShopRites I walk into are like this. Not all. But most.

Reviews on yelp and goggle for that location report that food sold with mold on it is sold consistently and they often sell expired items.

Also each state handles inspections differently. Inspections in Pennsylvania and most other states are in no way completed monthly.

Sometimes they are completed just two or three times a year. Inspectors are so far and few between most places can get away with being dirty if they do not value maintaining and investing in a clean store.

For example.. I believe there are about 150 inspectors in Philadelphia for 10,000+ establishments that are eligible for inspection including anywhere that prepares food from food carts to grocery stores to restaurants to bodegas...

Meaning most places are inspected maybe twice a year....

As a point of reference.. I know of a very well renowned Rittenhouse Square BYOB that would have mice consistently running throughout the restaurant during dinner service. The restaurant was loud and lightly dimmed so most guests never noticed. But it was an infestation. Because there is a lack of inspectors they never have been cited....

The two Shop Rites I were in that were very dirty was in Delaware and New Jersey. I have never been in a Shop Rite in Pennsylvania. There are not as many of them actually in Pennsylvania. New Jersey is its dominate market.

I am sure you have been in restaurants that have dirty floors?? It does not mean they cannot operate.

And inspectors are so far and few between most places can get away with being dirty if they do not value it. There are some groddy restaurants out there that operate everyday.... It is completely false that prepared food establishments and grocery stores are inspected every month.

Shop Rite has consistently fallen below average in cleanliness and customer service.

Sanitation inspections are done monthly in New Jersey. I can't speak for Delaware, although I have never been in a truly dirty establishment selling food in Delaware.

I remember the tiny old Acme that was on 15th Street. It was a 1st generation store. It had a grunge factor. Yet I always saw employees cleaning it. I finally ask an employee about it. He told me that the finish had worn off the flooring tiles and there was grunge worn into them. The flooring needed to be replaced but the store would have to be shut down long enough to move out the shelving and Acme was trying to figure out a good time to do that. Acme still owned itself at that time.

So, you are welcome to your opinions, but state them as such in this thread. If you looked and saw a bad sanitation report, state that, by all means. Sanitation reports are public information.

[rowhomecity]

Originally Posted by southbound_295

Sanitation inspections are done monthly in New Jersey. I can't speak for Delaware, although I have never been in a truly dirty establishment selling food in Delaware.

I remember the tiny old Acme that was on 15th Street. It was a 1st generation store. It had a grunge factor. Yet I always saw employees cleaning it. I finally ask an employee about it. He told me that the finish had worn off the flooring tiles and there was grunge worn into them. The flooring needed to be replaced but the store would have to be shut down long enough to move out the shelving and Acme was trying to figure out a good time to do that. Acme still owned itself at that time.

So, you are welcome to your opinions, but state them as such in this thread. If you looked and saw a bad sanitation report, state that, by all means. Sanitation reports are public information.

I took your advice and looked up the public record and did a simple search just for the Delaware ShopRites.

Shoprite had over 150 violations for sanitation violations at multiple locations in just Delaware and they only have I believe 6 stores in Delaware...

The Shoprite I was in just outside of Atlantic City was also extremely dirty. With grime everywhere...

It is a dirty chain. I am not sure why you want to defend a grocery store that violates sanitation standards far above the industry standard and you can visibly see dirt on its floors and it sells expired and moldy food.

If you want to shop at a market like that. Help yourself. I choose to shop somewhere like Wegmans, Costco or Trader Joes, which has impeccable quality, clean stores and low prices.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by rowhomecity

I took your advice and looked up the public record and did a simple search just for the Delaware ShopRites.

Shoprite had over 150 violations for sanitation violations at multiple locations in just Delaware and they only have I believe 6 stores in Delaware...

The Shoprite I was in just outside of Atlantic City was also extremely dirty. With grime everywhere...

It is a dirty chain. I am not sure why you want to defend a grocery store that violates sanitation standards far above the industry standard and you can visibly see dirt on its floors and it sells expired and moldy food.

If you want to shop at a market like that. Help yourself. I choose to shop somewhere like Wegmans, Costco or Trader Joes, which has impeccable quality, clean stores and low prices.

Was that the one in Absecon?

[thedirtypirate]

Personally, I like shoprite and view it like any other mid-range store.


Surprised no one posted the Amazon Fresh announcement.
Amazon to open its first grocery stores on the East Coast

[selhars]

I like ShopRite also. Just so happens it's the closest to me. So that works. Enough variety, good prices.
But I also supplement with: Trader Joes and every once in a while, Walmart (water, rice. Some of the same things I'd get at ShopRite. But Walmart has them for less.)

Then maybe, rarely, Giant, if I'm near one, or by happenstance see a sale I just HAVE to catch.
Rarely, Whole Foods. It's not near me. But if I get a hankering, I'll go....just to go.

Love, love, love Wegmans but it's not near me. But IF I'm near there I'll go.
Also, LOVE Fresh Market (not Fresh Grocer, Fresh Market). Bit it's not close either.

Lidl is OK. But not near me. It wouldn't be my go-to even if it was close by.
And very sporadically a farmers market, coop, or Amish market.
That's my list.
No Aldi, and certainly no Save-a-Lot. Just not my thing.

(The dirtiest supermarket I've been to in Philly, was the old Shop-n-Bag at 58th and Baltimore. Talk about nasty. Filthy floors, brown produce. I wouldn't let a dog eat food from there.)

[MarketStEl]

The Fresh Market — a North Carolina-based chain that has only one store in this region, in Chestnut Hill — is a Whole Foods clone. It runs a good special on ground chuck and boneless chicken breast ($2.99/lb each) on Tuesdays, and has some other good specials, but its produce prices are like Whole Foods' pre-Amazon acquisition. To borrow a line from an ad for WFM predecessor Fresh Fields, "I want to eat my food, not invest in it." However, the store did have good prices on heirloom tomatoes last time I was there. (These are pricey to begin with, but compared to other tomatoes, the price is worth it.)

I still need to scope out Sprouts Farmers Market down at Broad and Washington. It also operates in the natural/organic market segment, but I hear its prices are actually quite good.

I know that TJ's is more of a specialty grocer a la Whole Foods, but I still think someone who praises TJ's but looks down their nose at Aldi is a snob. Save-a-Lot, OTOH, really does occupy the bottom rung of the ladder.

[selhars]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

The Fresh Market — a North Carolina-based chain that has only one store in this region, in Chestnut Hill — is a Whole Foods clone.

One store in the city. There is one in Concordville.

I still need to scope out Sprouts Farmers Market down at Broad and Washington.

I forgot about Sprouts. I've been there several times. The one at Broad and Washington, and the one North of Wilmington, in Delaware.

I like it a lot too. Just not enough to go out of my way to go there. So -- like Giant, Wegmans and Whole Foods (or any other store not near me) -- the visits are sporadic and not often. But if I'm near there I'll definitely do my shopping there.

I love the Ardmore Farmers Market. I can hit there and Trader Joe's when I'm in the area. I'm only in the area though about three times a year.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by selhars

One store in the city. There is one in Concordville.

Horsham, too. Fresh Market has some fun gourmet novelties, but I find them rather disappointing in overall selection.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by selhars

One store in the city. There is one in Concordville.


I forgot about Sprouts. I've been there several times. The one at Broad and Washington, and the one North of Wilmington, in Delaware.

I like it a lot too. Just not enough to go out of my way to go there. So -- like Giant, Wegmans and Whole Foods (or any other store not near me) -- the visits are sporadic and not often. But if I'm near there I'll definitely do my shopping there.

I love the Ardmore Farmers Market. I can hit there and Trader Joe's when I'm in the area. I'm only in the area though about three times a year.

I had meant to revise my post to ask you a question, though:

If you're okay with ShopRite, what's your beef with The Fresh Grocer? The two chains are siblings under the Wakefern umbrella. And if you shop the Chestnut Hill Fresh Market regularly, Jeff Brown's Wyncote Fresh Grocer isn't that much further away.

[selhars]

If you're okay with ShopRite, what's your beef with The Fresh Grocer?

I don't really have a "beef" with them. Just don't shop there.
There's not one near me. And ShopRite is.
And IF I'm going to a store that's not close, it's just that it wouldn't be a Fresh Grocer. That's all.

Been to two in my life:
-- Upper Darby one on Marshall Road, which I thought was an actual ShopRite. (about 4 years ago)
-- And one in West Philly (YEEEEARS, if not a decade ago), but not the one at 56 & Market. I thought the one I went to was closer to Univ. City. Was there ever an FG in the 40s on Chestnut or elsewhere in that area?