Grocery Stores (Tucson, Scottsdale: transfer, to buy, construction)

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by Power Surge

Im just an ordinary grocery store person. Too bad they dont have a Winn-Dixie or Piggly Wiggly out here.
Actually, I have a friend who works at Albertsons and he says he shops elsewhere because of prices.
But again, I go where the (good) weekly sales are. I dont do any of those 'health-food' stores or go into a store for groceries where they have that 'mood lighting' highlighting cookware, housewares, kitchen stuff, etc. If I need a pan or a dish towel, I'll go to Target. Food City or Bashas is just as good as Safeway or Stater Bros, as far as Im concerned. For me, its about where the best deals for the week are, Im not too proud to save a few bucks.

Funny you mentioned Stater Bros------they remind me of Basha's.

And; not many people realize that AJ's Fine Foods, Basha's and Food City are all the same company

[Magnum Mike]

I don't have a preference to one particular grocery store, but I shop at Fry's, Albertson's, Sprouts and Basha's.

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by Magnum Mike

I don't have a preference to one particular grocery store, but I shop at Fry's, Albertson's, Sprouts and Basha's.

Albertsons here; my second choice would be any of the other listed grocery chains with Wal-Mart as a last resort.

Now; do not even mention Costco to me: I get in trouble there fast!

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by ArizonaBear

Funny you mentioned Stater Bros------they remind me of Basha's.

And; not many people realize that AJ's Fine Foods, Basha's and Food City are all the same company

He-he, just like the high-end cosmetics - everything comes out of the same factory line packaged for different markets at different prices.

There's hardly any grocery store left... Everybody offers "experience" and "mood lighting." If I want that, I'd go to a night club. When I go to a grocery store, I'd rather actually have good lighting, so I can see what the heck I'm buying and don't need heavy mark-up for those frills. It's OK to have some stores like this for whoever has money to burn, but the rest of us need some plain grocery stores. Fry's was one of them, but they moved in the same direction. Some stores of the same chain have very different look and feel in different locations, though.

Albertson's was the last grocery store to adopt the annoying gimmick cards and the first one to do away with them. Safeway's become very pricey, too. Again, I feel no need for greetings and stupid questions at every aisle. Would prefer better prices. I love Trader Joe's. The problem is you can't do all your shopping there. Some of their items are very good and very reasonably priced, some are way overpriced and the selection is limited, and I can't stand their soda.

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by ArizonaBear

Now; do not even mention Costco to me: I get in trouble there fast!

Who doesn't...? Only picking a few things amounts to at least a $100. A shopping trip for a family would most likely cost $200-400. It was funny to read some article claiming Costco's a store for the lower middle class...whatever that is nowadays. Aha! Their food is of very good quality, though. I don't go there anymore because it doesn't make sense for one person, but I'm yet to find replacements for some items. However, the warehouse "experience" doesn't appeal to me.

[PhxtoFla]

There's also a Wild Oats around 40th St. and Camelback.

[ivanabacowboy]

I will have to check out Sprouts. I've driven past there just thought it was just a produce market I found their online ad and looks like they have some good prices.

That "mood lighting and carp" at grocery stores-agree. One of the Fry's I went into out here (cant remember which one) when I was travelling last year sometime was a perfect example of carp. I was looking for simple things like coffee, iced tea and toilet paper lol. It took me 15 minutes just to find my way out of the part of the store that looked more like Target with all the household gadgets and dishes and chairs and appliances and assorted other stuff. It was way overdone. I finally found a sales clerk lol and had to ask where the coffee was. ;0

The stores in Ohio were starting to get on that bandwagon. By the time they put in the inside video store, the childrens play area, the bank, the pharmacy, the dr's office (some of them lol!), the eyeglass place, the florist shop, the restaurant, the Starbucks, the 38434873482374873 gift cards for every store imaginable.....oh and on the side they actually had some food lol!

I like Costco but until my son gets here it is just me. So I need to be careful. 100 rolls of bath tissue would last me like a year. With my son around, it would last only about a month and make a lot more sense lol! I plan to do some entertaining around the holidays and will hit Costco then.

Next week I will check out Sprouts. And find an Albertson's to see what they are about.

PS I found the Wild Oats on Raintree. I had to go to Kohls today and it is just a few doors down.

Tho here is my AZ question of the day: I really like these ginormous 2 block huge strip mall things as there are a lot of stores and a lot of variety. But the trick then becomes remembering what is at which strip and where exactly in those 2 blocks it is located lol!!!

[sablebaby]

Originally Posted by PhxtoFla

There's also a Wild Oats around 40th St. and Camelback.

That's right! I always forget about that one.

[Greatday]

AJ's all the way!

Great selection of fine meat and produce!

[KarinKarinKarin]

As far as I can tell, Safeway is very, very expensive. Albertson's is less expensive than Safeway. The whole foods analogues, whatever you call them, are even more expensive than Safeway. I don't know from Basch's and Fry's.