Grocery stores in Tucson..? And Volvo repair? (design, yard)

[Saguarogirl507]

I really like Bashas. Probably because it is so close to my house!

[jlawrence01]

Generally, for groceries, I shop at Fry's, Lee Lee's, and 99 Only for the most part.

On my monthly trek to Mesa/Tempe, I stock up at Winco Foods and Arizona International Marketplace. The latter has some of the least expensive but freshest produce I have found in Arizona.

[tijlover]

The Latino chains haven't made it to Tucson yet? If not, I'm surprised!

Here, in Las Vegas we have Cardena's, Marianna's, La Bonita, Marketon chains, all Hispanic and I love every one of them, as they all have in-house restaurants and lots of cheap produce, and in-house carniceria's.

Yes, I know Basha's has a Mexican grocery store chain, been there, but they're nothing like the Latino chains up here!

[cjseliga]

Originally Posted by tijlover

Yes, I know Basha's has a Mexican grocery store chain, been there, but they're nothing like the Latino chains up here!

I'm not sure if Basha's Food City is the main reason or just one of the reasons other Hispanic grocery chains are not in Tucson. The Tucson metroplex is 40% Hispanic, so there's 400,000 people right there.

[tijlover]

What a curiosity! The Latino chains being blocked from entry into Tucson? Interesting!

[toadstool]

Volvo repair - Village Automotive in Marana. Paul used to run a private Volvo repair shop in CA before moving to AZ. Very friendly and honest.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by cjseliga

I'm not sure if Basha's Food City is the main reason or just one of the reasons other Hispanic grocery chains are not in Tucson. The Tucson metroplex is 40% Hispanic, so there's 400,000 people right there.

El Super, a chain based in Mexico, has a large supermarket on 6th Ave immediately south of I-10. You really cannot get more Mexican than that.

Having shopped there over the past three years, i can understand why major Mexican supermarket chains do not have a presence in Tucson. First the service is MISERABLE. The last time I was in there on a BUSY Saturday afternoon, there were 46 people waiting at the meat counter with ONLY two employees waiting on them. Only three of nine cashier stands were open. I would like to say that was an anomaly but actually, it is usually the case.

Food City offers a little better service. They do pretty well in the produce department and some of the ethnic stuff. However, their meat is at best mediocre and generally poorly cut.

Generally, most Hispanic families I see shop at Fry's and Walmart where the prices are lower. Fry's has a number of stores on the southside that are very much tailored to the Hispanic market and they have a lot better quality.

In South Tucson, you will also notice that there are dozens of totillerias, panaderias, and carnecerias that service the community well (and in Spanish) and they draw quite a lot of business away from the supermarket chains.

[tijlover]

I overlooked El Super, as we have 1 or 2 of them in Las Vegas as well, although I've never been to one, as I prefer the La Bonita chain. I mainly shop there for their super cheap Produce, as Wal Mart's produce prices are out of sight, IMO!

Meat prices are comparable to any other chain.

[Eric R. Shelton]

I owned an 850 Turbo when I lived in Tucson. The Revolvstore was just a junkyard on the south side of town back then, iirc, but it gets great reviews on Yelp. I used Prestige Import Auto Service on Stone Ave with mixed results and finally started ordering parts from IPD and doing the work myself. I don't know if that's an option for your year/model. I would suggest looking at the Yelp reviews for either of those two places, though.

[TwoWheelMan]

Originally Posted by toadstool

Volvo repair - Village Automotive in Marana. Paul used to run a private Volvo repair shop in CA before moving to AZ. Very friendly and honest.

Awesome info..I will look him up once we move back to Tucson