Has anything changed at your grocery store ???

[AnnaS]

90% Shoprite, 5% Stop and Shop - perhaps a stop at Costco/Target/Trader Joes (No Walmart here).

Aldi will be opening soon near me (I will check it out/prices/selection).

We have a Lidl and Aldi recently opened their first location - they are out of the way/don't have much/big sales that is worth a trip for me - just like Trader Joes/Target). Costco was every other month - now maybe 2-3 times a year/barely.

Have not noticed any changes.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

When I moved to the South 9 years ago, Kroger was my go to store. Now I hardly shop there. Their prices have gone up higher than other grocery stores in my area. I read an article that said a Kroger executive testified that they increased prices more than the market could bare. I don't remember what trial it was or why he was testifying. My Kroger sells less and less brands and stock the shelves mostly with their brand. I stopped buying meat years ago, can't trust their meat department. And I definitely don't trust going registers. Most of the time the sales don't ring up. I do self checkout. I buy less and less at Kroger. My go to is Publix now. I do great with the BOGO. I've noticed that a can buy more at Publix (even meat which is so much better) and still cost less than buying just a few things from Kroger. I stopped going to Aldi, didn't shop there much in the first place. I do go to Costco, especially for stuff like toilet paper, paper towels, aluminum foil, etc.

 

[Nayan]

But as long as online grocery shopping continues to be popular supermarkets will go bankrupt in the years to come

This will not happen. One thing you forgot are delivery services like Instacart, UberEats, DoorDash, etc. which rely on grocery stores. Also curbside pickup is pretty popular so I don't see grocers going by the wayside anytime soon.

Plus, you cannot get everything from online shopping, especially when it comes to decent fruit and vegetables (I made that mistake once, never again!).

Topic-wise, the only change I have seen in my area is less store-brand and more name-brand items. I used to love certain Publix cookies/chips/pretzels, they no longer have them in favor of the name-brand stuff (which of course costs more and has been subject to shrinkflation).

 

[disneyseniors]

I think it's all regional concerning grocery stores. I see a lot of problems with Walmart's on here.
Our Walmart is huge and is the best deal in town for groceries. I even compared with Aldi's and our Walmart is the same or close. Also the Aldi's didn't impress me with their produce or prices.
We still have 2 high priced family owned grocery stores which still charge a lot more than the above. I tend to shop at Walmart, Target, and the family owned stores for different items which we like.

 

[tvguy]

I can't keep track of who owns what anymore.
Albertsons, Ralphs, Alpha Beta, Lucky, all left the area more than 20 years ago,
My parents shopped at Lucky......ours for a while was rebranded as Bonanza Discount Super Market as Lucky experimented with discount pricing. Then they rebranded all the stores as Lucky Discount Supermarkets.
Safeway was always the "too expensive" super market when I was a kid. They also got into a big controversy in the early 1970's here by tearing down an historic movie theater to build a store. In their defense, the area they built that store really did need a grocery store. But they flirted with closing the store recently, and even 50 years later, that old movie theater being torn down came back to haunt them.
My closest Safeway actually closed for about 5 years and sat vacant. Then all of a sudden they tore it down and built a new Safeway in the same place. Still don't get that. It is right across the street from the Bel Air that I shop at, and Bel Air is not as cheap on prices as they should be, but tend to be better than Safeway. I just don't go there.

 

[goofyernmost]

We don't have Kroger in New England. Our big chain here (in Maine) is Hannaford, and Shaw's to a lesser degree. I have noticed at Hanny's that there is less variety and fewer brands of almost everything recently, including their own store brand. I don't know what it means, but it's noticeable.

The closest thing we have to Hannaford's here in NC is Food Lion. I think Hannaford's owned Food Lion which is what made it seem like home when I first moved here. I do probably 60% of my shopping at Walmart and the rest at Food Lion.

Small useless note: Years ago (1980's) the printing business I managed typeset and printed all the weekly advertising circulars for the Hannaford stores in New England. Or at least all of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. This is nothing important just a revisit of memories from the dark ages.

 

[goofyernmost]

I think it's all regional concerning grocery stores. I see a lot of problems with Walmart's on here.
Our Walmart is huge and is the best deal in town for groceries. I even compared with Aldi's and our Walmart is the same or close. Also the Aldi's didn't impress me with their produce or prices.
We still have 2 high priced family owned grocery stores which still charge a lot more than the above. I tend to shop at Walmart, Target, and the family owned stores for different items which we like.

The Walmart that I use is a Super Walmart and it is ginormous. It is a place where you can find, affordable, almost anything from tomatoes to car tires. The only thing I don't buy there is the meat unless it is like ground beef or pork. I have never had good luck with their meats so I get that at Food Lion. Some of the frozen Chicken is OK.

 

[disneyseniors]

The Walmart that I use is a Super Walmart and it is ginormous. It is a place where you can find, affordable, almost anything from tomatoes to car tires. The only thing I don't buy there is the meat unless it is like ground beef or pork. I have never had good luck with their meats so I get that at Food Lion. Some of the frozen Chicken is OK.

That sounds like our Walmart. I, too, don't buy much meat from there. I think it's as good as other places, however. My daughter buys her meat there and it is always good. But I'm old school and buy our meat at the high end family owned store. They process and package their fresh meat at the store. We also bought 1/4 of a beef this year, and it is exceptional.

 

[goofyernmost]

When I moved to the South 9 years ago, Kroger was my go to store. Now I hardly shop there. Their prices have gone up higher than other grocery stores in my area. I read an article that said a Kroger executive testified that they increased prices more than the market could bare. I don't remember what trial it was or why he was testifying. My Kroger sells less and less brands and stock the shelves mostly with their brand. I stopped buying meat years ago, can't trust their meat department. And I definitely don't trust going registers. Most of the time the sales don't ring up. I do self checkout. I buy less and less at Kroger. My go to is Publix now. I do great with the BOGO. I've noticed that a can buy more at Publix (even meat which is so much better) and still cost less than buying just a few things from Kroger. I stopped going to Aldi, didn't shop there much in the first place. I do go to Costco, especially for stuff like toilet paper, paper towels, aluminum foil, etc.

Here, in Raleigh we have

Kroger's ....................... Fewer recently, left the area. Don't know why but I didn't go to it anyway.
Food Lion ................... Good selection, good sales and nice stores
Harris Teeter .............. Nice stores, quite expensive
Publix ........................... Nice Stores, very expensive
Aldi's ........................... Stores are messy, poorly stocked and not something that has drawn me back
Walmart ...................... At least here it's huge, kept very clean, good selection, good price except for meat.
Target ......................... OK, but the food part might as well not be there at all. Poor selection, no fresh anything.
Lowes ......................... Locally owned, nice stores but can't compete with the big names. Closing some stores.

There are a few others like Trader Joes, Wegman's, Whole Foods, others. Plus Costco, Sam’s Club and BJ’s for bulk purchases. There is almost a store for everyone living in the area.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

1 Iove Aldi but its not really in a convenient location for me so I have to make a special trip.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Houston area here…

In our part of town, it’s predominantly HEB and Kroger, as well as Aldi, Walmart and Target (getting a Sprouts and Trader Joe’s) and Costco and Sam’s for bulk. I am a regular Kroger shopper and I haven’t seen any significant differences.

 

[HopperFan]

This will not happen. One thing you forgot are delivery services like Instacart, UberEats, DoorDash, etc. which rely on grocery stores. Also curbside pickup is pretty popular so I don't see grocers going by the wayside anytime soon.

Plus, you cannot get everything from online shopping, especially when it comes to decent fruit and vegetables (I made that mistake once, never again!).

I've done a couple online shopping when I do a big order (free delivery) but no way I am buying fresh meat, produce etc that I just have the need to see before I buy. I also don't trust that frozen food will make it to me unthawed. I know a couple people who don't enter a grocery at all but they have family members that will do the fresh shopping. I don't think grocery stores are going anywhere but they might have to downsize from some of these mega-stores, or close some where there are many close by.

Topic-wise, the only change I have seen in my area is less store-brand and more name-brand items. I used to love certain Publix cookies/chips/pretzels, they no longer have them in favor of the name-brand stuff (which of course costs more and has been subject to shrinkflation).

I'm starting to see that at my Kroger. BUT what it is doing is pushing me to other places that offer their own brand for less. Most often I'm buying store brand for the savings and the small difference in quality didn't matter enough to pay more.

The Walmart that I use is a Super Walmart and it is ginormous. It is a place where you can find, affordable, almost anything from tomatoes to car tires. The only thing I don't buy there is the meat unless it is like ground beef or pork. I have never had good luck with their meats so I get that at Food Lion. Some of the frozen Chicken is OK.

We have lots of super Walmarts and the few times I've been lately they are EMPTY. I even took some pictures. It's not an off hours. I honestly don't know how they afford to keep the brick and mortar open. I did see that their sales have gone up with the six digit income folks but I will BET they are shopping online which Walmart offers more inventory, some of it nicer and name brands. I recently bought artificial turf from them, was the best price I found. But overall I don't shop there anymore.

1 Iove Aldi but its not really in a convenient location for me so I have to make a special trip.

I can walk to ALDI but I didn't shop there for a few years after it opened and they expanded. I now have the basic shopping list from there. I have LIDL (good meat and fresh produce) and Sprouts but they are just far enough it is a special trip. So I totally get that special trip ~ talk myself out of it. I used to love grocery shopping and wouldn't mind but ... since COVID ... it has become a get in and get out and stick to the list. Kinda sad something I loved has become a pain.

OH and another complaint I have found produce no matter where I get it starts "wilting" in 48 hours. I bounce from place to place and same problem. The best option has been COSTCO but I don't need the huge bulk they sell for most stuff. During COVID we did Misfits but when they changed their model I quit. Maybe I need to go back to them. I do plan to hit farmer's market (state one) when it warms up but even then I'll have to share some with others.

 

[hertamaniac]

I signed up for Kroger delivery with boost and never looked back. I use it as my primary grocery shopping service supplemented by Publix. Kroger delivery is great for non-produce items. However, I find their produce quality and size to be intermittent. That's probably due to the discrepancy of the picker.

We are about to open a new Sprouts a few miles from me shortly and am eager to see it. We also have a couple of Aldi's, but I rarely shop there. We do have a couple of Bravo supermarkets and want to try their hot lunch items.

 

[Smugpugmug]

No Kroger's near me. The main stores are Giant, Safeway, Walmart, Costco and Aldi. Giant and Aldi both have horrendously bad produce (specifically garlic, onions, potatoes, shallots, etc.) to where I buy those elsewhere, usually Safeway or H Mart. The Safeway closest to where I live is always dead even during peak times so I always wonder how they're still in business.

Have noticed quality decreasing for certain items at Costco so I only go there for specific things. For example I bought dishwasher pods and they are consistently leaking when they're in the container. The Kirkland toilet paper also sucks so I choose Charmin.

Nothing different about Walmart in my area. It's still disgusting cleanliness wise and extremely disorganized. I only go there for VERY specific items that no other store near me carries.

 

[HopperFan]

I signed up for Kroger delivery with boost and never looked back. I use it as my primary grocery shopping service supplemented by Publix. Kroger delivery is great for non-produce items. However, I find their produce quality and size to be intermittent. That's probably due to the discrepancy of the picker.

We are about to open a new Sprouts a few miles from me shortly and am eager to see it. We also have a couple of Aldi's, but I rarely shop there. We do have a couple of Bravo supermarkets and want to try their hot lunch items.

I love Sprouts produce. For a smaller store they have a really wide variety and average prices, sometimes good sales. I need to not be so lazy and drive to ours (only 5 miles) ... rather than complain about the close by produce.

 

[ncc1701]

No major changes at my 3 main grocery stores Acme, Wegmans andShopRite . I shop for various items from each
Pretty sure we have no Kroger in my area of South Jersey.
We have multiple Walmarts, Aldis , Sprouts, Trader Joes & a Lidl within 25 minutes but I rarely if ever shop at them. The main 3 are the closest to us and between them carry the brands we like. We do buy cereal from Target regularly.
Once Spring comes my veggies & fruit purchases will be split between some area farm markets & Wegmans.

 

[goofyernmost]

We have lots of super Walmarts and the few times I've been lately they are EMPTY. I even took some pictures. It's not an off hours. I honestly don't know how they afford to keep the brick and mortar open. I did see that their sales have gone up with the six digit income folks but I will BET they are shopping online which Walmart offers more inventory, some of it nicer and name brands. I recently bought artificial turf from them, was the best price I found. But overall I don't shop there anymore.

That means that the store that you are talking about is in a neighborhood that has joined the Walmart haters and are screwing themselves out of good prices for the same reason that people put down places like McDonalds, Wendy's and Burger King. It's a status thing. I have a daughter that goes to all the expensive places and won't be seen in Walmart. She has a family of five and the amount of money she could save there on regular groceries would be huge. I can't get it through her head the if it's in a can and is a brand name, it is the same item she is paying so much more for.

I learned that in my years of running a variety store (Ben Franklins to be exact). We had stuff, for example towels and accessories that we sold individually and they sat on the shelf forever. As a test we combined bath towels, hand towels, wash cloths, soap trays and toothbrush holder together for twice the price they sold for individually and put them on an end shelf and they were gone the next day. There's a sucker born every minute and that hasn't improved over the years.