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08-15-2017 02:27 PM
I have come to appreciate occasional food shopping at Walmart more than I ever thought I would, considering I don't buy for household meals but only certain types of items.
It's not Walmart's mdse or prices that keep me away, it's the state of the stores in my area, and the disinterested, apathetic employees. I really dislike being in a store that is dirty, stained, shabby-appearing. A coat of paint and some floor wax could make a difference. And asking questions and getting disinterested shrugs doesn't encourage me to go back.
I know it "depends on the manager" and the area/customers the store serves - but none of that is going to change for me - the stores aren't going to get new managers (because the main clientele are fine with things as they are) and the neighborhood isn't going to change. I have shopped at cleaner, better staffed Walmarts, but I'm not into an hour's-plus drive to do so.
08-15-2017 02:29 PM
I tend to shop locally at Festival and Woodman's. Once a month visit to Costco.
08-15-2017 02:56 PM - edited 08-15-2017 02:58 PM
@KathyPet wrote:
@makena wrote:No. I've never even heard of any of those stores. What were the top-rated ones?
THe article I read only gave the worst ones. You have never heard of Wal-Mart?
Obviously not the Walmart I shop at....v.e.r.y clean, bright & organic!
Doesn't surprise me a big-box store would be on the list...
especially Walmart. They are in a lot of small, rural towns
thoroughout America.
08-15-2017 03:04 PM
@Moonchilde wrote:I have come to appreciate occasional food shopping at Walmart more than I ever thought I would, considering I don't buy for household meals but only certain types of items.
It's not Walmart's mdse or prices that keep me away, it's the state of the stores in my area, and the disinterested, apathetic employees. I really dislike being in a store that is dirty, stained, shabby-appearing. A coat of paint and some floor wax could make a difference. And asking questions and getting disinterested shrugs doesn't encourage me to go back.
I know it "depends on the manager" and the area/customers the store serves - but none of that is going to change for me - the stores aren't going to get new managers (because the main clientele are fine with things as they are) and the neighborhood isn't going to change. I have shopped at cleaner, better staffed Walmarts, but I'm not into an hour's-plus drive to do so.
ITA @Moonchilde
I've been in dirty Walmarts and in very clean and well lit Walmarts. Unfortunately, the closest one to us is an hour away and it's the not a clean one.
The same is true for Safeways in our area. Some are dark and dingy while others are well lit and clean.
Don't these store owners have anyone checking on their different stores? You and I can't be the only ones who don't want to shop in dark and dingy.
08-15-2017 04:55 PM
It depends on the store and where it's located. Stop N Shops and Shaws are big around here but both are huge big mega corporations with scores of stores. You can't paint them all with the same brush. Same with Walmart, I frequent several big ones that sell groceries and all three are clean, orderly, well stocked and always in pristine condition. I never heard of any of the other stores. That's the problem with lists like that, they don't really mean anything. They are just to broad.
08-15-2017 05:43 PM
@Kachina624 wrote:
@Noel7 wrote:I found the complete list of grocery stores rated by Consumer Reports, from the top at 1 to the bottom at 68. This was the 2015 report, I can't find a report after that except for a short comment that Wegman's is number 1 again this year.
Walmart was at 67.
The top three were:
1. Wegman's
2. Publix
3. Trader Joe's
Now what I'd like to see is a market basket of the same items comparing prices in all of these stores. I know Wegman's and Trader Joe's are very high. I'm not familiar with prices in the others.
huh? I grew up with Trader Joes and people shopped there specifically for the cheaper prices. My problem with the store is that it's just too limited in options. Doesn't really matter since I don't have nearby since we moved anyway.
08-15-2017 06:02 PM
With no intent to change the subject, but with the under-current on this thread about which stores have higher or lower prices, I feel safe in asking this. I am interested in what is considered an average weekly or monthly budget for groceries. Say for a family of four? Or two?
I am fairly sure our grocery bill is higher "than the average bear," so would like to know what everyone means when talking about lower or higher priced stores.
As a side note, I'd like to thank @KathyPet for starting this thread here in Community Chat and not in Recipes.
08-15-2017 06:17 PM - edited 08-15-2017 07:44 PM
Have you seen these charts before, @IamMrsG?
I don't track our food expenses at this point. It's just the two of us and we eat out a few times a week.
https://www.cnpp.usda.gov/sites/default/files/usda_food_plans_cost_of_food/CostofFoodJul2014.pdf
i didn't realize the chart is from 2014. Maybe there's a more updated one.
ETA again: Anyone interested in my link please check out IamMrsG's updated one two posts below this one.
08-15-2017 06:47 PM
The only stores I have every heard of on that list is Walmart and Safeway. I have stopped occasionally at Safeway and it seems like a clean well organized store. I don't even know where the Walmart is located - probably a couple of towns away.
I shop Costco, Trader Joe's and for produce and seafood/meat Metropolitan Market (a small local chain).
08-15-2017 07:41 PM
Thank you for the link, @tansy. It caused me to Google for a more current chart, which led me to this one:
https://www.cnpp.usda.gov/sites/default/files/CostofFoodJun2017.pdf
As it is just DH and me here, I, of course, was more interested in the expense for a family of two. It came as a surprise that, in our 51-70 age bracket, the average "liberal" monthly expenditure fell from 2014. As I expected, we Gs spend more than the average, even on the "liberal" scale. Of course, I realize 'average' can +/- to a wide degree.
Like you, I neither budget nor track our expenses, but our financial register report does, so that is why / how I know what we spend.
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