Picking a store

Manatee

Manatee

Well-known Member
Location
Florida
After doing a good job of feeding me for more than 60 years, my wife passed away. I have found that going to the store can be very frustrating. No one supermarket has everything that I want. Often stores of the same chain will have a quite different inventory. The same is true of drug stores. Is this the norm in other places?
 

I've narrowed my supermarket shopping down to three.

- Walmart has a grocer section and I do my "big" shopping there.
- For quick trips, there's a local grocer just a few blocks away.
- When I need a difficult to find item or want to expand the brand options for a product, I go to Publix.
Publix is one of the more expensive of our available choices but there are Publix stores all over Florida if you want to check them out.
They also have a deli if you don't feel like cooking but are in for other shopping and it's convenient.

For off the shelf drugstore items, I shop Walgreens. They have name brands as well as their comparable generic store brand.
But for prescription drugs, I use a locally owned and operated druggist.
 
I'm sorry you are going through this transition.

I always thought I'm the only one but I experience the same. I also eat plant based which may complicate the matter. Trader Joe's and WINCO Foods are my main shopping. I'll stop at some of the other chain grocery stores for a few items and also check out Grocery Outlet.

Drug store item, Walmart because they are the cheapest. Got a 100 Tylenol recently. It's the only OTC my stomach will tolerate anymore. And that's gone up for sure but still cheaper there than other places. Voltaren Gel also.
 

If you want one store, you might want to go with Publix or some other “normal” grocery store as opposed to some club-type store that is inconsistent in their offerings and/or only sells large quantities.

Publix is a very nice store, but yeah it is a little pricey but they still have their store brands that are not priced too high. When we visited Florida we shopped Publix and I was quite impressed. And the Publix sub sandwiches are fantastic!
 
Manatee said:
I have found that going to the store can be very frustrating. No one supermarket has everything that I want. Often stores of the same chain will have a quite different inventory. The same is true of drug stores. Is this the norm in other places?
Click to expand...
I don't know if this would work for you or not, @Manatee , but have you considered trying curbside pickup? It would give you as much time as you need to order your groceries online and that's not like walking around a physical store trying to find everything. I've been doing it for years now, and I'm still finding things in searches that I never saw inside the store the few times I go in.
 
It's been my experience for years that I could never find one grocery store that carried everything I want. And now that I mostly no longer drive and I need Huzz to drive me, I've learned to just order a lot of non-perishable stuff online so we (or he) only have to go to one store.
 
Manatee said:
After doing a good job of feeding me for more than 60 years, my wife passed away. I have found that going to the store can be very frustrating. No one supermarket has everything that I want. Often stores of the same chain will have a quite different inventory. The same is true of drug stores. Is this the norm in other places?
Click to expand...

It is the norm. You can't always find everything you want at just one store. Even stores within the same grocery chain don't carry the same items. I shop at three grocery stores in my area.

I check out the weekly sales flyers, see what's on sale at each store, make my lists, and then run around. I might hit all three stores on the same day, but sometimes I break it up so I don't have to run around as much.

Using pickup is convenient and saves on wear and tear, but if you like to choose your own items, you have to physically shop for yourself.

I consider myself fortunate that I don't live in a country where I have to stand in line to even get a roll of scratchy toilet paper and a moldy potato. 😏
 
I read the online flyers and make a list from things I want from each store. Most of it is usually from three main stores. Then there are items on my Anywhere list - things like milk, bananas, etc. Then I prioritize which store to go to first and often pick up most of the Anywhere items. I may or not get to items from the second or third store on my list. Just depends on how much I want them.

Do you have price matching? The most expensive store I like does. I just show them the price on my online flyer that is on my phone. Most stores have eliminated paper flyers. I used to pack those along to the store.

PS. I like grocery shopping.
 
Judycat said:
My local Walmart has hidden its hemorrhoid products somewhere. It is maddening because I don't want to ask where they are. I swear I have looked and looked but they must have put them in a section unrelated to digestive issues. They've done this to get a snicker when people have to ask. It is cruel.
Click to expand...
More and more, I find myself abso. hating where stores put stuff.
 
Judycat said:
My local Walmart has hidden its hemorrhoid products somewhere. It is maddening because I don't want to ask where they are. I swear I have looked and looked but they must have put them in a section unrelated to digestive issues. They've done this to get a snicker when people have to ask. It is cruel.
Click to expand...
If you put the product you want in the search bar at your Walmart site, you'll see on the right hand side the aisle location for the product. This works for any product they stock. Just do this at home before you go shopping. It works well.
CREAM.jpg
 
Sadly....yes, it's the norm that there is no real "one stop shopping". We are fortunate to not be budget-constrained these days, but "back when" I would shop for only the specials, I did try to limit it to no more than 3 stores on a single trip. Too tiring otherwise!
 
Judycat said:
My local Walmart has hidden its hemorrhoid products somewhere. It is maddening because I don't want to ask where they are. I swear I have looked and looked but they must have put them in a section unrelated to digestive issues. They've done this to get a snicker when people have to ask. It is cruel.
Click to expand...
They rearrange every couple of weeks. I don't think they actually want to sell stuff.
 
I always refused to shop at more than one grocery store, I laughed when friends mentioned going to three or four stores to get what they wanted.

I now beg forgiveness for my arrogance! For the last few years I have been shopping at four different stores,(my god!) not weekly but over the month. I eat a consistent diet of certain items so need to shop where they're carried.

Of course being retired means I have the time to shop around if I want.
 
I'm unsure if I'll get an answer but I'm hopeful!

Any of you, dear friends, have used and/or actually bought items from AliExpress website or the Android app?
 
Last edited:
Michael Z said:
If you want one store, you might want to go with Publix or some other “normal” grocery store as opposed to some club-type store that is inconsistent in their offerings and/or only sells large quantities.

Publix is a very nice store, but yeah it is a little pricey but they still have their store brands that are not priced too high. When we visited Florida we shopped Publix and I was quite impressed. And the Publix sub sandwiches are fantastic!
Click to expand...
Sometimes I go to a different Publix than the one closest to home and they don't have the same things in stock. The super Walmart has things that the Walmart grocery doesn't have, and vice versa.
 
Yes, I find that here too. Our local supermarket, which I walk to, is the "sister" to a larger chain. The smaller one also has more locations. But since it is a smaller store they can't possibly stock the same variety of products that the bigger store does. I can get most of what I want from there but for items they don't carry, I'll have my son stop at the bigger supermarket, which is in the next town (though not too far away), whenever necessary, to pick up what I want. He doesn't have to go that often.

I also shop at Walmart.com which has some very good prices and good store brands of several items. I don't pay for shipping because my son picks it up on the way home from work. I even placed an order on Amazon for a Coffee Mate sugar free, hazelnut creamer because sometimes it's hard to find in the supermarket and the price is more reasonable. Some of their other food items, not so much. About 35% of our food comes from Costco. I would find it hard to limit my shopping to one store, but I love to shop anyway. I have a friend who lives in Florida. From what I hear, Publix is kind of expensive.
 
I'm sorry for your loss. I find getting all my groceries at one place impossible. I have 3 different grocers I go to. The only one you probably heard of is Aldi's. I like their prices the most.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top