What Is Your Grocery Store Doing For You?

Let's face it--times are tough for many families here in the valley.   Lots of people are out of work, and those who still have jobs are scared of losing them.  But, we all need to eat.  So that got me thinking--am I getting the most food for my money?  What is the best place to shop?

What I have found is that over the years, all the local grocery stores have their pros and cons.  Take Walmart for instance.  Hands down, I find this the cheapest place to shop.  Walmart will price match any competitor's advertisement, with exceptions.  They will not price match on meat that is not prepackaged, (i.e. Ballpark Franks or Oscar Meyer Bacon is okay to price match, but not 1 lb of ground beef from their meat department.)  They will also not match adds that are "buy one get one" or a percentage off the normal price (i.e. 50% off this week!).  My family shops here, and using price matching, we save an average of 10-15% per week off our food bill.   But Walmart isn't perfect; it's typically a very crowded place to shop and good luck getting any employee assistance if you have a question.  Our solution is to avoid the SuperWalmart, and shop at a Neighborhood Walmart instead.  We like the one on Jones and Craig Road.

Albertsons is our next choice.  The employees are very friendly and most of them know me from shopping there so much.  They always stop to chat and are helpful.  This makes for a pleasant shopping experience.  However, we normally only shop here for meat (we like the quality better than Walmart) or if we need one or two items in a hurry since we have an Albertsons so close to our house.  The overall prices are high, but if excellent customer service is important, this is the place to be.   Lastly, the bakery will give free cookies to your kids, and if you have a baby, they will bake baby's first birthday cake for free.

Speaking of cake, we only buy our cake at Vons because it is the best quality.  It truly tastes like it came from a bakery.  But, most Vons locations I have visited have lacked cleanliness and I've never had anyone ask me how I'm doing, or if they can help me find something.  The prices seem to be the highest in town.

Food 4 Less certainly has CHEAP food, but it is cheap because the store has a dirty little secret:  a lot of it is expired!  My husband recently visited the location on Sahara and Valley View to purchase Juicy Juice  and some fruit.  He literally spent 30 minutes just trying to find juice that 1.) wasn't expired and 2.) didn't have stuff floating in the bottom of it.  At least the fruit was good.  So good in fact, my husband labeled the produce department as "phenomenal".  It should be "phenomenal" since the store boasts the guarantee of "it's fresh or it's free".  

I cannot comment on Smiths because we simply don't shop there, but if you've been shopping at only one place, hopefully this article will give you some insight.  You might be missing some great values somewhere else.  A little research could mean more food on your table and more money in your pocket.  Happy Shopping!