Food 4 Less

One going up in Evanston in the shopping center on Main near McCormick.Not sure of the opening date.

Is it a low end discount grocery (ala Aldi) or something more/better?

Never been in one.I had heard the name before but the other locations are not convenient.After I started posting this I checked the site food4less.com The nearest ones are in Wisconsin and Missouri.I live about 11 blocks from where it is being built so as soon as I know it has opened I will go forge a trail.

Kroger has a division called Food 4 Less, which has some stores in the Chicago area albeit inconvenient for north siders let alone north suburbanites. I have no idea why they don't show up on food4less.com. My understanding is Kroger's division aims for low prices and is not upscale in merchandise. Store locations from Kroger's web site show stores in Alsip, Burbank, Cicero, Hammond IN and on South Damen in Chicago. The new store seems to be in a more upscale neighborhood than their others.

There are two Food 4 Less stores in my hometown Topeka, KS. They are owned by Kroger as is Dillons, the other main grocery in T-Town. Dillons is almost a clone of Dominicks/Jewel, and Food 4 Less used to be a low cost grocer (almost always paired next to a Kmart). However, in the past two years, they seem to have redefined their market position, as they now stock quite a bit of organic stuff and ethnic foodstuffs (not much by Chicago standards, but good for the Heartland). The real plus of the new Food 4 Less is the return of the butcher. When I was last home on the fourth, I had a conversation with the butcher about hangar steaks who offered to cut me some (I didn't call him on this for some stupid reason) and then he had me sample some of his homemade sausage that he sells from the store (apple and walnut, it was delicious). This may just be a regional thing, but if they do this at the Chicago location, it would be a marked step up from the Dominicks/Jewel meat department that looks at me as if I requested their first-born when I ask if the have any remotely special cuts. I would recommend at least checking it out when it opens.

Abraus wrote:This may just be a regional thing, but if they do this at the Chicago location, it would be a marked step up from the Dominicks/Jewel meat department that looks at me as if I requested their first-born when I ask if the have any remotely special cuts.

Probably all their meat is boxed from the packing house, so they are not handling sides of beef rather prepared cuts, which they may or may not package on site.

I remember years ago when a butcher was not on the premises at Jewel, all the meat was packed up and put away. You had to buy meat during their work hours. I'm not so sure how accomodating they were back then. However you could see the hamburger grinding machines and sides of meat in the rear. I remember seeing women ordering custom grinds for making meatloafs, where they ordered a ratio of pork-beef-veal. I recall hearing comments that you always got stuck with a bit of someone elses grind from the meat lingering in the machine since the last order.

I grew up in western Iowa where there was a Food 4 Less. At that time - it has since changed to some other grocery store - the store was the 'warehouse' type where they stocked the shelves with products in cut open boxes. They carried all you name brands - unlike Aldi's - but usually at a better price. It sounds like things have changed.

Made a short trip there today.Lots of bulk items like The Warehouse Club and GFS.I saw a sign in the dairy area that said Kosher.Also saw an area for Hispanic foods.Will probably make a longer trip this weekend.Wasn't someone looking for large bags of unbleached flour?I can check next time.Apparently they have a new web address.I think the one on the flyer is Food4Less1.net.On the flyer I did see a mention of Kroger's.

Hey, I'm planning to stop by sometime tonight myself, but the URL in the flyer didn't work for me (or, at least, my non-IE browser). Try http://www.food4less.net instead if the other's giving you problems.

By the way, is the food4less1.net URL (if it's legitimate) supposed to just be about the Evanston store (meaning that it's more specialized than the one at simply food4less.net)? Just in case.

--The Snob

hattyn wrote:Don't know if it is Evanston only and I may have remembered wrong.

The site lists a bunch of locations on the south side of the city, but this Evanston branch is the closest to my zip code by far.

--The Snob

Actually didn't have the opportunity to go Wednesday night (due to my car being needed elsewhere), but I'd like to check it out sometime soon. Now to find a good excuse to go... sandwich meat, perhaps?

--The Snob

98 cents a gallon? They're close to me ... I'm thinking it might be cheese-making time this weekend ...

I've been back to Food4Less a number of times since the grand opening, and there were some deals to be had. This past week, for instance, there was a coupon in the circular that, when you bought 4 roughly 13 oz. boxes of some of Kellogg's cereals (on sale: 4 for $8), allowed you to get any gallon of milk for free (up to $2.49, which basically included most every kind). As for a gallon under a dollar, I didn't see that deal in this week's flyer. Do you think it's something that's only advertised in-store, or did you just happen upon the "day-old" supply on clearance? (I found some bread was half off whose expiration date was a few days away; a nice deal, but I prefer the freshest store-bought bread possible.) Either way, you gotta love markdowns.

According to this press release, a 58,020 square-foot Food 4 Less will open Sunday, April 27, at 4821 W. North Ave., in the Washington Square Shopping Center. It will be open daily from 6 a.m. to midnight.

Hi- I was curious if anybody shops at Food 4 Less? I have been inside the Evanston store a few times, and I have bought a few items there, but I do not understand why some people do most of their grocery shopping there. I have found that I can spend less on groceries by buying the lost leaders at Dominicks and Jewel, than I can paying the discount price at Food 4 Less. I don't think the quality of produce is as good as it is at Jewel either. Thanks, Nancy

If I'm short of a few of the basics (flour, eggs, etc.), and I don't want to make a special trip to Domewel to see what's on deal, I've been known to stop in Food4Less. I agree about the produce, though. And lately I've been using the new Aldi in Evanston more often for that purpose.

Just like you do at Dominick's and Jewel, you have to SHOP. Maybe I'm lucky, I have a Food4, and Ultra, a Dom , and a Jewel on my way home. I would never consider myself a "loyal" shopper at any of them. Food 4 Less has GREAT loss leaders once in a while. Just watch for them. Three things I always watch for which they do often:
1.00 frozen hash browns (shredded, cubed, etc) 30 oz bag (Ingredient: potatoes)
1.00 cheap ice cream novelties (sandwiches, king cones, etc. 4 to 6 packs)
1.00 Ocean Spray cranberry juice 46 oz bottle.

I'd say three or four times a year they do these, and I stock up like crazy on the cran juice and hash browns
Sometimes they have a decent price on Parker House sausages which rarely go on sale anywhere.

If I'm not mistaken, they also take expireds as well.

Hi- I did not know that Food 4 Less takes expired. I know Dominicks takes expired up to one year currently. Soon Dominicks will go to taking expired up to 6 months.

I took somebody grocery shopping at Jewel, who is on a fixed income, and the only cereal she will eat is Special K, which was on sale for $2.99 a box. She usually does most of her shopping at Food 4 Less, because she thinks Dominicks and Jewel are too expensive. If you only buy the lost leader stuff, Dominicks and Jewel are actually cheaper.

Maybe I would shop at Food 4 Less more if it was closer to me. It is in the same shopping center as Sams Club, and I only go to sams Club about once a month. Thanks, Nancy

I used to shop there for meat specials, but I found that just after they opened, the prices continued to be terrific - but the meat became more and more like cardboard. Pantry staples, mostly now - and only because it's near Sparky's school. I agree, the Aldi does better for most of the stuff they offer.

I have never been to one of the discount stores in Chicago, but would definitely consider it if I knew that they accepted coupons. Does anyone know if FFL, Aldi, etc accept coupons?

Food For Less is basically a downmarket Kroger's, and yes they take coupons. They have a small section with warehouse-size packages, but in general they're just a grocery store with a cement floor.

Aldi does not take coupons - they typically don't carry name brands, either. Their store brands are sometimes better quality than name brand items, and usually less expensive than a name brand with a coupon. It's not for everyone, but I think everyone should go at least once, and spend $20 on a few of their house-brand items to see if it works for you.

Thanks Mhays!
I did attempt to shop at an Aldi once, but when I couldn't figure out how to retrieve a shopping cart, I got so embarrassed and frustrated, I just left.
I had never seen a system as such, and when I told my husband about my fight with the carts, he cracked up and explained to me the quarter system.

Boy was I embarrassed! Now that I know better though, I might give it another whirl.

I get F4L flyers, but have not been to the store yet. They seem to mostly have junk food items on sale. Pop, chips, frozen dinners, etc.

I will preface this with being a single father of an 8 year-old. One of the things that I stock up on at F4L is the Velvetta Shells and Cheese which they have at 2/$3 really often. I always get a case of the cranberry juice when it hits a buck too...ocean spray for about a third of anywhere else, big fan...

scanz, these were the kinds of things I also bought at FFL (for classroom "snacks" it was a good place to go, but I wasn't able to buy anything I felt proud of serving) However, if you've got an Aldi nearby: when I was buying it regularly, 100% juice was in the $2 range (read the labels carefully; it's right next to the juice "cocktails".) They have a store version of Easy Mac and Kraft Mac (it's not like the velveeta version, it's powdered) that are comparable. You can get better deals on deep discounts at FFL, but more consistent overall pricing at the Aldi, if that makes sense.

I'm extremely grateful to have passed out of the classroom non-perishable snack phase, it's amazing how much less crap we have in the house - Sparky now drinks mostly water, and eats fresh fruit for snacks (I still keep easy mac or its equivalent around for rare emergencies - I figure, if I'm not going to make it from scratch, it d^&* well better take less than 3 minutes!)

I got an Entertainment coupon book for Christmas and Food 4 Less has four coupons for $5 off $50. Do they sell toiletries and housewares like dish soap, etc. there too, or just food?

The one near me does, Pie Lady.

There is a Food 4 Less going into what was Dominick's in Chicago Heights, at the corner of Western Avenue and Rte. 30. It's not open yet, but at least the sign is now up and there seems to be a lot of inside activity.

Suzy

I've shopped at F4L a few times lately and it's not bad at all. The deli has a limited selection, but other than that, the rest of the store has a pretty good variety. And their prices kill J&D.

I went on my lunch break and I think I'll have to use this in place of Jewel, maybe Fresh Farms too considering how nice the produce looked. We'll see. Thanks for the tips!