Where do you shop?

Hi- The Morning edition on WBEZ recently had a segment on how people are expanding their food shopping horizons, and shopping at more than one store each week. People are more likely to shop at Walmart, Target and the dollar stores than they were a few years ago. Apparently WBEZ had a whole week of segments recently about food shopping. They also had an interesting segment about why nobody has taken over the Dominick's store in South Shore that closed in December. Here is a link to the segments.

http://www.wbez.org/programs/morning-sh ... hop-110696

Shop Smart magazine, which is published by Consumer Reports, also survey 1,000 food shoppers for their latest issue, and they found out that 28% of the people they interviewed never used coupons, and only 10% of the people they surveyed were heavy users of coupons. In their survey, they also found that people were also more likely to shop at more than one store every week, and were much more likely to shop at Walmart and Target than they would have been a few years ago. Hope this helps, Nancy

I personally shop at several stores in the neighborhood. Pete's Market, Aldi, and Target are all within a three minute walk from where I live. I go to Pete's almost every day for general groceries. My wife does regular (usually weekly) trips to Aldi for a few staples. And I use Target mostly for frozen foods like Lean Cuisines (as they have the best prices for that kind of stuff. Their non-prepared foods are quite pricey, though, compared with my other choices in the neighborhood.) I will also occasionally go out to Bobak's or Shop and Save when I need more Eastern European fare (especially smoked sausages, slab bacon, Canadian bacon/smoked pork loin, certain vegetables, etc.) Otherwise, I'll sometimes hit up Cermak Produce or El Guero if there's a particular sale they're having, but that's more on the order of once a month. My trips to Costco are similarly infrequent. Once every month or two (so I'm not really saving money by having a membership). Pretty much always for steak, baby back ribs, beer or big bottles of liquor, and that organic olive oil they carry.

Hi- Did you hit Dominick's for their going out of business sale last December? I got tons of Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice for 50 cents a piece. I would have got more but I don't have a large freezer. I wish I had a Pete's near me. All I have within walking distance to me is two Whole Foods, a Trader Joe's, a Jewel, a CVS and the farmer's market, and so I end up mostly going to Jewel and the farmer's market. Target will do price matching, and you can also sign up for cartwheel on Target's site, and you get five cents back if you bring your own bag. Mashupmom that has one of the couponing blogs I visit, goes to Target all the time, and gets some great deals on frozen. You can also use a target coupon with a manufacturer's coupon, and she prints coupons for EVOL burritos on line, and gets them at Target for 50 cents I believe. I don't have a Target convenient for me, and the one closest to me, has lousy produce.

I spotted the Shop Smart magazine you referenced while grocery shopping at Sams Club, and thought the info was pretty interesting. For me, I tend to shop most often at Sams Club (mainly meats & restaurant supplies) and Garden Fresh (which has a majority & variety of different ethnic items I use) and occasionally, Mariano's, Jewel, and Aldi.

Hi- I belong to Sam's Club, but a lot of their stuff is not a deal. I see people buying cereal there all the time, and I get it for half of what it is at Sam's on sale at Jewel. The only things I buy on a regular basis at Sam's Club is gas. I used to buy all my prescriptions at Sam's Club, but one of the two prescriptions I am on, they were out of the last three times I went there to get it filled, and it has to be one of their top selling prescriptions. The last time I tried to get the prescription filled the beginning of May, they had been out of it since that Friday, and on Monday when I tried to get it filled they told me that they did not expect anymore in until the following afternoon, because they could not get any over the weekend. I was going out of town the next day, and so out of desperation, I went to Osco, where I had no problems getting it filled. As I was leaving Sam's Club that day, I put a note in the suggestion box, mentioning my frustration.

Sam's is also good for tires and car batteries. I purchased both of them earlier this year there. I also have a printer I got on clearance there for $39 that I got four years ago, and I am still using it.

If I had a Mariano's convenient for me, I would switch over to there from Jewel in a heartbeat. One of the Dominick's stores is being converted to a Whole Foods. I wish Mariano's would have taken over the store, but I was told that they looked at it, and passed on it. Evanston already has two Whole Foods stores, and does not need any more.

1-2X a week:

Costco (2 minutes from home)
Fresh Farms (4 minutes from home)
Mariano's (10 minutes from home)

with occasional stops at Jewel and Happy Foods.

Okay, I lied. I also stop at the Sauganash WF for cheeses, as needed.

And meat is solely from the butcher.

Most of the time, I shop at Mariano's.

There's a few special things I get at Trader Joe's- cereal, condiments, some frozen things; if I'm entertaining, I get dips, cheese, crackers, etc. there.

If I need just a couple basic things at the last minute, I go to Jewel because it's only a couple minutes from my house.

Depending on which way I'm going home after work, I might stop at Caputo's.

There's a few things I get at Costco- olive oil, bags of nuts. I try to get milk at Costco since it's cheapest there, but only if I'm there for something else.

We shop once a week, typically saturday(I enjoy menu planning and grocery shopping).

Often times we split up and take 2 cars - Vangie and Shay hit Super Walmart 15 mins away for mostly non edible items(other than pop and chips). I do the 45 min -1 hr each way drive east to Naperville to go to Caputo's/HMart and rarely Whole Foods/Marianos.

Pretty picky about meat and produce so we go to specific places for specific items. Most meat is bought from local butchers, meat lockers or farmers. I also run down to a meat market Peoria to buy a steak once or twice a month.

I do have a small grocery store in town for emergencies, but the Dollar Store has alot of those items.

I pass by numerous Jewels, Aldi's and Trader Joe's -- not really interested in shopping at them.

NFriday wrote:Hi- Did you hit Dominick's for their going out of business sale last December? I got tons of Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice for 50 cents a piece. I would have got more but I don't have a large freezer. I wish I had a Pete's near me. All I have within walking distance to me is two Whole Foods, a Trader Joe's, a Jewel, a CVS and the farmer's market, and so I end up mostly going to Jewel and the farmer's market. Target will do price matching, and you can also sign up for cartwheel on Target's site, and you get five cents back if you bring your own bag. Mashupmom that has one of the couponing blogs I visit, goes to Target all the time, and gets some great deals on frozen. You can also use a target coupon with a manufacturer's coupon, and she prints coupons for EVOL burritos on line, and gets them at Target for 50 cents I believe. I don't have a Target convenient for me, and the one closest to me, has lousy produce.

I don't do a lot of couponing, but occasionally at Target I've gotten Lean Cuisines down to about $1.25/each. They occasionally have sales where if you buy a certain amount, you get a giftcard (I'm thinking it was buy 10, get $5 gift card) and you can often find coupons on the Lean Cuisines themselves, like buy nine get one free, so that works out to $1.19-$1.39 each, if you're buying the cheapest ones (which have been around $1.89-$2.09/each)

Grocery shopping is my retail therapy. If I can pick up a few interesting things for the pantry, and something for the next night's dinner, I consider myself well-entertained. Hitting a market I haven't been to before, but is within range for stocking up prior to a party is particularly useful.

The closest supermarket to me is Save-A-Lot. Nope. Went in a couple times, don't plan on going in again.
The next closest is Jewel. With the new management, I'm more likely to go there, especially for staples. Their meat and produce prices have improved, but selection and quality never seem to be the tops.

Next closest is Fresh Thyme. It just doesn't carry enough of what I need in non-produce items to make it worth regular shopping.

Next closest are Ultra, Aldi and Wal-Mart. I am trying (politically) not to shop at the latter, and Aldi just doesn't entertain me. Ultra is big enough to have items that will surprise me, but isn't really a big draw. I'll shop there if I spot a deal in their Wednesday flier.

Mariano's is probably the most frequently hit place, although not the closest. It has the best balance of price, quality and selection of the places near me.

Meijer's in Niles is not that far away, but I seldom go in there. I know their meat and produce selection is better than I'd expect. Similarly, the closest Whole Foods has things I know I can't get elsewhere, but except when cheese hunting I don't tend to go in.

There's halo of independent/small chain places not that close, but if I'm nearby I'll stop in: Caputo's in Northbrook, Fresh Farms Wheeling, Valli Produce Arlington Heights, Shop N Save Des Plaines and Niles, Super Tony's Niles... I'm probably skipping a couple.

Then there's the 'destination' places like Super H-Mart, Mitsuwa and Fresh Farms Niles. Mostly I go there when shopping for a big party, because I know I can pick up the odd, the fresh, the unique. Assi Plaza in Niles I hit more frequently, for lower-priced seafood, sliced rib eye for bul gogi or cheesesteaks, Asian ingredients, and Gai Lan (Chinese Broccoli).

And then there's the little places - mostly ethnic shops that I might wander into if in the same shopping center or (for Subcontinental places) I've run out of a key spice that I don't mind buying 8oz of (I'm looking at you, ground cumin). A standout is Richwell Market in Morton Grove, which is about the only place I know if in the 'burbs where I can regularly find flat rice noodles aka chow fun or ho fun.

Hi- Actually most of the frozen dinners I got at Dominick's, I did not have any coupons for. They were all 75% off, and that is why I got them so cheap. Occasionally Jewel will have frozen dinners on clearance as cheap as $1 too. I always check the clearance section when I am in Jewel. I got three frozen Amy's organic dinners that were on clearance last Saturday for $1, and I found a $.75 off Amy's coupon that I printed, and will post redeem this week. That article in Shop Smart said that only something like 52% of the people they surveyed ever even bothered checking out the clearance section. I got two bags of Starbucks Spring coffee for a total of $4 on clearance three weeks ago. Now I am trying to figure out what I did the receipt, because I have a $4/2 bags of Starbucks coupon that I just printed, that I can post redeem and get them for free.

I have changed my shopping strategy this year.

When I moved to Illinois 23 years ago, Jewel captured me with a bag of free staples (bread, eggs, milk etc., nice touch.)
After many years, Dominick’s wooed me away by matching discounts at Target and Jewel. I didn’t love Dominick’s, but I saved some money.

After Dominick's closed, I gave Jewel another try…twice
My first visit back, the employees were grumbling about increased union wages. Everyone has a right to complain, it just isn’t so great in front of customers. Also, the store was out of many things I would typically buy. Even the young man at the checkout mentioned that he was surprised Jewel wasn’t better positioned to handle the influx of customers when the Dominick’s across the street closed. He observed that Jewel wasn’t prepared for the crowds.

By my return visit, Jewel had done away with their loyalty programs, offering best prices for all. I guess I had made such an art of price matching, that I was blown away by these “every day” prices. I left frustrated knowing I wouldn’t be back (except for Diet Coke sales) and I haven’t missed Jewel.

After years of hearing my friends sing the praises of Aldi, I gave them a try. The 24-page LTH Aldi thread including this link from Toria, were huge helps.
http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/aldi-101-w ... p-at-aldi/[/quote]

Now I’m a weekly Aldi shopper. I love their cart system. The quarter that comes out when I return my cart brightens my day. My day is even brighter if I can pass my cart to new shopper and let them keep the quarter. It sounds silly, but it gives me a lift. I buy staples and some food items. I’ve had great luck with some produce (organic spinach), not so great luck with other produce (watermelon). However, the double return policy (money back, plus new item), gives me the confidence to keep trying new things. I love their Bavarian-style red cabbage (and I think Bavarian week is coming up later this month.) I stay away from bakery and meat. I haven’t tried them; just prefer to buy those things elsewhere. I’ve saved a ton on toilet paper, dish soap and other essentials. It might seem like a hassle that to use debit/cash and BYOB or buy their bags, but the savings has been worth it for me.

I run into Trader Joe’s for a few things, then stop next store to Casey’s for meat and Merai corn. (They should have this corn through September, http://www.twingardenfarms.com. Both of these stores have such cheerful staff members. This is important to me because it makes shopping less of a chore and more of a social outing. I used to get spices from Penzeys and Milford Spice, but since we have someone from The Spice House in the LTH house, they will be my spice store. I round out my shopping with occasional visits to Whole Foods or ethnic markets.

Like Jimswside and JoelF, grocery shopping is fun for me. Without shopping at Jewel or Dominick’s, my new system is much less one-stop shopping, but it feels more European and that brightens my day too.

janeyb wrote:By my return visit, Jewel had done away with their loyalty programs, offering best prices for all. I guess I had made such an art of price matching, that I was blown away by these “every day” prices.

When Jewels started that program is when I stopped going to the Jewels. I would stand in front of the tuna cans and between the pink signs the yellow signs some signs with price per ounce some not, and just be frustrated that they were trying to pull the wool over my eyes.

I'm glad the preferred shopper thingie is over.

We gocery shop at least 5 days a week and often every day. Dinners are often a spontaneous affair and we almost never have meat/seafood/produce on hand for more than a day or so before using. Marianos, Edgewater Produce, and Golden Pacific are the regulars but i'll mix in stops to PQM, Marketplace on Oakton, H-Mart, Harvestime, etc

Hey, what happened to the thread title here? It used to be a damn straight Chicagoese question, and now it's been gentrified?

Hi- I have too much stuff in my fridge right now. I run across all those bargains at the farmer's markets on Saturday, and I live alone. This last Saturday, I did not have time to stop at the Evanston market on my way to my Saturday morning job in Winnetka, and so I stoppped at the Wilmette market on my way home to buy some peaches, because I knew they would be out at Evanston, and while I was there, I decided to get some corn from First Orchards that also sells at Evanston, and I got my usual four ears, and Jon First's mother told me that they were 50 cents a piece or $2 a dozen. No way could I use a dozen, but I decided to get that many anyway, and I tried to sell half of them to somebody in my condo building. I did not have any luck, and so finally I put six of them in the lobby with a free sign, and somebody finally took them. After I left the Wilmette market, I stopped in at the Evanston market for a few minutes, and Jon First had heirloom tomatoes on sale for 4/$1. I bought eight tomatoes. I made a batch of salsa, and used three of them for that Saturday evening, and I used another one last night, and I still have four to use up.

I want to love Aldi's, but it is not convenient for me, and I don't care for their produce. I would rather buy produce directly from the farmer anyway. Saturday afternoon I had to go to Plaza Del Lago anyway, and I ended up going into Jewel there, and buying some tortilla chips that were on clearance for $1.50, and I will get a quarter back from checkout 51, and then I went next door to CVS and got myself a gallon of milk for $1.99. I can spend forever in a grocery store or farmer's market looking for deals, but I won't drive five miles just because I know there is a deal, and that is why I primarily shop at Jewel and the farmer's market right now. You can post redeem coupons up to 60 days at Jewel too, and so if I find a deal in the clearance section at Jewel, but I know I have a coupon for it at home, I can buy it and bring the coupon and the receipt back to the store the next time I am in there.

A lot of the people that love Aldi's can't deal with coupons, and don't love grocery shopping, and like the fact that they can do most of their grocery shopping in 30 minutes, and not have to deal with coupons or chasing sales. I know somebody that live in Wilmette, and is right down the street from the Jewel on Green Bay, but drives all the way to the Aldi's on Oakton in Evanston because he can't deal with the coupons and chasing the sales. at Jewel.

Thanks, Nancy

NFriday wrote:I want to love Aldi's, but it is not convenient for me

How could that be? There's one only a half mile south of the Sam's Club in Evanston where you fill up your car. It's next to PetSmart and Home Depot, on Oakton.

(My experience with Aldi's is, I found the quality of their packaged foods to be much worse than even Jewel, so I stopped going for that reason.)

Speaking of Sam's Club for gasoline, the one in Evanston typically sells it for 30-40 cents less per gallon than other stations in the area. And the one in Northlake is frequently 10-30 cents less per gallon than the one in Evanston.

Have you tried Village Marketplace on Dempster just west of Crawford? The prices there seem pretty reasonable to me and they have an interesting and unusual selection.

janeyb wrote:I have changed my shopping strategy this year.
Now I’m a weekly Aldi shopper. I stay away from bakery and meat. I haven’t tried them; just prefer to buy those things elsewhere.

I do too but there are some exceptions. My meat rule is whole pieces only. Whole chickens (Tyson) are .95lb and their hams are good too. Their bakery carries Turano rolls and sometimes their bread I think. During the summer they carried S. Rosen hot dog buns,but that's probably going to be seasonal. I've bought their pretzel rolls and have been satisfied.

kenji wrote:When Jewels started that program is when I stopped going to the Jewels.
I'm glad the preferred shopper thingie is over.

So are the "every day lower prices" they promised when they did away with them.

Hi- Jewel promised that you could still get the sale prices without having to deal with the card. It is frustrating for me and other couponers that shop at Jewel though, because for people that are signed up for the Savings Star shopping program, the way you are supposed to get your savings star discount is by having them scan your preferred card. When people do that, often the cashiers tell them that they do not need the card anymore. When you try to explain to them that you still need to use the card if you are signed up with Savings Stars reward program, they don't know anything about it. If you are signed up with Savings Star, they have a free item of the week that you can get at Jewel by adding it to your preferred card on their website, and having your preferred card scanned. It seems like some of Jewel's prices went down a little bit, like their bananas and milk. Their milk has just gone back up to $2.99 though I noticed, but the futures market on milk has gone way up lately, and so milk is going to get more expensive. Personally at the Jewel stores I shop at, I don't see them hurting for customers. The one on Green Bay in WIlmette has people circling the parking lot on Saturday mornings trying to find a parking space.

The reason I don't go to Aldi's more is because when I do go, I just end up getting 2 or 3 items. The last time I went three months ago, I happened to be at Home Depot anyway, and so I decided to go in, and the only things I got were milk and a quart of plain yogurt. Yes I know that Sam's Club is not that far from Aldi's, but I only go to Sam's Club about once a month to get a prescription filled and get gas. It takes me at least a month to use up a tank of gas usually.

Oak Parker here. Costco (the for-now still peaceful North Riverside location) surely captures the majority of my grocery budget, but for the majority of my produce and anything Italian, I've become a fan of Caputo's on Harlem in Elmwood Park despite a substantial list of annoyances. The parking lot layout is awful, the check-out lanes are unbelievably narrow, and the fish and meat counters aren't anything great, but I'm consistently amazed at the quality of the produce and how cheaply I'm able to get out of there. What other place sells kale by the pound rather than by the bunch? As of last weekend, they had several varieties of Michigan-grown apples for a very low $.69/lb - the ones I've been taking to lunch have all been great.

Roger Ramjet wrote:Hey, what happened to the thread title here? It used to be a damn straight Chicagoese question, and now it's been gentrified?

Stanleys -- produce
Farmers markets (GCM, federal plaza on Tuesdays) -- produce
Strack and Van Til -- used to shop for staples/meat here, but haven't much since Mariano's opened close by
Mariano's -- staples/dairy/meat
Middle Eastern Bakery (Foster)-- spices, tea, some prepared stuff like hummus, spinach pies, etc.
Isaacson & Stein -- seafood
Whole Foods -- sometimes stop here for bulk grains, meat
Greek Islands restaurant -- buy olive oil here, super good and good price
Chinatown Market -- bulk rice, asian spices/sauces, tofu, bok choi
Broadway Supermarket or Tai Nam Market (near Argyle St.) -- Vietnamese ingredients like rice paper, mints/greens/basils for spring rolls, packaged foods
The Spice House -- spices
Peoria Packing -- meats for a crowd, time to grill
Jewel -- I'm desperate and it's close

edit: forgot one...

Hi-For those people who shop at Mariano's there was a wrap around coupon in yesterday's Chicago Tribune for $4 off a $40 purchase at Mariano's. Hope this helps, Nancy

I live alone and eat a substantial amount of my food out, so I don't do THAT much grocery shopping.... Some of it is based on when I am on the road for long stretches, and come home to an empty refrigerator. Still, I go to a surprising number of places.

- Pete's Fresh Market - 2x/month. Fruit, vegetables, Polar seltzer, value steaks and pot roasts for myself, carnitas, cooked Italian sausage, and tamales. And occasionally some deli meat or yogurt if it's on sale. I haven't been to Caputo's yet, I can see this becoming 1x Pete's, 1x Caputo's.
- Target - 1x/month. I get 9.75% off (prescription 5% discount about once a month, REDcard debit card 5% off after that). Limited selection, but I have a steady set of things I buy, and I'm there anyway to pick up my prescriptions. Dairy, frozen fruit bars, frozen corn, Clif bars if there's a good sale, laundry detergent, bathroom stuff
- Walmart - 1x/month plus the occasional unscheduled stop. The one by my house has been renovated with a full grocery. So now I'll get pantry stuff on sale there, such as canned beans and salad dressing, or if I need 1 of something and I know Target doesn't carry it. I used to go to Ultra.
- Whole Foods - 1x/month. Some extra fruit, steaks for splurging, chicken thighs, ground beef, scallops, some prepared foods for dinner, Clif Builder bars as they have the Vanilla Almond and Chocolate Mint that I like.
- Costco - 7-8x/year. $5 rotisserie chickens, Eclipse chewing gum in 4x60 car cases, granola bars, frozen shrimp, OTC medications, paper goods, bottled water in the winter to leave in the car for my drive home from work, sometimes meat
- Trader Joes - 4x/year. Dried fruit, especially their California apricots, frozen vegetables and some sauces, and a 3-pack of their 72% chocolate bars.
- Standard Market - 4x/year. Cured non-Italian meats (they carry Usinger and Nueske), and they used to have plain Traderpoint yogurt but they have been out my last three times there.