Hi- I am really selective about what I buy at Whole Foods. I came down with a bug while I was in New Orleans for jazzfest, and I am still getting over it, although it is better than it was 10 days ago when it started. I haven't felt like eating a whole lot, and so Tuesday all I got when I went to Whole Foods was a package of frozen 365 tropical bars, which I love anyway. I then went to Jewel and got some frozen chicken noodle soup and some orange juice, and a few other things. I love Tabatchnick frozen soup, which is on sale right now for $1.50. My favorite kinds are the chicken noodle, chicken noodle and dumpling, and the split pea soup. The soup is usually housed in the frozen Kosher section, or in the frozen natural section of Jewel.. I will go to Jewel again today because I am almost all of soup, and plus I need some bread. The farmer's market is opening this Saturday in Evanston, but right now I still don't feel like eating asparagus or salad.

Located in a former TigerDirect computer supply store at 2500 N. Elston Ave., the 28,630-square-foot future Fresh Thyme is under construction, along with a new massive Fox Ford car dealership, directly across the way at 2501 N. Elston Ave.

http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150720 ... ong-elston

I don't understand how this place manages to stay in business. In last week's color circular, they advertised fresh salmon for $5.77/lb. I stopped by there on Friday....all out of salmon. "We're expecting a delivery later today" the kid working behind the fish/meat counter informed me. They offered me a rain check. Yippee.

I stopped by there this morning. The store isn't out of my way as my dry cleaner is across the street. Again...no salmon. The guy behind the counter told me that the truck "is running late."

How complicated is it to stock salmon in a grocery store? Maybe the recent opening of the huge Jewel kiddie corner from them will put the final nail in the coffin.

Dave148 wrote:I don't understand how this place manages to stay in business. In last week's color circular, they advertised fresh salmon for $5.77/lb. I stopped by there on Friday....all out of salmon. "We're expecting a delivery later today" the kid working behind the fish/meat counter informed me. They offered me a rain check. Yippee.

I stopped by there this morning. The store isn't out of my way as my dry cleaner is across the street. Again...no salmon. The guy behind the counter told me that the truck "is running late."

How complicated is it to stock salmon in a grocery store? Maybe the recent opening of the huge Jewel kiddie corner from them will put the final nail in the coffin.

Sounds kind of like a bait and switch to me. We're they ever even planning to have the salmon?

We drove by yesterday and my wife expressed the same sentiment as you - "how can this place still be in business?"

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Dave148 wrote:I don't understand how this place manages to stay in business. In last week's color circular, they advertised fresh salmon for $5.77/lb. I stopped by there on Friday....all out of salmon. "We're expecting a delivery later today" the kid working behind the fish/meat counter informed me. They offered me a rain check. Yippee.

I stopped by there this morning. The store isn't out of my way as my dry cleaner is across the street. Again...no salmon. The guy behind the counter told me that the truck "is running late."

How complicated is it to stock salmon in a grocery store? Maybe the recent opening of the huge Jewel kiddie corner from them will put the final nail in the coffin.

Sounds kind of like a bait and switch to me. We're they ever even planning to have the salmon?

We drove by yesterday and my wife expressed the same sentiment as you - "how can this place still be in business?"

=R=

There was a placeholder in the display cooler for the salmon.

I just go there for some of their produce deals. this week they have blueberries for $0.98/pint and cherries for $0.99/lb. That is usually all I buy and they cant be making any money on that. There are never more than a couple of people in the store. The other one I cant figure out is Fresh Market in Lake Forest.....always empty.

-Will

A good produce promotion will get me in there, and there's a chance I'll pick up a few other produce items while I'm there. Their meat hasn't thrilled me in price or quality (I bought some Italian sausage once that was very mealy -- over processed).

The one thing that keeps me coming in is Brown Cow yogurt singles. Jewel does not carry all the flavors (they say the chocolate "is discontinued" rather than "we've decided not to stock it").

Dave148 wrote:I don't understand how this place manages to stay in business....

How complicated is it to stock salmon in a grocery store? Maybe the recent opening of the huge Jewel kiddie corner from them will put the final nail in the coffin.

This store is tricky and management is likely waiting for the lease expiration, but here is how to buy salmon, grass fed beef and brown cow yogurt on sale: come on Wednesday or Saturday. Don't we all love Brown Cow?

Hi- What makes you think that they are more likely to have sale items in stock on Wednesday or Saturday? Over at mashupmom a few weeks ago, I asked where I could get a good deal on oatmeal. I bought two big containers of Quaker oatmeal at Jewel when they had it on sale for $1.99 a box this last winter, and I had a coupon to use, but I ran out of oatmeal recently, and I was looking for another deal. Jewel does not put oatmeal on sale in the summertime. Rachael over at mashupmom told me that freshthyme had it in their bulk department, and they frequently put it on sale for $.99 a pound. The problem is that I do go to Northbrook at least once a month, but the last time I was in the neighborhood, they did not have oatmeal on sale, and it is not worth my while to make a special trip there from Evanston just to save a couple of dollars on oatmeal. Somebody else suggested I go to Sam's Club. I was in the store today to pick up a prescription, but I forgot to look at the oatmeal.

Once when I was in Valli Produce for one of their one day sales, they had the large boxes of Quaker on sale for $1.69. I decided to get two boxes, and they each had a $.75 coupon attached to them. Valli does not issue rain checks on their one day sale items, and once it is gone, it is gone. When I got my boxes, they only had two boxes remaining. I then decided to go to the restroom, and when I came back my two boxes of oatmeal were no longer in my cart, and the shelves were empty.

Hi- If a store is out of a sale item, I usually ask for a rain check if one is available. The Jewel that is the closest to me is the one on Chicago Ave. in Evanston. They seem to only get their shelves stocked by the night crew, and if there is a really good sale on something, the store shelf will be empty by 10:00 am, and it won't get stocked again until the night crew shows up. Both of the Wilmette Jewels though seem to restock their shelves during the day, and their produce is better than it is at either of the Evanston stores. Hope this helps, Nancy

@NFriday. Their sales start on Wednesday and they expect more traffic on weekends. Since they don't have enough stock it makes perfect sense for them. Actually, they had salmon on Saturday.
Their oatmeal sold by weight is excellent.
Strange store. If I was them I would try to learn from Jerry's. Start with the sign.

Lenny007 wrote:

Dave148 wrote:I don't understand how this place manages to stay in business....

How complicated is it to stock salmon in a grocery store? Maybe the recent opening of the huge Jewel kiddie corner from them will put the final nail in the coffin.

This store is tricky and management is likely waiting for the lease expiration, but here is how to buy salmon, grass fed beef and brown cow yogurt on sale: come on Wednesday or Saturday. Don't we all love Brown Cow?

I don't understand the logic. If you're a retail operation and advertise an item on sale, have it in stock every day. Simple business practice.

Dave148 wrote:

Lenny007 wrote:

Dave148 wrote:I don't understand how this place manages to stay in business....

How complicated is it to stock salmon in a grocery store? Maybe the recent opening of the huge Jewel kiddie corner from them will put the final nail in the coffin.

This store is tricky and management is likely waiting for the lease expiration, but here is how to buy salmon, grass fed beef and brown cow yogurt on sale: come on Wednesday or Saturday. Don't we all love Brown Cow?

I don't understand the logic. If you're a retail operation and advertise an item on sale, have it in stock every day. Simple business practice.

Absolutely. Plus, not having a sale item in stock causes more ill will than the sale produced good will.

I'm sure that people who specifically go to a store to get a sale price on an item will be miffed if it is not available, but that that does not describe most shoppers at the store. Let's be honest, if you only got to the store because they have an item on sale, then you are not a regular shopper there and not a core customer. Any incremental sale they get from your stopping in is a bonus. If they did not advertise the sale, you would not have stopped in which isn't tremendously different from having ill will and not shopping there on principle.

I don't shop circulars. I rotate through a series of stores that generally have what I like and go when it is convenient for me. I buy from what I see is available. If something I was not considering is on sale, then I might make the decision to get it on the spot.

gastro gnome wrote:I'm sure that people who specifically go to a store to get a sale price on an item will be miffed if it is not available, but that that does not describe most shoppers at the store. Let's be honest, if you only got to the store because they have an item on sale, then you are not a regular shopper there and not a core customer. Any incremental sale they get from your stopping in is a bonus. If they did not advertise the sale, you would not have stopped in which isn't tremendously different from having ill will and not shopping there on principle.

I don't shop circulars. I rotate through a series of stores that generally have what I like and go when it is convenient for me. I buy from what I see is available. If something I was not considering is on sale, then I might make the decision to get it on the spot.

They don't know how to sell meat, fish, bread, deli and prepared food. But they stock some unknown drinks. No in-store product tasting. They compete with themselves by selling organic and regular berries almost next to each other. They know how to kill margins. They carry Brown Cow because of Whole Foods. Their corporate HQ is thousands miles away.

But did you know that in former USSR every food store had the same name... "Gastronom" ? Someone should open nice Eurostyle gastronome there after Fresh Thyme is out. Or... Aldi... oyvey no, but maybe Lidl to keep North Shore looking cool.

Hi- I posted on the FB page of mashupmom, and asked if anybody there ever visited the Deerfield store, and I finally got a response back this morning. Rachael does not have very many people from the North Shore posting on her site, but somebody that shops at the Naperville store has the same problems with the store running out of sale items all the time. Rachael who shops at the Downers Grove store then replied that she has had problems with them running out of sale stuff at the Downers Grove store, and she just solves that by shopping at the store on Wednesdays, and she never has that problem, and plus you can hit two sales at the same time. I don't think that Rachael goes there a whole lot though. She used to when her son had food allergies.

BTW- Rachael does at least 75% of her shopping now at Aldi's, and does a how to cook dinner for 4 for $60 a week only shopping at Aldi's. She includes recipes too. Her menus are too focused on meat and cheese and not focused enough on veggies. Here is the latest one though.

http://www.mashupmom.com/free-aldi-meal ... 617-81217/
Hope this helps, Nancy

NFriday wrote:
BTW- Rachael does at least 75% of her shopping now at Aldi's, and does a how to cook dinner for 4 for $60 a week only shopping at Aldi's. She includes recipes too. Her menus are too focused on meat and cheese and not focused enough on veggies. Here is the latest one though.

http://www.mashupmom.com/free-aldi-meal ... 617-81217/
Hope this helps, Nancy

She is a regular main stream simpleton and if someone brought her to Fresh Farms or H-Mart she would experience massive panic attack.

Hi- She does shop at Pete's and Caputo's, but lots of people love her Aldi's meal plan because she lays it all out including the shopping list, and it only takes them 30 minutes to buy the stuff at Aldi's, and the recipes are easy to prepare. Her husband also eats low carb. and so he eats lots of meat, and no bread. They do raise their own chickens too, and so they eat lots of eggs.

NFriday wrote:Hi- She does shop at Pete's and Caputo's, but lots of people love her Aldi's meal plan because she lays it all out including the shopping list, and it only takes them 30 minutes to buy the stuff at Aldi's, and the recipes are easy to prepare. Her husband also eats low carb. and so he eats lots of meat, and no bread. They do raise their own chickens too, and so they eat lots of eggs.

Started with no salmon in struggling Fresh Thyme complains and finished with shopping in Aldi and (possibly) raising chicken. Meanwhile, just couple blocks west hundreds of drivers continue eating Portillo's junk food. And Mickey D is doing pretty good just north of it. Mainstream junk food is a bad neighborhood for fancier Fresh Thyme and any other wanna be.

Lenny007 wrote:Started with no salmon in struggling Fresh Thyme complains and finished with shopping in Aldi and (possibly) raising chicken. Meanwhile, just couple blocks west hundreds of drivers continue eating Portillo's junk food. And Mickey D is doing pretty good just north of it. Mainstream junk food is a bad neighborhood for fancier Fresh Thyme and any other wanna be.

Not to mention Whole Foods just another mile north up Waukegan Road.

=R=

Lenny007 wrote:She is a regular main stream simpleton and if someone brought her to Fresh Farms or H-Mart she would experience massive panic attack.

That seems harsh to me.

Katie wrote:

Lenny007 wrote:She is a regular main stream simpleton and if someone brought her to Fresh Farms or H-Mart she would experience massive panic attack.

That seems harsh to me.

OK, mild panic attack. Similar to visiting unfriendly foreign country.

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Lenny007 wrote:Started with no salmon in struggling Fresh Thyme complains and finished with shopping in Aldi and (possibly) raising chicken. Meanwhile, just couple blocks west hundreds of drivers continue eating Portillo's junk food. And Mickey D is doing pretty good just north of it. Mainstream junk food is a bad neighborhood for fancier Fresh Thyme and any other wanna be.

Not to mention Whole Foods just another mile north up Waukegan Road.

=R=

Mejer owns Fresh Thyme - it explains the choice of location, the purpose and deep pockets. Morons rule until they don't.

The Deerfield Whole Foods I assume does a lot more business than Fresh Thyme does. I don't think Fresh Thyme is bombing because they are right across the street from McDonald's though. I think they are bombing because they don't know how to successfully run a store. There is nothing there to entice people to come into the store. Has anybody tried their grass fed ground beef? Is it any good?

Hi- Fresh Thyme has a good sale going on starting tomorrow. They have fresh ground PB on sale for $1.49 a pound. They also have walnut pieces on sale for $3.99 a pound, and their in store made chicken sausage on sale for $1.99 a pound. Is it any good? They also have a three day sale starting on Friday, where all of their organic produce is 25% off, and some of their organic Coleman's chicken is 50% off. Coleman's was taken over by Purdue a few years ago though, and I question how organic their chicken is. I can't guarantee that their Coleman's chicken is going to be in stock when you go in there this weekend. I've heard that some of their produce goes bad in a few days too. If I lived in the area, I might hit the store this weekend, but it is not worth my while to drive 11 miles to the store, and find out they are out of half of the things I want to buy. Hope this helps, Nancy

Hi- According to their FB page, the Fresh Thyme Deerfield store is closing on May 5th. They are going to start marking stuff down on April 19th.

Starting today (4/19).. everything is 30% off in the Deerfield Fresh Thyme Market store.

Starting Sunday, everything is 50 percent off according to the cashier this afternoon.

Hi- I went to a memorial service in Libertyville this afternoon, and so on my way home, I stopped in at Fresh Thyme. I saw lots of people buying stuff there, but I thought it was really picked over, and I did not see any deals. I came in there to buy some plain yogurt, and they had none. All they had were quarts of vanilla and strawberry yogurt for $4.20 after the discount. My friend that was with me loves cashews, and ended up buying some cashews out of the bulk section, and even at 30% off he looked at his receipt and they were $11 a pound. Hopefully they were organic at that price. They had very little produce left. I did see some frozen turkeys that might be a good deal at 50% off. They had bulk coffee for $10.95 minus the discount I walked out of there empty handed. My friend that bought the cashews does almost all of his grocery shopping at Whole Foods, and did not notice how much the cashews were when he filled his bag. I don't think I am making a return trip there. They are going to be out of stuff long before 5/5. Hope this helps, Nancy

I was thinking that, since they have at least one other location in the area, they'd be crazy not to shift as much as possible to the store that is still open -- or as much as the other store thinks it can sell.