Quote Originally Posted by zookeeper View Post
But let's get real. What is "better" than some of those I posted when it comes to shopping for groceries? Do fancy wall hangings, fountains, chandeliers, really make for "better" groceries? We don't live in these places, we go their for groceries! I agree that just because some have nothing doesn't mean we can't want, but it adds a perspective to those who act like they are really destroyed because they don't have (whatever) at their grocery store. I guess I just don't get it. It reeks of snobbery and lack of gratitude that we already have many places to shop. Notice I said places - not palaces. To me, it's just more of the grass is always greener syndrome. It's always better if it's not here. Hyperbole is the theme of this thread and "suck ass" is hardly how I would describe most of the grocery stores I've been shopping in lately. Maybe this is a generational thing. I don't see a lot of us over 55 worrying about this.
I'll break it down for you. This is based off of my experiences from shopping at Ralph's, Costco, Gelson's, Tom Thumb, HEB, and Central Market stores.

Buy for Less, the majority of Crest stores, Homeland, Walmart, are half-rate stores.

Uptown Market is okay. It's small though. Doesn't have the selection of the ones I mentioned in my first sentence. The new Uptown Grocery on May might bigger than the one in Edmond, but it's still going to be small.

Sprouts, Natural Grocers, and Trader Joe's are specialty stores. Not full service grocery stores like Tom Thumb.

Whole Foods is a rip off. I wouldn't care to see them leave the OKC Market. To me, the only reason we are using using the term "high-end" grocery store is because they charge so much. The only comparable grocer I can think of is Gelson's which is pretty expensive.

Super Cao Nguyen is cool, but it needs a bad remodel inside. But it is a really cool grocery store and I'm glad OKC has it.

From what I've seen of WinCo, it's your typical shop in bulk grocery store.

Target is okay, again, it's more hassle than it's worth to do grocery shopping there seeing as like 60 or 70% of the store is clothes and other items besides food. Same thing as Walmart which is all Target really is, is a slightly better Walmart.

This isn't a grass is greener syndrome. Cabela's, REI, IKEA, that is a grass is greener syndrome. How many times a month are you going to go to one of those stores vs. a grocery store? Literally, OKC's grocery scene could be fixed with 4 things that are completely realistic and achievable. 1. Costco opening up two metro stores to compete with Sam's. 2. Homeland getting bought out by say Tom Thumb and their stores being extensively remodeled to the Tom Thumb standard or Kroger. 3. Crest remodeling their existing stores to their new Fresh Market standards and adding 3-4 stores to fill in the gaps between the Homeland's that were converted to Kroger. 4. A full sized downtown grocery store.

That is a not a lot to ask for, and quite frankly, that downtown grocer can wait another 3-4 years. But that is all it would take. Virtually every other city over half a million has that with the exception of a downtown grocer. Wichita has a Costco for crying out loud.