Favorite grocery store?

[jstanthrnme]

Locally, my favorite is crescent market. but I only go there like 1 time a year. Dierbergs, Publix, and Hi-Vee are some of my favorite non-local chains. What I really want to see here in OKC is Trader Joes.

[icemncmth]

IGA May and Hefner
Bestyets in NE Oklahoma
Warehouse Markets

[mark]

Whole foods is just too expensive and they seem to be more concerned about pushing their eco-agenda than just selling food.

this is not necessarily the case. when we lived in florida, we sometimes shopped at whole foods and our total was comparable to what we would spend at publix.

we found we do better when we shop at crest than when we go to walmart, but living in mustang, we only go to crest when we're near a location. i'll definitely drive to 104th and may when they open that one.

[theilluminatedfirefly]

As a single person who doesn't do a huge amount of grocery shopping I usually end up shopping at the Super Target at Memorial and Penn. Nicer than the Super Wal-Mart across the intersection and has a decent selection.

[ddavidson8]

We need a Central Market/Whole Foods/something similar. I dream about it at night.

You're trying to save money?

[ddavidson8]

Not that I don't love Central Market, I do, but it is pricey. Of course one of the big reasons we don't have one is that wine sales aren't allowed outside of liquor stores in Oklahoma, but in Texas it's all good.

[JerzeeGrlinOKC]

You're trying to save money?

Yep, I am. I think its entirely possible to save money while buying quality food, especially if you time it right and don't do all of your shopping there.

Also, if you set portions correctly, you can buy great quality food and save money. This idea that Whole Foods is just expensive and nothing else to me is a myth. I guess yeah, if all you buy is frozen pizza, white bread, and baked beans, its probably not for you.

So far though, all the grocery stores are about the same to me, so I'll shop at Crest for stock goods (and Homeland if I need to make a dish with something fresh). But as soon as a Whole Foods comes in I will probably shop there once or twice a month (and supplement on stock items at cheaper places).

Where there are Whole Foods or similar stores, I can bet you most working people don't do all of their shopping there, but its great to have around for special occasions. Its a real treat. Plus their prepared foods are excellent. Its a nice place for lunch, too.

I'll keep dreaming. Sigh.

[southernskye]

Crescent Market in Austin is my fave store I've ever been in. But I was also very happy to shop in HEB for their "one stop shopping" while on vacation.

Did you mean Central Market in Austin, there isn't a Crescent Market there.

We need a Central Market/Whole Foods/something similar. I dream about it at night.

I would love to have a Central Market/Trader Joe's or a Whole Foods here.

Locally, I don't have a favorite store. We shop at buy for less and Homeland.

HEB is my all time favorite. I could always find what I was looking for there.
When I lived in Houston, I shopped at Fiesta or Kroger and in Seattle, I shopped at QFC or Fred Meyers- both owned by Kroger and at the Whole Foods that was 2 blocks from my house.

[Jon27]

I admit, we shop at Wal-Mart. We go on Friday night when it's usually not as bad. I'm cheap so sorry!

Speaking of my favorite grocery store. It would be the one on Cornwell and 10th right off I-40 in Yukon. It was built as an Albertson's, which the prices were ridiculous then. It became a William's, and is now a Homeland. It is a very very clean store. Great customer service. A Deli, Bakery, and Butcher. Some of the prices are a little high, but compared to taking the time to drive to Wal-Mart to fight the crowds plus the gas makes that extra few cents not hard to swallow. You have to watch Homeland's sale ads. They will surprise you. I've been in many Homeland's that are not very nice, but this one is an exception! One day I will take my Wal-Mart receipt in there, and compare the prices. When I do, I will post it on here.

That would be a good experiment for this forum. Everyone should do their weekly shopping at Wal-Mart, then go to the store of their choice and compare. They did this on News 9 the other night, but I was disappointed because it was between Wal-Mart and Target. We need comparisons between Wal-Mart, and Homeland/Crest/Buy For Less/Others.

[JerzeeGrlinOKC]

I admit, we shop at Wal-Mart. We go on Friday night when it's usually not as bad. I'm cheap so sorry!

Speaking of my favorite grocery store. It would be the one on Cornwell and 10th right off I-40 in Yukon. It was built as an Albertson's, which the prices were ridiculous then. It became a William's, and is now a Homeland. It is a very very clean store. Great customer service. A Deli, Bakery, and Butcher. Some of the prices are a little high, but compared to taking the time to drive to Wal-Mart to fight the crowds plus the gas makes that extra few cents not hard to swallow. You have to watch Homeland's sale ads. They will surprise you. I've been in many Homeland's that are not very nice, but this one is an exception! One day I will take my Wal-Mart receipt in there, and compare the prices. When I do, I will post it on here.

That would be a good experiment for this forum. Everyone should do their weekly shopping at Wal-Mart, then go to the store of their choice and compare. They did this on News 9 the other night, but I was disappointed because it was between Wal-Mart and Target. We need comparisons between Wal-Mart, and Homeland/Crest/Buy For Less/Others.

I think this is a neat idea SuperChris, however, there are some things to consider that a total receipt compare doesn't necessarily show. I encourage you to at least consider the following (which according to your post it seems you somewhat already have):

1.) Did you buy fresh produce or meats? How does your satisfaction compare (did things from store A rot before things from store B? How did they look when you bought them?)

2.) I assume you will make a grocery list. Did you find the items you needed? If you could not find them, did you make substitutions? Were you satisfied with your substitutions?

3.) How did you feel when you left the store? Stressed? Angry? Happy? I.e. the emotional costs of shopping - life is short!

4.) This you can't really quantify because its sort of unknown - but do consider - how does this purchase affect the local economy?

Also please do list what you bought. I think that some people will save at Walmart, and some will not. It really depends what you buy and how much of the above you factor in to your "costs".

I look forward to your experiment! I would do the same but I am scatter brained when it comes to shopping and don't buy the same things twice (it depends what I'm cooking).

[Lauri101]

JerzeeGrl - you stated the most compelling reaon of all for me NOT to go to Wal-Mart -

How did you feel when you left the store? Stressed? Angry? Happy? I.e. the emotional costs of shopping - life is short!

I leave Wal-Mart exhausted, angry and disgusted with my fellow human beings. I have done an experiment as SuperChris suggested and the overall difference was approximately $5 less at Wal-Mart than Homeland. (Sorry - I didn't keep the list of items, but it was standard milk, bread, eggs, fresh produce, some meat, canned goods, deli and fish) Thank goodness, $5 a week is not a make or break for the two of us!

After I leave the Homeland in Del City, I feel relieved and usually have a smile on my face because the checker cracked a joke or one of the customer assistors helped me carry out my bags.

I go to Target when they have sales on paper towels and toilet paper, and I buy pet food much more cheaply at PetSmart. All of our prescriptions are at Target also, so we have no compelling reason to shop at Wal-Mart.

[Jon27]

I think this is a neat idea SuperChris, however, there are some things to consider that a total receipt compare doesn't necessarily show. I encourage you to at least consider the following (which according to your post it seems you somewhat already have):

1.) Did you buy fresh produce or meats? How does your satisfaction compare (did things from store A rot before things from store B? How did they look when you bought them?)

2.) I assume you will make a grocery list. Did you find the items you needed? If you could not find them, did you make substitutions? Were you satisfied with your substitutions?

3.) How did you feel when you left the store? Stressed? Angry? Happy? I.e. the emotional costs of shopping - life is short!

4.) This you can't really quantify because its sort of unknown - but do consider - how does this purchase affect the local economy?

Also please do list what you bought. I think that some people will save at Walmart, and some will not. It really depends what you buy and how much of the above you factor in to your "costs".

I look forward to your experiment! I would do the same but I am scatter brained when it comes to shopping and don't buy the same things twice (it depends what I'm cooking).

I agree with the emotional cost. When we go to Wal-Mart, we do leave exhausted! Like I said though, I'm cheap, luckily my wife can look past this!

As far as comparing fresh produce, and meats. I agree with that too. Those are sometimes an unfair comparison between stores. We buy our meat (except Hamburger) and produce at Homeland. Wal-Mart's meat is so full of fat most of the time, and Homeland's produce is fresher most of the time. Most of the things I want to compare would be normal items, say Coke, Chips, Cheese, etc. Hopefully I can do this in the next week or so.

[ddavidson8]

HEB is my all time favorite. I could always find what I was looking for there.
When I lived in Houston, I shopped at Fiesta or Kroger and in Seattle, I shopped at QFC or Fred Meyers- both owned by Kroger and at the Whole Foods that was 2 blocks from my house.

I live in Houston and am struggling to find the best grocery store in terms of quality and price. My three easiest options are Wal-Mart, Kroger (I left of the s so as not to annoy the earlier poster) and H-E-B. What would be your choice for a value/quality store.

[ddavidson8]

As to the emotional cost at Wal-Mart, I hate the thought of dealing with their parking lots.

[southernskye]

I live in Houston and am struggling to find the best grocery store in terms of quality and price. My three easiest options are Wal-Mart, Kroger (I left of the s so as not to annoy the earlier poster) and H-E-B. What would be your choice for a value/quality store.

When I lived down there, they just started getting the HEB Pantry stores and and the closest one to Pasadena was in Pearland so we didn't go often. If the HEB is the normal big HEB, I would pick that one over the others, but that is just me.
We go to Austin often to see my daughter and I will buy things there and bring back to OKC. Most often its tortillas(HEB store brand tortillas are .99 and the mission ones here are over 2.00) and the marinated fajita meat but there are other things I can't find here that I buy down there.

[ddavidson8]

Yes, there are a lot more of the larger sized, but not central market, H-E-Bs opening up. When I moved here in 02 I mostly saw the pantries. I didn't like the look of them and didn't go there. However, I like the newer designs and they advertise as being much cheaper than Kroger (no s). I do know that the t-bones they advertise are nothing more than bone in strip steaks. There's little to know filet on the other side of the bone.

[jsibelius]

My favorite one in Dallas was Market Street (done by the United chain). Their motto is "Where everyday meets gourmet". It wasn't as expensive as Central Market and a step above the Signature Kroger stores. They always carry your bags out and as a mom of little ones, that's a big plus for me.

I loved when United started building the Market Street stores. Now that United Oklahoma is going away (I think? Didn't Homeland buy them?), maybe United Texas will move in and bring a Market Street store here. They really are nice stores. I miss United. They had EVERYTHING I needed and I never had to go anywhere else to buy groceries. And their prices were lower than Wal-Mart for the things I buy. But the best part was the concept they added - the store itself was beautiful instead of being just grocery-functional. Even the lighting was nice. I could get some decent Italian food made on a grill right in front of me. And on a good day, I could even catch Bobby Knight throwing a salad at the University Chancellor. (Okay, I wasn't there the day that last thing happened, but I heard about it later. Awesome!)

[GWB]

Did you mean Central Market in Austin, there isn't a Crescent Market there.


I would love to have a Central Market/Trader Joe's or a Whole Foods here.

Locally, I don't have a favorite store. We shop at buy for less and Homeland.

HEB is my all time favorite. I could always find what I was looking for there.
When I lived in Houston, I shopped at Fiesta or Kroger and in Seattle, I shopped at QFC or Fred Meyers- both owned by Kroger and at the Whole Foods that was 2 blocks from my house.

We also shopped at QFC and occasionally at FM when we lived in Seattle. My favorite market in Seattle was Larry's Market (now HT Oaktree Market) on Aurora Ave N. This place is a lot like Whole Foods with lots of gourmet foods, fresh seafood, excellent bakery with pastries, butcher shop, prepared foods (all top quality), etc. You ever shop there?

When we lived in Minneapolis and St Paul our favorite market was Byerly's. This place was first class all the way around. Most all of their stores are carpeted and they even have crystal chandeliers if you can believe that. I copied this from a website I found.

Company Information: An excursion to this grocery store can be viewed as an adventure of culinary discovery and amazement. Twin Citians have always considered Byerly's to be a tourist attraction, not just a haven for coupon clippers. This large multiplex houses a family restaurant, a cooking school, a bank branch, a scrumptious chocolate store, a specialty coffee shop and a gift store selling everything from greeting cards and candles to inexpensive trinkets and exorbitantly priced sculptures. Also included in this out-of-the-ordinary food shop is a full service meat and seafood department, bakery, deli, pharmacy and photo lab, a Post Office and a takeout counter featuring Chinese cuisine and sushi. Unlike most supermarkets, you will find crystal chandeliers, original art and carpeted aisles. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable and you can even make an appointment with an in-store home economist. Be forewarned, the prices here merit the plush decor.

Our family loved shopping there on Saturdays because they gave free samples of many of the gourmet foods they sell. We would go in around lunch time and shop and eat at the same time. It was a fun place to shop and a great place to take out of town family and friends.

[Jon27]

Wal-Mart vs. Homeland

I did the comparison. This was our grocery list from Wal-Mart on Friday. I took out several items that Wal-Mart had, but Homeland didn't. The results are shocking. For me, even though Wal-Mart is stressful, it's worth the > $25 savings!

walmart vs homeland - Google Docs

[JerzeeGrlinOKC]

Wal-Mart vs. Homeland

I did the comparison. This was our grocery list from Wal-Mart on Friday. I took out several items that Wal-Mart had, but Homeland didn't. The results are shocking. For me, even though Wal-Mart is stressful, it's worth the > $25 savings!

walmart vs homeland - Google Docs

Actually I'm not shocked, not one bit. The items you listed would probably be cheaper at Walmart compared to Homeland. Can't honestly say we eat the same foods. Out of that list, I'd say I'd buy the milk (which was cheaper at Walmart) and the baby carrots (which were slightly cheaper at Homeland).

But we're all different, that's the benefit of being an American Omnivore right?

Given what you listed, I would try to compare the prices more with Crest. If I were to buy those items and were looking to save money, Crest would be the place I think compares better. I bet you'll be surprised! Maybe I'm wrong.

All in all this experiment was interesting, but as I mentioned before, I think savings will vary depending on what you buy and what you value. Sounds like you found your answer, which is fine.

[JerzeeGrlinOKC]

I agree with the emotional cost. When we go to Wal-Mart, we do leave exhausted! Like I said though, I'm cheap, luckily my wife can look past this!

As far as comparing fresh produce, and meats. I agree with that too. Those are sometimes an unfair comparison between stores. We buy our meat (except Hamburger) and produce at Homeland. Wal-Mart's meat is so full of fat most of the time, and Homeland's produce is fresher most of the time. Most of the things I want to compare would be normal items, say Coke, Chips, Cheese, etc. Hopefully I can do this in the next week or so.

Oh whoops, ok so I guess you buy more than was on that list. I was thinking earlier you probably need a little more fiber in your diet if all you ate was on that list.

Anyhoo, thanks for listing the prices.

[Jon27]

Oh whoops, ok so I guess you buy more than was on that list. I was thinking earlier you probably need a little more fiber in your diet if all you ate was on that list.

Anyhoo, thanks for listing the prices.

Yeah, a lot of the stuff we bought this week were frozen foods. We are trying to stay away from eating out. We buy easy things to make for maybe 1 weeknight a week, and meals on the weekends. You are right about the differences in the foods you buy, but Homeland is more expensive on most things. I wish we had a Crest in Yukon! When we lived in NW OKC, we went to the Crest on 15th and Santa Fe in Edmond. There is quite a price difference. I'm glad you enjoyed my post though! My wife was getting into us going around the store with the list just writing down prices! It's fun to see the differences!

[Lauri101]

Thanks, SuperChris - interesting comparison

I think my main difference is that I buy a lot of the Homeland store brands. We have tried and found things like milk, margarine, cheese, etc to be comparable in quality. Frozen items are way more expensive at Homeland - we don't buy much of that except Blue Bell.

I have to admit, if there was a $25 difference, I'd probably still stick to Homeland. If I have to get something only available at Wal-Mart, I go at 5 AM to avoid dealing with parking lot, screaming children and other annoyances.

[JerzeeGrlinOKC]

Thanks, SuperChris - interesting comparison

I think my main difference is that I buy a lot of the Homeland store brands. We have tried and found things like milk, margarine, cheese, etc to be comparable in quality. Frozen items are way more expensive at Homeland - we don't buy much of that except Blue Bell.

I have to admit, if there was a $25 difference, I'd probably still stick to Homeland. If I have to get something only available at Wal-Mart, I go at 5 AM to avoid dealing with parking lot, screaming children and other annoyances.

Have to agree with you there. I would think to put a $20 fee - a price to pay NOT to go to Walmart. $25 bucks is alot though SuperChris, and if this is what you buy on a regular basis it makes sense to keep going there. But yeah like Lauri101 I don't buy alot of frozen food and I do buy store brand for simple items.

So SuperChris, are there any other stores in Yukon besides Homeland and Walmart? I don't know much of what is out there (I do remember passing the Albertson's when I used to do fieldwork out there - assuming that is the Homeland you went to). Just curious. Glad you had fun doing the comparison though!

I'm thinking I might post one of these in a bit (I'll be away for a month on business though, I'll do it in May sometime). I would like to make a list of the items I buy, a price comparison, a quality description if one is valid, etc. I think I am going to compare Walmart, Super Target, Crest, and Homeland.

***My hypothesis is, I bet if you look at fresh foods mostly (produce, dairy, meats/fish), the prices won't be that different***

[JerzeeGrlinOKC]

One more thought - I also think, in general, if you buy mostly fresh food, food costs less in general (especially per pound). We buy food (we're just a couple, no kids), cook up about 4 meals for the week and store the rest as leftovers for lunches or in the freezer for longer term. We eat out about twice a week (two dinners). Our grocery costs are usually about $75 a week (including a bottle of wine a week). We shop at Crest and Homeland, with occasional pickups from Forward Foods and Avalon seafood on May.

Then again, depending on what you do for a living and what constraints you have, time = money, and therefore buying food that you have to cook from scratch, might not cost less overall. Or if you dislike cooking as much as I dislike Walmart, then its not worth your time to cook and your better off buying pre-cooked. Life is short - gotta consider "costs".

For reference though, I don't have children, but I do work 60 hours a week plus go to school. I love cooking though. Its one of my hobbies/de-stressers.