Nope. That would be Raley’s. I don’t care if their prices are higher, I value maintaining my sanity over saving a few bucks. Plus, the employees are always nice and helpful and they have a kickass natural foods section. Considering 75% of my groceries come from the natural foods section, it’s worth the extra money.
Man, I feel left out hearing about all these grocery chains (although maybe I should be glad we don’t have Albertson’s here). In metro Detroit we seem to only have Kroger and Farmer Jack; I go to Kroger.
I recall the great pride Albertson’s/Lucky took in announcing how you didn’t have to join a “club” to get the savings (lording it over Safeway, who, IIRC, had followed said Lucky into the whole “Preferred Shopper Card” routine). About six months later, after the merger of Albertson’s and Lucky, they quietly re-introduced the PSC cards. :rolleyes:
Who here remembers the “Three’s a Crowd” (three in a line, they’d open a new line) guarantee from the late lamented Lucky? Of course, that never applied to “rush” hours. Hmmm.
Hmmm. Our Albertson’s still doesn’t have the stupid cards. Maybe it’s trickling down the coast.
I just have to put up with the head cashier who likes to talk to other people while she’s ringing up my stuff. And she’s not a good multitasker either. More than once she has stopped in midpass, wondering whether she was supposed to take the money in her hand or give it to me. I have not taken advantage of this…yet.
Gawds, Redhawke, I’m still in mourning over Lucky’s.
singular1, thanks for the counterpoint.
I think I’m going to try doing the in-store pick up once, to see how it goes. Depending on the service, maybe I’ll elect delivery. Or maybe I’ll just keep on going to Ralph’s like I always do…
Holy smokes, that’s exactly like that Law And Order episode where a schizophrenic with a sword kills a bunch of people in a fashion shop. Eerie.
Amen, brother. You can’t beat H.E.B. with a stick. Although FWIW I’ve never run into major problems on the occasions I shop at a Texas Albertson’s.
Last year I had a long conversation with a senior pharmacy manager at HEB about privacy issues - especially concerning discount cards. He explained that HEB doesn’t have them because they determined that Texans wouldn’t stand for 'em.
Another reason to like Texas.
Can’t stand Albertson’s. I went there twice, I think. Once because I’d never been there and it was the closest place for me to cash a check, once because my roommate wanted to try it out.
Eeugh.
I don’t know what it is about that place, but it’s echhy inside. I think it might be the cheap-looking beige decor. Usually beige is a nice way of making things look classy, but this was like stapling frat boys to the walls. It was laid out weirdly, the salesfolk were all mindless little nitwits…
HEB is the best ever. Cheap, efficient, friendly. And then they have the special HEBs! Central Market, how I love thee, oh land of foreign food, organic produce, ten kinds of grapes, a big stand of sugarcane, an entire kosher section (Kosher hotdogs = bliss), dinner-for-two-in-a-box…
The lines aren’t always great, but if there’s more than four people in one, it’s a marvel. It’s probably also the last Friday of the month, 6:00 pm on the dot, at the Riverside/Pleasant Valley location.
Only gripe: They close off the cosmetics/fluffy girl stuff section at 9 pm every night. And at any other time of day, you have to buy the stuff at the cosmetics register, which never, ever, EVER has anyone standing by it. You have to stand there and tap a foot and look at your watch until someone runs over, giving you the Look Of Death because you interrupted her flirting with the stock boy.
That and they run out of Arizona Green Tea sometimes. But their HEB brand generic colas are superiffic.