West Coat person here. If I am going to the nearest store I may just say that I am going to the store. If I am going to a larger store I will call it by name, Safeway, Freddies (for Fred Meyer a Kroger outlet). Costco.
The only time I have refered it to as a market my parents were playing with my toes and the little one went wee, wee, all the way home
It wasn’t broken down by region, but there was a poll in the Polls Only thread.
I’m a SoCal native (born nearly 72 yrs ago), and I sometimes call it the market. But I also call it “the store” or “the grocery.” “The store” is probablly the most common.
If I mean a farmer’s market, I will say a farmer’s market. Or the Asian market, or the Middle Eastern market, or the Italian market, or or or…
I live in NYC and I’ve only heard “I’m going to the market” to specifically refer to going to Westside Market. Any other store would be referred to by the store name. (Just saying “the store” would be too confusing because there are way too many places that could be.) “I’m going to Trader Joe’s” or “I’m going to Fairway.”
Actually now that I think about it, I may have also heard “the market” to refer to Fairway as well since its full name is Fairway Market.
Lifelong California native here. Grew up in southern California, live in northern California now.
It’s always been “going to the store” for me and everybody else I know. Unless it’s the specific store, like Lucky or Safeway.
I hadn’t given this any thought before! “I’m going to the store” means I’m going to the Albertson’s a few blocks away. For any other store, I say the name, and if I’m planning to trek alllll the way up to the newer, slightly better stocked Albertson’s two miles away, it’s “I’m going to the bougie Albertson’s.”
I’m in California and the only time I hear the word “market” without a qualifier like “farmer’s” is when it is used in a business sense at work (ie: noun When does this product go to market? verb How do I market this?) The Market is the stock exchange.
Heh, my roommate just got back this morning and said she “picked up some things from the market.” (meaning Fairway)
Maybe it is a NYC thing the writers used.
Am I the only person who says “I’m going to the grocery?”
That’s the terminology I’ve used my whole life, living in NC and NYC. Not store, not grocery store, just grocery.
Depends on context. If I’m talking to a family member for whom I might reasonably pick something up, it’s “Aldi” (or whatever other store). Which specific store it is is relevant, because one gets different things from different stores (mostly only a non-Aldi store if it’s for something that Aldi doesn’t carry, because Aldi is both cheaper and conveniently located).
On the other hand, sitting in the break room at work, I’m more likely to say “Hey, I ran into one of our students yesterday at the grocery store”. Here, the generic term is more useful, because the folks I’m talking to likely have different store preferences than my family, but they still go to some grocery store or other.
No, that’s what I’d say and I go to a lot. Groceries visited in the last month:
H-Mart;
Shop & Save;
Fresh Farm;
Tony’s;
Jewel (Albertsons);
Mariano’s (Kroger);
Seafood City;
Aldi;
Caputo’s;
Jerry’s;
Trader Joe’s;
Deli4U.
“Going to the store” means Stater Bros. or Vons. Trader Joe’s, Sprouts, Target or any other grocery store gets identified by name.
This goes for me too. Usually I would say “the grocery store” and sometimes just “the store”. I’m not a native but I’ve lived in California (Bay Area) for 25 years.
I just finished a Jonathan Carroll novel set in Los Angeles and published in 1996. Several times one character or another mentions going to get groceries, and every time referred to it as “the market.”
Idjit authors; total suspension of disbelief FAIL!!! Too many NYC people in that biz. 
Yeah, Carroll did grow up in NYC.