Huh. The Whole Foods here is in the most frigging expensive shopping district we’ve got. The customers just make me want to run off with their cars and wallets.
Don’t forget Han Ah Reum in Fairfax too. There’s also a Wegman’s out in Loudoun co. with a new one supposedly coming to Fairfax soon. There’s also an Aldi in Alexandria, in the Fairfax co. side.
I used to do my shopping at Shopper’s and Harris Teeter. Shopper’s was right down the street and cheap, with lots of Asian, Hispanic, and Middle Eastern goods.
Now I get to shop at HEB and Super Wally World. We have a local supermarkt, Bauman’s, but it’s only really good for the butcher. I also worship at the Central Market.
Chicago 'burbs (NW)
Jewel
Dominicks
Meijer
Whole Foods
Aldi
Trader Joe’s
Cub
Piggly Wiggly
Well, in my immediate area, there is just Price Chopper (IMO, the best overall grocery store EVER,) and Tops. Tops are the ghetto-est stores on the face of the planet. I have been to some ghetto WInn-Dixie’s in Florida, and the best Tops is worse than the worse Winn-Dixie. The ailes are always filthy, the selection is poor, and probably pretty old (the Tops right near me used to be a Grand Union, and they went bankrupt four years ago, and i’m sure some of the food from the grand Union is still in there.)
If I expand the region to include “The Northeast”, then I also have Stop n’ Shop (Or maybe Shop 'n Save? Both?), Hannaford, and Shaw’s. There were Grand Unions all over the damn place, but, well, that chain went by-bye, although there is the occaisional Grand Union STore, or something to that effect, which I think are either stores that were boguht by the local owner, or someone bought the name to use after the company went away.
Oh, and Shagnasty: there are no P-chops in Boston? I thought they were all over NY and New England.
Hereabouts we have H-E-B, which has spoiled me for any other supermarket around. I’ve no stake in the company, but I’ve always received amazing service, and am very happy that they’ve not hopped aboard the loyalty card bandwagon. Acme, Krogers, Giant, Eagle, and others I’ve encountered in my travels make me appreciate it even if I can’t get a case of birch beer.
There are also Albertsons and Randalls, the former of which is generally crummy and the latter, pricey.
This being Austin, there are also several Whole Foods (including the new corportate HQ/flagship coming downtown), 2 Central Markets (owned by H-E-B), a couple Sun Harvest (which is owned by some regional or national chain these days, but I can’t think of the name), a Fiesta, as well as a handful of Co-ops I can’t walk into for fear of being sniffed out as having voted Repubican a few times.
Right around here ('twixt Napa and Vallejo) we have Raley’s, Safeway, Albertsons, Food4Less, Nob Hill, Costco, Trader Joe’s, and Vallerga’s; there are smaller places in some neighborhoods. In the parts of the Greater San Francisco Bay Area that I’ve been to, I’ve also seen Lucky, Whole Foods, Andronico’s, Pak ‘n’ Save (or is it Pay ‘n’ Save? The one in Berkeley had the letters in squares), Cala Foods, and… others?
Well there’s also some Wild Oats stores in Saugus and Andover.
I’m not Shagnasty, but the only Price Chopper in the Boston area is out on Route 1 in Walpole. They’re primarily a west-of-Worcester chain – I think their corporate offices are in Springfield.
Here in Western Washington (and within an 8 mile radius of my house) we have:
Albertson’s
Safeway
Larry’s Market (upscale gourmet type)
Whole Foods
PCC (Hippy Co-op)
Trader Joe’s
Fred Meyer - I guess this counts sinc eit does have a gorcery component
QFC (Quality Food Center)
Uwajimaya - A chain of Asian supermarkets
A wide selection of Indian markets
A few Mexican markets
We used to shop at Safeway when I was growing up in Washington, D.C. I always had the impression the area was a duopoly between Safeway and Giant, although I don’t know how accurate that is. Here in London, I usually go to the Waitrose on Marylebone High Street.
As has been noted, Netherlands-based Ahold owns Tops, as well as Stop & Shop, Giant and Peapod. The company just sold Bi-Lo and Bruno’s to Lone Star Funds, a private-equity house. Delhaize Group, located in Brussels, owns Food Lion, Hannaford, Kash n’ Karry (which is being rebranded as Sweetbay Supermarket) and Harveys.
How long ago was this? They still have the lion’s share of the market but I don’t think they’ve had a duopoly in that time that I’ve been here. A bunch of the old cube-shaped Safeway stores dating from the '50s are now Mom & Pop operations and there’s all the other chains metioned earlier.
In Kansas City:
Hy-Vee, Hen House, Sunfresh, and Price Chopper
Central Valley, CA
Nugget
Safeway
Albertsons
Roadside markets
…
…
and WalMart.
Haha pubic market
There’s a Grand Union in Valatie. I worked there two summers ago. It’s a very small chain owned by a larger company whose name I have forgotten (the name on the paychecks was GU Markets). I can’t remember where the rest of the GU Markets were, though.
Don’t take this with any kind of attitude on my part, but no, there isn’t. Publix is only in FL, GA, AL, SC, and TN currently.
Anyway, in my area I have several to choose from.
The ones I shop at:
[ol][li]Publix, where I do almost all of my shopping. Clean, well-lit, excellent customer service and fresh departments.[/li][li]SuperTarget, where I go for the things that the local Publixes don’t / can’t carry. Similarly clean and well-lit, with helpful associates.[/ol][/li]
The ones I won’t touch:
[ol][li]Albertson’s: Always seems to have this weird smell, and overpriced. Has a club card, which I hate – without the card, everything is too expensive.[/li][li]Kash 'n Karry: Dirty and unpleasant. Currently being rebranded as Sweetbay, which isn’t all that different from Kash 'n Karry, once you see it. Again, club card, and the rudest employees I’ve found.[/li][li]Super Wal-Mart: political reasons, as well as cleanliness issues. Cheapest, but not worth it as long as I can afford not to shop there.[/li][li]Winn-Dixie: ugh. What ivylass said. Like Kash 'n Karry, but absolutely filthy. Club card too, and if you don’t have it you’ll pay through the nose. My brother worked in one long ago, and I will never shop in one again. Especially his.[/li][li]Save-A-Lot: only the truly poor shop in this one, as a rule.[/li][*]U-Save: see Save-A-Lot[/ol]
The markets in Denver are probably the same as those in Colorado Springs, though I would add Whole Foods (Whole Paycheck, I like to call it), Wild Oats, and Sunflower market. There’s only one Sunflower in Colorado, but it’s the only market that reminds me somewhat of my favorite grocery store ever: Berkeley Bowl, in Berkeley. I desperately miss Berkeley Bowl.