Favorite Grocery

[monsoon]

DAM! 

I use that platform ALL THE TIME... and never once thought about all that stuff, but you are RIGHT!!!!!

I think i may go clean all the stuff in my fridge right now... and shower.  BLECH!

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Yeah, I agree. People for the most part don't realize how nasty those baby seats are. I notice that Bilo and Lowes are now providing sterilizing wipes by the doors for this concern. No such luck in Foodlion and the Harris Teeter. Don't know about Winn Dixie or Aldo.

[StevenRocks]

Don't know about Winn Dixie or Aldo.

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Winn-Dixie and cleanliness aren't usually hand-in-hand. That's why they're suffering.

[ezcheese]

Winn-Dixie and cleanliness aren't usually hand-in-hand.  That's why they're suffering.

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lol, "The dirty beef people!"

[monsoon]

lol, "The dirty beef people!"

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Actually that would be Food Lion if you remember the now famous Diane Sawyer expose on Food Lion's meat dept.

[StevenRocks]

Actually that would be Food Lion if you remember the now famous Diane Sawyer expose on Food Lion's meat dept.

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I remeber that story on PrimeTimeLIVE. That helped kill off Food Lion's expansion into Texas, which was already pretty shaky without the prospect of Clorox-flavored meat.

WD and Food Lion are both a little nasty, especially in rural areas where no one's looking and people have fewer choices. The last few years, Food Lion has gotten bettter, but WD is still gross.

[peaceloveunderstanding]

yea, I don't trust food lion. I shop Lowes and Teeter.

There is a Win Dixie in weddington that is horrendous. I go in there and it is quite dark, not good at all for a store. The ground is also this ugly peach color. I do not understand how they expect to keep good business.

[QC704]

I think there was an Ingles store until recently in Lexington and there still is one i believe in Thomasville, not too far from the triad area.

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There's an ingles in Bessemer City which is a suburb of Gastonia. It's right off the interstate too so it's accessible.

[QC704]

By the way...my favorites is lowe's followed closely by the teeter. There's also a very nice Bi-Lo store in Gastonia that is on par with any teeter or lowe's.

[monsoon]

yea, I don't trust food lion. I shop Lowes and Teeter.

There is a Win Dixie in weddington that is horrendous. I go in there and it is quite dark, not good at all for a store. The ground is also this ugly peach color. I do not understand how they expect to keep good business.

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There are other threads on the forum that indicate that Winn Dixie is in bankrupcy now. They really dropped the ball on how to operate a store. Seems they are trying to compete on the low end and the high end at the same time and it confuses their customers.

[peaceloveunderstanding]

yea, when I was younger I looked for a job there. I just walked out saying 'this is not how you run a business'

[DigitalSky]

I posted this on another thread, but may as well post it here. It's a very comprehensive (and still under construction) list of Charlotte grocery stores from the 1930s to the present. Its done by address, I think the guy did a very good job with it.

http://www.groceteria.com/charlotte/address-spreadsheet.html

[StevenRocks]

That's the work of David Gwynn. He's also the first guy to put information about Carolina Circle Mall in Greensboro online with "The Ghost Mall"

I agree. Groceteria is a very well-done site.

[charlotte_bon_vivant]

There are other threads on the forum that indicate that Winn Dixie is in bankrupcy now.  They really dropped the ball on how to operate a store.  Seems they are trying to compete on the low end and the high end at the same time and it confuses their customers.

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Or maybe it's the rotting asparagus left to fester in its own juices. Most WD stores I've seen just leave food out to rot. It's worse than Super Mal-Wart where I've actually seen food with mold on it. Gross.

My pick for Charlotte is either HT or Fresh Market. They're yuppie and expensive, but clean. And I've yet to see any rotting produce at either store. Home Economist is nice, too. I prefer to go there for organics and such. They have excellent prices. I wonder how Whole Foods will affect their business.

I like 2 farmer's markets here. The one that's held at Center City and one off King's Rd. next to a convenience store. I bought the best salmon there. It was so fresh. I've only been to Earth Fare once. I like it, but haven't investigated the store much.

[cosmoboy]

This is really random-----but I would love to see Publix here in NC. they like to specialize in urban stores, which I might add are tastefully designed. If they came here that would be a major punch to Harris Teeter. Publix specializes in all types of markets---wealthy, middle class, and rarely poor areas. I think they would fit in just fine here.

But I love Harris Teeter alot!

[MZT]

In California there are so many organic stores, that the prices aren't much more than a regular grocery. But can't I get myself to pay Home Economist's prices.

Guess I'm alternating between Bi-Lo and HT right now.

[peaceloveunderstanding]

I posted this on another thread, but may as well post it here. It's a very comprehensive (and still under construction) list of Charlotte grocery stores from the 1930s to the present. Its done by address, I think the guy did a very good job with it.

http://www.groceteria.com/charlotte/address-spreadsheet.html

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Wow, why would someone make such a site? Its pretty cool.

[cosmoboy]

Wow, why would someone make such a site? Its pretty cool.

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Yeah that's why I wondered? I guess for threads like this!

[archiham04]

Seriously. In Asheville, they should be making a much bigger deal out of the fact that it's locallyowned. Any money that you spend at Ingles in Asheville, stays in Asheville.

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EarthFare is another locally owned Asheville success story. They aren't as big as Ingles yet, but their stores are really good and will compete well in the organic/gourmet market

[monsoon]

Its interesting that Piggly Wiggly and Safeway both had stores in Charlotte in the past. I did not know that.

[DigitalSky]

Its interesting that Piggly Wiggly and Safeway both had stores in Charlotte in the past.  I did not know that.

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I was surprised to see that too, especially Safeway

[StevenRocks]

A&P, Piggly Wiggly and Safeway were in most larger cities until after World War II. The need for larger supermarkets forced them to scale back stores to what they could cost-effectively distribute to.

[Mike1]

Okay I'm SHOCKED by all of the support for HT. I'm moving down to Charlotte from New Jersey in a few days and will be living in South Charlotte. I've been down to Charlotte at least a dozen times and have always been SHOCKED by the PRICES $$$$$ at HT. Don't get me wrong they have REALLY nice stores, BUT aren't there any other grocery stores that maybe aren't as fancy have good produce (and of course all the other things we buy at grocery stores) but at MUCH more reasonable PRICES???

If I shop at HT every week for all my groceries my food bills will be at least 25% more than up in New Jersey. I don't know if up north there is just more competition driving prices lower or what, but there is definitely a difference.

Please let me know if anyone can recommend any places to shop in south Charlotte.

Thanks!

P.S. - I can't wait to move to CLT next week!!!

[f0xym0p]

What shocks me is that everyone seems to think HTs are so nice and fancy. Yeah that one near SouthPark is really nice, but as for the others I've been to (Central, Park Rd., Cotswold, University), I'm certainly not impressed with that aspect. Someone mentioned the great service at HT--usually there isn't even anyone to bag my groceries, much less offer to take them out to the car. I think HT generally has a better selection than the other stores, but by no means does it feel upscale. I shop there because it's nearby and it's the best I have around, but I don't think it's that great. I would prefer Lowe's Foods.

As for South Charlotte, it seems like HT is the only grocery store there, besides places like Earth Fare and Whole Foods, and those are more expensive than HT.

[parkave231]

I got a bad taste in my mouth for HT back when I lived in Atlanta. The opened up one of their stores right down the street from my house. At the time, I was working at Cub Foods (bigger up in Minnesota), and the buzz there, and at Kroger and Publix, was that we needed to go more upscale, and FAST. We added a larger wine section with the wine person (can't remember what they are called!), a cigar selection, and other things to compete with the "upscale" HT.

We actually did go into the HT a few times since it's the closest store to our house. It's just like the one in the Arboretum. I was unimpressed by the dingy floors and general darkness of the store. And the prices were a bit more, but I don't think they were necessarily oppressive. But, taken as a whole, my family was not impressed, and preferred Cub, aside from the fact that I worked there (they still went even after I quit).

Sadly, however, if you want to go to the grocery store these days in my part of Atlanta, you have the choice of Kroger, Publix, or......um.......that's it. The HT near our house was bought by Kroger, even though they have a store not 3 miles down the road. My mother won't buy meat or produce from Kroger anymore, so going to the grocery store with her involves multiple stops at Kroger and then the Publix across the street, and if she's really on a roll, Target or Walgreen's for other stuff.

Now that I've moved to Charlotte, I like the fact that there are more choices; however, I go to Food Lion 99% of the time. Sure, the stores are tiny, and don't have as much selection as HT, but the size of the store is exactly why I shop there. I hate going to Publix in Atlanta because the stores are huge, crowded, and the aisles are too narrow. But I must admit that I do get frustrated now and then when I can't find something at FL.

Matt

[f0xym0p]

I really wish grocery stores would stop adding all this crap. I go to the grocery store for food. I don't need wine, flowers, or cigars at the grocery store. I also wish they would cut down on all the toiletries and make up. Harris Teeter has a larger selection in that department than CVS and that makes no sense to me. I would rather see a larger selection of food items, maybe organics for example.