Going food shopping

[Mister]

Walmart is a mess with this corona virus I’m dreading going there , takes like 2 hours to get checked out , they run out of chicken , last time I was there 2 people started throwing hands over who was first in line it’s a mess but I need food 

[Anybodyhome]

I stopped in my local Walmart yesterday for a single item, not food. The obstacle course to get in the front door took longer than grabbing what I needed and walked right to a cashier with no one in front of me. I should have played the lottery when I left.

FWIW, we've been cooking with Home Chef since December 2016. Our usual order is 2 meals a week, but since this thing started, I'm ordering 3 meals a week. Hey, for $60 it works out to $10 per meal and I've not been substituted or gotten an order change yet.

[fitty76]

I wouldn't even bother with Walmart.  I paid a little extra going to my local Publix.  It was worth it.  

[cookinbrak]

I go to Walmart 2-3 times a week (Porters Neck). It's amazing how very little people pay attention to the rules.

Go early. They get trucks in at night and stock shelves. Leave early for work, if need be.

Think outside the box. No fresh chicken? There are 200 cans of chicken on the shelf. Make chicken alfredo.

Talk to the butcher. Find out when stuff arrives. Don't be mad if what you want isn't available, get what is available.

I went to Aldi's yesterday. They had no fresh meat, but I got several 1 lb packs of black forest ham and turkey for $2.95 a lb.

I have an upright freezer, the freezer in the kitchen, and a fridge in the shed packed full. Remember, seafood and eggs are protein.

[Davidson Deac II]

Haven't been to Walmart since this thing started.  Everytime I drive past, the parking lot looks like a cf.  All of our stops are Food Lion, Lowes Foods, or Sams club.  

 

One of my inlaws has a small cattle farm.  He is having a hard time selling cattle to meat processers, so he is butchering a few, and selling the meat himself. My family is buying a whole cow and splitting the cost.  We don't eat a lot of beef, so it should last us 6 months.  And there is a local farmers market open a few days each week now.  Alternative shopping seems to be doing well now.  

[Anybodyhome]

A lot of small business food purveyors who would normally be selling to local restaurants are now selling to the public to stay afloat. Several in Raleigh I've read about.

I do not shop Walmart for groceries (the visit I mentioned above was to buy a belt- I broke mine and clothing stores are still closed), but between them and Sam's, we may end up with no other choice. Look at the chart below and tell me who has the buying power to keep meat on the shelves. (Food Lion is owned by Ahold Delhaize).

Online and offline grocery store market share:

 

[fitty76]

For the love of God, self check out is for 10 ITEMS OR LESS!  If you use self check out for your grocery shopping;

1. It takes 10 times longer than if you use a checker

2. You annoy the crap out of the people who just came in for one thing.

Use a checker if you have over 10 items.    

 

[Shocker]

On 5/5/2020 at 4:49 PM, fitty76 said:

I wouldn't even bother with Walmart.  I paid a little extra going to my local Publix.  It was worth it.  

Love Publix selection but shopping there is like double the price

[cookinbrak]

On 5/7/2020 at 5:07 PM, fitty76 said:

For the love of God, self check out is for 10 ITEMS OR LESS!  If you use self check out for your grocery shopping;

1. It takes 10 times longer than if you use a checker

2. You annoy the crap out of the people who just came in for one thing.

Use a checker if you have over 10 items.    

 

People with a cart full at the self checkout are shoplifting.

[R0CKnR0LLA]

On 5/6/2020 at 1:13 AM, Mister said:

Going food shopping

[Khyber53]

Many Lowes Foods offer online shopping and same day pick up. We use it frequently and the service is free right now. Their website is pretty well set up for it.

shop.lowesfoods.com

Just skip the whole experience of fighting the Wal-mart redneckathon. 

[cookinbrak]

2 hours ago, Khyber53 said:

Many Lowes Foods offer online shopping and same day pick up. We use it frequently and the service is free right now. Their website is pretty well set up for it.

shop.lowesfoods.com

Just skip the whole experience of fighting the Wal-mart redneckathon. 

The only thing I don't like about pickup is if they are out of something, they won't apply logic and give a similar item. But I can also see somebody getting bent about getting something different than what they ordered.

[Khyber53]

5 hours ago, cookinbrak said:

The only thing I don't like about pickup is if they are out of something, they won't apply logic and give a similar item. But I can also see somebody getting bent about getting something different than what they ordered.

Actually, at Lowe's they call you before the order is finished and if something is sold out they will tell you the options they have available and you choose. They'll also let you add anything you might have forgotten. 

During the worst of the time early in the lockdown, they did suspend the calls, but their substitutions were pretty astute choices. Maybe we've just got some good folks working at ours, but it is pretty handy.

 

[cookinbrak]

Didn't know that. Good info.