Which Supermarket do you shop at?

[spicynujac 54]

On 3/20/2025 at 4:05 PM, Neonred said:

When I was a student at the U. of South Carolina we used to shop at Piggly Wiggly because it was cheap, but it was gross.  I'm not even sure if they still exist.

Blasphemy!  Don't ever say this to a southerner!

 

Exist?  You can even buy their uniforms and wear them at home.

Welcome to the Piggly Wiggly Swag Store!

 

[Crazy Cat 42,915]

On 3/20/2025 at 4:05 PM, Neonred said:

I'm not even sure if they still exist.

They exist in 18 states.  From New York to Texas....most every state in between.

Edited Saturday at 03:00 PM by Crazy Cat

[Neonred 3,770]

3 hours ago, spicynujac said:

Blasphemy!  Don't ever say this to a southerner!

 

Exist?  You can even buy their uniforms and wear them at home.

Welcome to the Piggly Wiggly Swag Store!

 

 

3 hours ago, Crazy Cat said:

They exist in 18 states.  From New York to Texas....most every state in between.

Good to know.  Turns out I live farther south than any of their stores.  And of course the store we shopped at in Columbia SC was in a poor, not so nice neighborhood.

[TBoneTX 46,607]

On 2/26/2025 at 1:11 AM, SL2024 said:

I do want to try a HEB in Texas. My wife's brother lives in Austin so I guess when we visit him next I can go and see one. 

Found this article that's still very pertinent except for the total tally of stores:

~~~~~

13 Mistakes You Could Be Making When Shopping At H-E-B

 

If you live in Texas or have visited the state before, then you have likely heard of H-E-B.  H-E-B's history traces back over a century when the first store was opened in Kerrville, Texas.  Today, the company has expanded throughout the state of Texas and into Mexico [...]

 

Read More: https://www.thedailymeal.com/1336683/mistakes-shopping-heb/

[Nywoek 37]

Do you guys prefer Costco over BJs?

I know the nearest Costco is like an hour away, but someone said they ship stuff so maybe it isnt the worst place to have a membership.

[Dashinka 25,163]

6 hours ago, Nywoek said:

Do you guys prefer Costco over BJs?

I know the nearest Costco is like an hour away, but someone said they ship stuff so maybe it isnt the worst place to have a membership.

Personally, if I did not have a Costco relatively close by, I would most likely not get a membership.  Yes, they do ship things, but not everything.

[TBoneTX 46,607]

6 hours ago, Nywoek said:

the nearest Costco is like an hour away

Consider what Dashinka says.

Also consider whether you would do one or more monster-sized trips to Costco per year.

If the latter is envisioned, a standard annual membership could pay for itself.

[OldUser 8,393]

7 hours ago, Nywoek said:

Do you guys prefer Costco over BJs?

I know the nearest Costco is like an hour away, but someone said they ship stuff so maybe it isnt the worst place to have a membership.

I had few large electronics purchases from there with good discount plus keep buying gift cards for Uber etc with great discount.

 

Also we do 3-4 in person trips for food around holidays (and treat ourselves to $5 chicken 😃)

 

Plus paper towels, toilet paper, toothpaste, cleaning supplies, dishwasher tablets, laundry detergent, batteries etc are exclusively sourced from and delivered by Costco in my household due to good price.

 

So essentially I don't go there in person as much, yet still benefit from it quite a bit

Edited 7 hours ago by OldUser

[TBoneTX 46,607]

24 minutes ago, OldUser said:

keep buying gift cards

Thanks for the reminder!  I'm on my second pack of Subway gift cards -- $100 worth for $79.99.  Combining these with Subway coupons from newspaper inserts, and it's almost "cheaper than free."   

[Neonred 3,770]

We don't have a BJ's in our town, just Costco and Sam's.  

 

The products at Costco are generally higher quality than those at Sam's.  

 

Our Costco is so popular and so busy, especially this time of year, that they are preparing to build a second location.  That's impressive for our "little" town.

[Dashinka 25,163]

1 hour ago, Neonred said:

We don't have a BJ's in our town, just Costco and Sam's.  

 

The products at Costco are generally higher quality than those at Sam's.  

 

Our Costco is so popular and so busy, especially this time of year, that they are preparing to build a second location.  That's impressive for our "little" town.

Sounds like Costco is opening 25 or so new locations within the U.S. this year.  We are lucky where we live as we have 2 within 10 miles, and another 3-4 within 25 miles.  My wife and I road trip occasionally to other Costcos just to see the differences.  I think some folks join mostly for fuel, although that is not very convenient if they are an hour away.

Edited 5 hours ago by Dashinka

[Neonred 3,770]

1 hour ago, Dashinka said:

Sounds like Costco is opening 25 or so new locations within the U.S. this year.  We are lucky where we live as we have 2 within 10 miles, and another 3-4 within 25 miles.  My wife and I road trip occasionally to other Costcos just to see the differences.  I think some folks join mostly for fuel, although that is not very convenient if they are an hour away.

Fuel at our Costco opens @ 6:00am so I am there either right after my early morning shopping at Walmart or directly there if not going shopping.  No lines at that hour.

[TBoneTX 46,607]

Costco just announced (like, yesterday) that they're expanding their gas-station hours.  I'll try to find the article on it.

 

Most irritating thing about Costco is that they have something like 12 registers and no more than 3 ever seem to be open even at peak times, with customers backed up halfway into the store with melting/thawing products.  Conversely, all the self-checkout stations are always open, mobbed with folks who have few or many items to purchase.

 

There are often staffers helping the self-checkout people scan stuff, and I can't figure out the logic of it.  Why not reserve self-checkout for people with (e.g.) 25 items or fewer, and send everyone else into the staffed checkout lanes?  Some chaos would be minimized.

 

I invariably leave regular Costco with a headache.  Conversely, I can be in and out of the Costco Business Center in 30 minutes.  If the latter has what I want (a great many products overlap) and I don't also need gas, I'll go there with pleasure.

[TBoneTX 46,607]

Eclectic here.  Tonight's dinner was (half each for Mini-Bone & me):

 

-- 3 slices of Costco luncheon ham, cut into 12 smaller squares

-- 10 air-fried Aldi tater tots

-- half-can of pork & beans from an estate sale

-- half a sugar-free apple pie on expiration-day Walmart markdown

-- 1 cup Food Club root beer from Lowes Market (see next post)

 

Goes to show that good stuff can be found anywhere.

[TBoneTX 46,607]

Small towns in 5 states have Lowes Market:  more than 140 neighborhood stores throughout Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Kansas.

 

https://www.lowesmarket.com

 

Nearest one to me is about 40 minutes away in my favorite small town.  When I'm in range, I always stop.  Their regular prices are rather high, but their specials can't be beat, and I research those in advance.  It's a destination, not an option.