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I swear by Wegmans also. It's so much better than Shop-rite in so many ways: friendlier staff, better selection of foods, even price-wise, it can be cheaper. Plus, the liquor store is attached - one-stop shopping.

I can't leave Wegmans without buying one type of cheese - I love the Cheese Shop!

Whoa, is this the wegmans in Dewitt near Syracuse?? It looks like it.. mostly by the snow on the ground, haha

Stew Leonards, the world's largest dairy market!!! There are only a few of these stores, mostly in Connecticut, but they are GREAT!

@luxie: It's the Ithaca, New York, Wegmans! The GF and I stay in a motel near it when we visit her sister, and we end up making any excuse to visit the store.

The amazing food opportunities in the Boston area are keeping me from moving to Europe. I have been known to weep a little bit when visiting Russo's in Watertown, MA. It's more of a farmstand/gourmet food shop than a grocery store, but it's got an unrivaled cheese section, great breads, fresh veggies & fruits and chin-dropping prepared foods.

I second the vote for Stew Leonard's. It's not exactly local to me, but I stop at the one in Yonkers, NY whenever I'm heading back Upstate from New York City. There are only four stores (the other three are in Connecticut), which is my only complaint. The result is that at most times the place is a total madhouse. But it's totally worth it.

I've only had the pleasure of Wegman's once. Sadly, I don't visit western New York often.

Central Market in Houston is a most wonderful place. Everything you could want in a grocery store. From incredible meats to the produce to the bakery . . . ah the bakery. My favorite part is their sandwich line. You can choose from hot and cold selections prepared in front of you on fresh-baked bread. You can also pick any of the toppings available to add at no extra charge. I'm a big fan of the marinated mushrooms and red bell peppers. The portions are huge for about $8. I have them cut if into four pieces so I can take them home and wrap them separately. That's four nice $2 meals - especially if you pair them with something else. I regret that I have to move soon to another state. Central Market, you will be missed.

@luxie ~ I thought it was the Dewitt/Fayetteville Wegman's too - for the same reason - snow. They rebuilt that store several times in the same shopping center, getting bigger and better each time. My parents lived a few minutes away. When I visited from NJ or PA, I always stocked up before I came home. To this day, no other grocery store has come close to comparison. Mom used to shop at Price Chopper in Dewitt when she wanted only a few items or had some good coupons, but everything else was from Wegman's. I wondered how much my spending would increase if I shopped there regularly - it was a wonderland!

Heee, I just made one of my handful-of-times-a-year pilgrimages to Wegman's this past weekend! The Dewitt/Fayettville branch, no less. I was hoping to get down there a little closer to Thanksgiving, but alas, it's tough to find a weekend with room for a two-and-a-half hour drive to a grocery store. Worth the drive, though, and worth the insane amount of money I spent. If only we'd get one in the North Country!

I definitely need to send that article to my mother and sisters. It speaks to me, heh.

I make at least one visit to the Wegman's in State College, PA when I go to Penn State games. Amazing place. In Dayton, Ohio, we have our local small chain of the Dorothy Lane Market that is a smaller version. Great butcher, seafood, and wine selection, along with the prepared foods for when I'm a bit lazy.

In Northern california there's a chain of stores called the Nugget Market. i love love love it. They have a wide variety of prepared foods, gourmet ingredients and a huge selection of cheeses.

if you're ever in the area, you should stop by one

The Dewitt Wegman's is the most amazing place on earth. It's open 24 hours and has anything a Syracuse University student could need at 3am.

Also, I'm fortunate enough to pass Stew Leonard's on my drive home from Syracuse to Long Island and it is almost equally as amazing.

I moved from Columbia, MO and St. Louis to Chicago about a year ago. St. Louis is a strange place to grocery shop because it is a very colliquial place. We have a couple of chains that are all over the place, but none of the big national chains - I had never seen a Kroger until I went to college, or a Safeway until I moved to Chicago. Dierbergs and Schnucks are still, in my mind, everything a grocery store should be: lots of local vegetables in the summer, lots of local food lines, and people who work at those stores their entire lives.

I despise Chicago grocery shopping, and Dominick's and Jewel. Whole Foods is special treat shopping, but I try to do lots of shopping at Woodman's, which is a veritable Mecca of grocery shopping. It really is everything a grocery store should be.

Wegmans. There can be. only. one.

AH I MISS WEGMANS! College was awesome because of their hot food section. I have no idea how much I would've saved by going to Walmart but pshhhhh who cares

I was looking at a survey on MSNBC that listed the top 10-20 healthiest grocery chains and Wegman's didn't make it...how??

I'm a die-hard city girl but then I went upstate for college to Buffalo. To this day the one thing that really makes me reconsider life in the 'burbs is the possibility of shopping weekly at a Wegmans (Tops was also great but only the International Tops). Yes, I know - I'm a little pathetic...

Publix... best grocery store ever.

Oh man, someone beat me to the Publix praise. I swear, there is no grocery store like it. Not only is their produce selection fantastic, but their store brand is sometimes superior to the name brand. Oh, and seriously, their Publix Deli Subs are the glorious antidote to a horrible day. Oh, and recently they started putting in a couple of "Gourmet Publix" in the Florida area and it was like green-hued HEAVEN. I actually jump for joy and giggle like a mental patient when I know I get to go there. Since Publix is only located in the Southeast (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee), the many friends I have had that moved out of their range actually cry out with pangs of loss. Whenever they come back to visit, no matter what the urgency, they HAVE to stop at Publix for a sub before moving on. I actually have plans to leave Publix's area of influence in the near future and nearly everyday my boyfriend must assure me that I will find another grocery store to love, even if its not Publix. I'm completely sad, I know, but they are just that good.

Anyone from the Hudson Valley?

I love Adam's Fairacre Farms. I miss it.

But being in WNY, at least I can always go to Wegman's.

I wish wish wish I lived near a Wegman's. I second that, bobbob!

I love the Fairway in Red Hook, Brooklyn. As far as grocery stores in New York City go, it's pretty awesome.. and you can eat/drink at their cafe and sit out on the water looking at the Statue of Liberty. Not too shabby.

Wegman's is just amazing. That said, the Giant Eagle chain in Pittsburgh is doing a fine job of imititating it with their Market District stores--they aren't AS good as Wegman's but they are darned close...my BF lives in a neighborhood where the Giant Eagle is less than stellar and when we were shopping at my Market District the other day he said "your store has a live jazz band--mine has metal detectors"

@krista & @downhillguru: I still have a soft spot for Fred Meyer from when I lived in Oregon. I still have that damn jingle stuck in my head whenever I think of the place. Loved the hypermart format, and depending on the Freddy's, it might have a decent prepared foods section.

And Publix -- When my parents lived in Florida and I went to the Publix with them, I remember it having a similar feel to Wegman's. Publix seemed pretty great, too.

I have the UWS Fairway about 100 steps from my apartment. No place I'd rather get my daily (artisinal) bread.

I have some Wegmans experience from Jersey Shore summers - it is pretty great place once you figure out where everything is!

Central Market, no doubt. As a Texan stuck in central NY, I can say it beats Wegmans every day of the week. I've been to the Dewitt, Rochester, Ithaca, and other Wegmans, and it's no contest. Wegmans has a bigger standard grocery area...but it's no better than a standard grocery store, really. CM has incredible meat, seafood, cheese, produce, bulk section, salad/olive bar. I miss it :(

BTW, what's up with the new 1940s-ish logo Wegmans is reviving? Fugly!

@lawofmurphy - Eatzie's is amazing!! I always pop in there when I go to Dallas
@ewiggin - have you tried Mandola's for your bread selection? It's a little family-run business with two locations in the Austin area. They bake hundreds of kinds fresh every day, and if you get there around closing time, they'll give it to you for free!! (life-saver in college)

I love Wegmans, Fresh Market, Trader Joe's and local farm markets. The Wegmans I go to in Hunt Valley MD is surrounded by great shopping. When I am coming home from Baltimore every other week I stop and grab some great stuff.
I also go to Shop Rite and Costco often.
I like Publix when we are in FL. Fresh Market, Harris Teeter or Lowe's when we are in NC.
I have to give credit to the many local Farm markets and produce markets I go to in MD, DE, PA and NJ. Some of the best produce I ever get is at these markets.
Recently Wegmans went public with an initiative to lower their prices inspite of the economic downturn http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/HomepageView?storeId=10052&catalogId=10002&langId=-1
I thought this was a bold and brilliant move on their part. When we are shopping at these great specialty grocery stores we never assume we will get good buys and often at Wegmans I find them. Great priced items.
So To Danny and Colleen Wegman I have to say thanks.

Love Wegmans. I'm so glad I'm not the only one.

FAIRWAY

I definitely agree with everyone who said Central Market. It is the best grocery store, ever. Their selection of cheeses is so huge it's overwhelming. Same goes for produce. And wine. And deli meats. And prepared food, etc etc. I could spend 2+ hours in there, just browsing.

I recently moved away from a Wegmans, and not a day goes by that I don't long for a return.

when i lived in fairfax, va, i was surrounded by whole foods, wegmans, and super h-mart (yes, super). they were all within 5 minutes from my apartment. it was a glorious time for grocery shopping.

in august, i moved to alexandria and i'm 5 minutes away from harris teeter, trader joes, and grand mart. while i love harris teeter and the odd thing here and there from trader joes, i certainly do miss my old digs. unlike most people, i dislike trader joes and my disdain for trader joes has grown after each thing i discover. i concede that they make awesome strawberry lemonade, green tea mochi, and i enjoy the niman ranch bacon that they carry.

Safeway, for anyone from the west and midwest! Some of the newly renovated stores are simply beautiful.

Rosauers and Huckleberries in Spokane, WA :D

I weep for a time when I can once again shop at my beloved Wegmans.

New Seasons Markets in the Portland, OR. area are the best around these parts.

The New Seasons chain in and around the Portland, OR area. They emphasize relationships with local farmers; color code their seafood according to how sustainable the practices were to make it available; offer full benefits to their employees - even their part-time workers; have great tastings of fresh produce every weekend; offer free wellness classes and one-on-one meetings with nutritionists; give out small cups of free coffee and some snacks when you shop after work; and are one of the few places around here to emphasize local, organic food while also providing mass-produced options, like Doritos or Lean Cuisine.

And they're really nice, too!

I used to love Wegmans when they had Pierre Herme-approved chocolates and macarons. ...AND THEN THEY WERE GONE! The chocolate counter was replaced by COOKIES!! Oh, how I wept. The other patisserie things are still good, I guess...but...(sniffle)

Wegmans is still awesome, of course. Also a fan of Adams Fairacre Farms, although I've only been there once.

Whole Foods wins hands down for me. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THEM!!!

my love for trader joes is bordering on abnormal. i would be crushed if i moved somewhere that didn't have it and had to go to a *gasp* normal supermarket.

I do I do I do cry over wegmans.... I just left Ithaca NY for Houston, and NONE of (even the fanciest) grocery stores compare. It is truly one of the things I miss most at home! Miss it miss it miss it!

I have nto seen one in southeastern Va., but we had a Kroger close down near me, so there is room for a Wegmans. Bring it on!!

It's funny... after really reading this thread, I see a lot of Texas vs. NY going on. Cool. I will always give first loyalty and love to Wegmans, but I will admit that Central Market has A lot going for it! Breads and deli are incredible.

I absolutely love Harris Teeter (NC). Sometimes I go there when I'm depressed because it just makes me so happy.

I can't believe how many people adore Wegmans as much as I do! Love their prices, their cheese chop, the gourmet chocolate (which is always at my local store) and now, the new gourmet beer shop. And best of all? If I can't find find what I need at the meat department, they will order it and prepare it to my specifications. Our other local grocery store, Tops, just doesn't compare.

Yes, Wegmans and Central Market are the best. Safeway?!? Are you kidding me? I grew up down the block from a Safeway. It's fine, but it's no Wegmans.

Food Town Town.

Wegman's is one of the only reasons I'm sorry I moved away from Syracuse years ago (the other is the New York State Fair!). There's nothing like it in Brooklyn.

I have not cried tears of joy over a store, but am crying tears of despair after reading all these comments--realizing what we DON'T have here in Oklahoma--any decent grocery stores! Everyone here shops at Walmart. Don't even get me started. While we were in Santa Fe last month we visited the Whole Foods there and it was like being in wonderland. Our state and city movers and shakers constantly tout our area as being very progressive, but we can't even get a Whole Foods. And I had never even heard of Wegman's! I think I need to move : (

I thought that was the Ithaca Wegmans...

I grew up shopping at Hy-Vee, the great Iowa/Midwestern grocery store and thought the newer ones were great. Then I met Wegmans in Ithaca...dear god! I've never met a grocery store more magical. I hate to jump on the Wegmans bandwagon, but there's a reason why so many people love it.

We have a Wegman's in Lakewood, NY...10 minutes from my home in Jamestown. I love Wegman's...there is an old world market atmosphere that you cannot find in any other large grocery store. Their breads, bagels, cheeses, and meats can't be beat. They have, by far, the freshest produce around, and use as many local farmers produce whenever seasonally available. Their ethnic food aisles contain just about anything you need to make any dish. They really train their employees well about all aspects of the areas they work in.

My daughter lived in Scottsdale, AZ for 4 years, (with every high end store and restaurant available to her), and after the birth of her first son, she and her husband decided to move back to WNY, and the first thing she said to me was..."I can't wait to go to Wegman's!!" I rest my case..lol

We have a Wegman's in Lakewood, NY...10 minutes from my home in Jamestown. I love Wegman's...there is an old world market atmosphere that you cannot find in any other large grocery store. Their breads, bagels, cheeses, and meats can't be beat. They have, by far, the freshest produce around, and use as many local farmers produce whenever seasonally available. Their ethnic food aisles contain just about anything you need to make any dish. They really train their employees well about all aspects of the areas they work in.

My daughter lived in Scottsdale, AZ for 4 years, (with every high end store and restaurant available to her), and after the birth of her first son, she and her husband decided to move back to WNY, and the first thing she said to me was..."I can't wait to go to Wegman's!!" I rest my case..lol

My store is the Geneseo Wegmans, but the brand new Wegs in Henrietta, NY is absolutely fantastic. They get better and better, and constantly strive to put out new, original products. A store brand Cherry Armagnac ice cream. A large line of different Extra Virgin Olive Oils. A great cheese shop and brick oven bakery...Fantastic. We have a Super Walmart right across the street where I know I could save a bunch of money...not worth it for me.

Another vote for the Berkeley Bowl. It's like a bottomless pit of things I didn't even know I needed. Just last month I actually looked at the chilled case near the bulk food weigh station and discovered they stock almond meal. Last week I discovered rose petals! And don't get me started about the people who work at the bulk food weigh station. They can differentiate between identical beige powders perfectly every time, in a fraction of a second. But really, the reason we're here is THE PRODUCE. Added bonus: the whole store is so reasonably priced.

The hardest part of miving to Seattle wasn't leaving my family, it was the sad thought of living without a Wegmans. :-(

I discovered Wegmans in Buffalo, by accident! Working in the area at a trade show I went there to get real food for lunch. It was love at first sight. When I moved to Harrisburg, PA, I discovered Wegman's in Allentown. It was about an hours drive but I occasionally made it just to go to that wonderful store and that is where I discovered Lebanon Bologna O M G!!

Something that I haven't seen mentioned here about Wegman's is that it has for many years shown up as one of America's best places to work. The people really do love their jobs, I have had the opportunity to speak with them outside of their workplace and they love it as much as the consumers do.

I live 2 hours Southwest of Seattle now. So I am back in the land of Trader Joes and Everett's Food Emporium, but everything is so far away.

Publix is the greatest store! I have recently moved from the Atlanta area to Minnesota. I absolutely cried when my husband took me to our nearest store. It's a Cub and you bag your own groceries. I miss my Publix people who would always walk my groceries out to the car and load them. I was pregnant at the time but I felt very well taken care of. I miss the subs!
We have Lund's here which has great fish and produce but they are much more expensive than Publix. Publix, please open a store in Bloomington, MN.

Wow I would certainly try Wegmans if I could. Here in Colorado we only have Whole Foods which we call "Whole Paycheck" Do I need to tell you why ?

Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia. I only go to Whole Foods and Trader Joe's to fill in the pantry stock and get everything else at the market. It's fantastic.

it's Whole Foods only for me.. no one beats them in quality and standards..

i know i can walk into any Whole Foods and no matter what i pick up, i know it's been reviewed and approved to not contain anything artificial and no artificial trans fats.. and i know that any animal products there were produced humanely, no antibiotics, hormones, animal byproducts, fed all vegetarian diets.. it's just nice peace of mind to shop in a place like that, they actually care about what they're selling you

not to mention the great customer service.. they go above and beyond compared to other grocers to help and satisfy the customers

and as long as you're able to restrain from throwing a bunch of the more extravagent items they offer and just shop as you would if you were in a regular grocery store, you can find plenty of great value.. love Whole Foods

I work at the Home Depot across the street from the Wegmans' in Downingtown, PA, and have been eating lunch or dinner there for the past three years. My only disappointment during all that time was once I had some rotisserie chicken that was a little dry ... Try the Lobster Bisque, it is amazing !!!

LOVE my WHOLE FOODS!

While Wegman's is a great grocery store, I find my local Super Fresh to be No 1 for customer service, bar none.

When they were recently out of whole fryers at 69 cents, (can't beat that), the meat cutter went back to the deli counter and pull out a fryer from the refrigerator and wrapped and priced it for me. That was the best tasting fryer I have ever eaten.

It's the little things like store prepared gourmet apple pies, fresh from The Farm produce, (their potatoes are the best tasting ever), seafood, and my all time favorite tasting beef, Premium Gold Angus.

For a supermarket that has been business now for 150 years, its all about the quality, value and customer service.

I guess I"m a late poster - but when we lived in MN, Kowalski's is the absolute bomb. Unbelievable selection, best produce, meat & cheese, great service, their deli was awesome - and they were open 24 hours.

I'm back in FL now, so Publix is #1, with Sweetbay running a close second. The butcher at Publix deboned our duck, chicken and goose for Thanksgiving for FREE.