PrintSuper Target grocery shopping...is that better than walmart?
After 84 'rounds' of evil Wal-Mart, is it OK to buy Target products and support the grocery store there? I wish everyone had the Central Market they have in Texas, its like 5x to 10x what whole foods is...How about it? Can we shop at Super Target for groceries?
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15 Comments:
oh man... here we go.....
bisbee at 6:29PM on 12/14/07
Actually, my WM comment addressed this. Super Target is a lovely store and yes, you can probably get a basin wrench and a pound of butter if you needed to - but it's no bargain. The prices are no more competitive than Publix or Albertson's. I don't know with which stores they compare prices to claim you pay less, but everything is relative.
At WM, you can get crap put-it-together-yourself furniture ... at Super Target, you get a little better grade of put-it-together-yourself furniture.
I love ST for grabbing a few things where price isn't an issue...and besides, they have a Starbucks.
chiff0nade at 7:24PM on 12/14/07
Not entirely. They have different qualities of things. Their brand of stuff is cheap, some of it very good. They do not carry all the same things Walmart does. I found when I went that as usual I could not buy everything I needed. The meat however did not look scary like Walmart's does. Produce was about average. The bakery section had your various and sundry baked goods. I am still not impressed. For impressed you need to go to a Wegman's. They only sell patio furniture in season.
JerzeeTomato at 7:58PM on 12/14/07
So why do you think Target is somewhat different that Walmart? They both employ the methods they need to deliver product at the least possible cost. Both companies pay and offer the same benefits. Both companies are aggressive in building new facilities. The only difference is that Target is in the number 2 spot, employs clueful PR people, and doesn't skimp on design.
bravian at 8:13PM on 12/14/07
I
ChelleyD01 at 10:01PM on 12/14/07
"The only difference is that Target is in the number 2 spot, employs clueful PR people, and doesn't skimp on design." -- bravian
This.
Also, ST tends to be too expensive for what it is. I haven't been impressed at all with the quality of their produce or their meat/fish. The Archer Farms brand of a particular food item isn't any better than the Safeway or H-E-B brand, it just has better packaging.
I'm an H-E-B girl all the way. Good, fresh food; cheap but admirable store brands of name-brand items; and always low prices. Like I mentioned in an earlier blog entry this week, I spent $36.12 buying all the ingredients I needed for the next three night's dinners: Porkchops with Caramelized Onion Sauce & Creamed Spinach; made-from-scratch Spaghetti Bolognese; and Tomato and White Bean Soup & Beer-Cheese Soup.
$36.12 for four servings of three dinners. I'd like to see ST try that. :)
sheeats at 11:38PM on 12/14/07
Isn't this the great thing about living in this Country in this day and age?
We can shop wherever we wish, (financial and transportational issues considered), after taking into consideration what an the infinitesmally small demographic group of sincere and concerned people who patronize food discussion forums have to say about it!
srhcb at 10:42AM on 12/15/07
No, no. People who patronize food discussion forums are the style-setters therefore one must study what they say and follow their lead.
I read food forums religiously.
I could not participate in this discussion merely because we have no Super-Target nearby, sadly.
Karen Resta at 10:53AM on 12/15/07
H-E-B is what?
ccbweb at 3:33PM on 12/15/07
H-E-B is what?
A supermarket chain.
A major difference between WM and Target is that WM actually succeeds in bringing product to the masses for less. Target only says they do.
chiff0nade at 3:41PM on 12/15/07
Oh, the HEB. You people are lucky. Do you know what we have in New Orleans? Whole Foods (one end of the spectrum), Target (not enough on shelves), Wal-Mart (absolutely as disgusting as you might imagine ANY Wal-Mart could be--and they are), various locally owned and regional stores that are often poorly stocked and never open past 10:00 p.m.
What I wouldn't give for my Safeway in Arizona that now has Starbucks and a large selection of organic produce.
With regard to the Wal-Mart debate, do you think discount grocery stores really offer benefits that are that much better? I don't know for sure, but I do know that grocery stores operate on slim margins.
kmnola at 9:51PM on 12/15/07
We have three Wal-Mart stores and five Target stores within 30 minutes of our home. None is a "super" version, probably because all the major supermarket chains have at least three or four stores each within that same radius -- Albertsons, Vons/Pavilions (aka Safeway), and Ralphs (aka Kroger). There are also some Stater Bros markets (a local chain), two Henry's markets, several small non-chain markets, and 3-4 Trader Joe's stores. This is all rounded out by FOUR Costco stores, of which three are less than five miles from my house.
I'm guessing there's no way a Target or Wal-Mart super store could compete around here.
Although I periodically go to Target for various odds and ends, I don't go as often as I did when my kids were small. Either way, I wouldn't shop at a Super version of either Target or WM, even if they were close by. Just doesn't appeal to me, and I'm extremely fortunate to have all those other choices.
LoCo at 12:37AM on 12/16/07
We live in Food Lion land. The first Food Lion store was in Salisbury, NC, and there is now one on almost every corner. They are clean, and have decent meats and produce. Not as cheap as Walmart, but I prefer their products to the Super WM store here.
skylar0ne at 3:57PM on 12/17/07
I shopped at Super Target for groceries in my collegetown which just so happened to be in the middle of nowhere, but in my current suburban Chicago locale, I do prefer Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Sunset Foods or Garden Fresh. Too many good options around here to go to Target I guess!
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 10:54AM on 12/20/07
H-E-B is a grocery chain that as far as I can tell is only in Texas or bordering states...
H-E-B also owns Central Market which is 5x to 10x bigger in size and choice then Whole Foods or Fresh Market. Problem is, most likely those in the North will probably never have one in their neighborhood, and right now I think they are only in Austin, Houston, Dallas, and surrounding areas...the Central Market and Whole Foods are just miles apart in Dallas and it makes Whole Food look like a convenient store.
Not to mention they usually have live jax bands playing there for mood music sometimes.
Here is the link, check it out.... Central Market
tyronebcookin at 8:20AM on 12/23/07