[Samiamnh]

Originally Posted by RexLan

Actually I agree that Publix does a pretty good job. Their meat is good but they are on the high price side for hard goods. Hard to beet WalMart for everyday hard goods but I don't buy meat other than chicken and ribs there. They have a decent bakery for breads, especially the Italian loaf.

Just curious why you say not to buy meat at Walmart.I rarely shop there but noticed their meat is USDA
choice which is the same as every other store....

[Thundarr457]

OP the Publix near you might not be to your liking but all the ones I have been to (except for one in Orlando) are outstanding in terms of customer service (2nd to none), cleanliness, quality, selection. Produce is great, bakery although limited, is awesome (chocolate cake slice, flying saucer and 12 grain bread are must haves for me). I lived in Buffalo and shopped at the Holy Grail of supermarkets, Wegmans for 30 years and Publix compares quite well except for the more limited bakery and prepared foods sections. Trader Joes has a few things, their baked good are dreadful (hard as rocks), the crackers, shrimp, sliced almonds and occasional produce is great. Whole foods is a rip as far as I am concerned, I don't care if they deliver or not. It is similar to Wegmans in terms of prepared foods and bakery (high markup). Fresh Market is crazy expensive and only good for an occasional special or gourmet item. Don't like Lucky at all, pricey. Winn Dixie is a joke, high prices and loss leaders to get you in, doesn't hold a candle to Publix.

[sinatras]

Originally Posted by Bobdreamz

Let's be honest here , Publix doesn't set up shop in poor areas. They research demographics before they open a store and it's mostly in middle income class suburbs and up.

Yeah, uh, you must not live in Tampa.

Come to Tampa, plenty of Publix stores in the ghetto here.

[sinatras]

Originally Posted by Thundarr457

OP the Publix near you might not be to your liking but all the ones I have been to (except for one in Orlando) are outstanding in terms of customer service (2nd to none), cleanliness, quality, selection. Produce is great, bakery although limited, is awesome (chocolate cake slice, flying saucer and 12 grain bread are must haves for me). I lived in Buffalo and shopped at the Holy Grail of supermarkets, Wegmans for 30 years and Publix compares quite well except for the more limited bakery and prepared foods sections. Trader Joes has a few things, their baked good are dreadful (hard as rocks), the crackers, shrimp, sliced almonds and occasional produce is great. Whole foods is a rip as far as I am concerned, I don't care if they deliver or not. It is similar to Wegmans in terms of prepared foods and bakery (high markup). Fresh Market is crazy expensive and only good for an occasional special or gourmet item. Don't like Lucky at all, pricey. Winn Dixie is a joke, high prices and loss leaders to get you in, doesn't hold a candle to Publix.

The baked goods at Whole Foods are much better than Publix. WF does a much better job with French bread, cakes, tarts, cookies. Plus organic options. The Publix bakery stuff is very limited and all full of artificial ingredients. Have you ever looked at the ingredients of that Publix cake slice? Let me put it this way: it's not flour, butter, eggs, vanilla extract, baking powder and chocolate (which is what it should be).

[Thundarr457]

Originally Posted by Samiamnh

Just curious why you say not to buy meat at Walmart.I rarely shop there but noticed their meat is USDA
choice which is the same as every other store....

"Many of the steaks and chops sold at Wal-Mart note, on their packages, that they contain up to 12 percent liquid. Do they shrink on the grill? Yes, say people who have cooked them. Union leaders anxious to preserve jobs have called for regulations on case-ready meat to make shoppers more aware of what they are buying.

The main difference between case-ready meat and store-handled meat is that the former is cut, trimmed, packaged and labeled at a plant, not in the back room of a supermarket. The shelf life of case-ready meat is said to be longer, because the package is ''flushed'' with gas, usually combinations of oxygen and carbon dioxide, to keep everything inside looking fresh. The saline treatment ''keeps the bloom on the meat,'' as a spokesman for Wal-Mart Stores put it.

Since September 2001, Wal-Mart has sold only case-ready meat. The change followed a vote by workers at a Wal-Mart supercenter in Texas who voted to join the United Food and Commercial Workers, a unit of the A.F.L.-C.I.O."

[sinatras]

Originally Posted by Thundarr457

"Many of the steaks and chops sold at Wal-Mart note, on their packages, that they contain up to 12 percent liquid. Do they shrink on the grill? Yes, say people who have cooked them. Union leaders anxious to preserve jobs have called for regulations on case-ready meat to make shoppers more aware of what they are buying.

The main difference between case-ready meat and store-handled meat is that the former is cut, trimmed, packaged and labeled at a plant, not in the back room of a supermarket. The shelf life of case-ready meat is said to be longer, because the package is ''flushed'' with gas, usually combinations of oxygen and carbon dioxide, to keep everything inside looking fresh. The saline treatment ''keeps the bloom on the meat,'' as a spokesman for Wal-Mart Stores put it.

Since September 2001, Wal-Mart has sold only case-ready meat. The change followed a vote by workers at a Wal-Mart supercenter in Texas who voted to join the United Food and Commercial Workers, a unit of the A.F.L.-C.I.O."

Is Sam's Club meat the same quality as Walmart meat?

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by Thundarr457

Whole foods is a rip as far as I am concerned, I don't care if they deliver or not.

Apparently you don't get where food comes from and why it costs more to produce some versus others. It's not a "rip-off" if one gets it.

[Thundarr457]

Originally Posted by sinatras

The baked goods at Whole Foods are much better than Publix. WF does a much better job with French bread, cakes, tarts, cookies. Plus organic options. The Publix bakery stuff is very limited and all full of artificial ingredients. Have you ever looked at the ingredients of that Publix cake slice? Let me put it this way: it's not flour, butter, eggs, vanilla extract, baking powder and chocolate (which is what it should be).

I agree about the selection (and I know you are an expert in the Supermarket business) but that cake slice is so delicious and it takes me 4 days to eat 1 slice.

[sinatras]

Originally Posted by Thundarr457

I agree about the selection (and I know you are an expert in the Supermarket business) but that cake slice is so delicious and it takes me 4 days to eat 1 slice.

You don't have to be an expert in the supermarket business to know that cake should not contain anything other than flour, butter, sugar, eggs, baking powder, etc.

You have more willpower than me; I will eat a cake slice in seconds!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Thundarr457]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

Apparently you don't get where food comes from and why it costs more to produce some versus others. It's not a "rip-off" if one gets it.

I stayed in a hotel next to a Whole Foods for 2 weeks and ate there everyday. I would get 2 soups, a water, a bakery item or 2 and something from the hot foods/salad bar and it was $25. The quality was decent but the baked goods were nothing special and were not nearly as good as Wegmans. The cookies were a bit hard and too sweet, the pan de yucca was awful and the bread was bland. Wegmans is much better in terms of selection and quality. I would know since I shopped there for 30+ years.