Anyone else love Lowe's Food Store? (Charlotte, Winston-Salem: sales, coupons, home)

[bostongirl]

Since I moved from MA....I love this store to buy items such as bread, sausage, and canned tomatoes

Dont' laugh but the Harris Teeter just don't cut it for having products I used to get back home so easily

Harris Teeter is great grocery store but pricey. OH and Lowe's has boar's head deli meats....

The deli meat at Harris Teeter is SO expensive compared to back home.

[mindync]

I just posted this on the Waxhaw thread. Lowe's is great. We didn't have them in Oklahoma- there it is all Albertsons, Reasors, WalMart, or SuperTarget. Why are there no SuperTargets here??

I have been wondering...is this Lowe's connected to the Lowes Home Improvement stores?

[silverwing]

Originally Posted by mindync

Why are there no SuperTargets here??

I have been wondering...is this Lowe's connected to the Lowes Home Improvement stores?

There may be SuperTargets, it just depends on the area you live.

Their is a Lowes grocery/home improvement connection. Some sort of cousin thang a few generations back If you google, you can probably find the history; I know it's out there somewhere.

NC has a variety of grocery stores. Some may be regional -- like Lowes. I believe that is a Winston-Salem based chain with a small number of stores. I think that Kroger also operates in this state. There was Winn-Dixie, but it died this past year. Bi-Lo as well. I think those are now Southern Marketplace. mm34b can probably pop up with the mountain section chain, I know there is one but the name escapes me. Of course, there is the ubiquitous Food Lion. It is headquarted in Salisbury, just as Harris Tweeter is in Charlotte. FL has almost 1300 stores in 7(?) states, bannered under different names. In NC, if you are shopping at a Bloom or Bottom Dollar, you are buying groceries from Food Lion. They are trying to be diverse in their marketing schemes. Someone might bring up the infamous ABC undercover investigation of FL from the 80s(?) but you'll get a lot of arguments about who was truly the Bad Guy in that situation.

[mm34b]

Originally Posted by silverwing

There may be SuperTargets, it just depends on the area you live.

Their is a Lowes grocery/home improvement connection. Some sort of cousin thang a few generations back If you google, you can probably find the history; I know it's out there somewhere.

NC has a variety of grocery stores. Some may be regional -- like Lowes. I believe that is a Winston-Salem based chain with a small number of stores. I think that Kroger also operates in this state. There was Winn-Dixie, but it died this past year. Bi-Lo as well. I think those are now Southern Marketplace. mm34b can probably pop up with the mountain section chain, I know there is one but the name escapes me. Of course, there is the ubiquitous Food Lion. It is headquarted in Salisbury, just as Harris Tweeter is in Charlotte. FL has almost 1300 stores in 7(?) states, bannered under different names. In NC, if you are shopping at a Bloom or Bottom Dollar, you are buying groceries from Food Lion. They are trying to be diverse in their marketing schemes. Someone might bring up the infamous ABC undercover investigation of FL from the 80s(?) but you'll get a lot of arguments about who was truly the Bad Guy in that situation.

Ingles Markets is the supermarket chain in the my part of the mountains. They are based in Black Mountain, NC near Asheville and began in 1963. They have around 60 stores in NC now. Ingles is family owned.

[Niki]

I used to shop at Food Lion for groceries, then I recently found out that Wal-Mart is cheaper. I don't really like Wal-Mart (too crowded & not pleasing to the eye), but I go for the cheaper groceries.

I don't know of any Lowe's stores around here. There used to be one (on Holden & High Point), but it closed down years ago. And, of course, the Kroger, Bi-Lo, Winn-Dixie and Harris Teeter stores that were nearby have closed also.

[silverwing]

Originally Posted by Niki

I used to shop at Food Lion for groceries, then I recently found out that Wal-Mart is cheaper. I don't really like Wal-Mart (too crowded & not pleasing to the eye), but I go for the cheaper groceries.

I don't know of any Lowe's stores around here. There used to be one (on Holden & High Point), but it closed down years ago. And, of course, the Kroger, Bi-Lo, Winn-Dixie and Harris Teeter stores that were nearby have closed also.

Well, not wanting to get a Walmart war started .......

Other grocery chains are having a hard time competing against Squalmart, and so are closing. Some may call that survival of the fittest, but the consumer will ultimately lose out because there will be no place to shop but Squalmart. Bostongirl's comment "Lowe's has boar's head deli meats....", well, what if Lowe's goes toes up? If there isn't a demand for that product among a wide group of people, Bostongirl will have to do without. Squalmart won't offer it.

Believe me, grocery stores have a very slim profit margin as it is (I've worked in the industry for over a decade now), so competing against that chain's "buy everything here" campaign has been difficult. However, the cutthroat competition has spurred one good response: it has made the other stores specialize (as Lowe's with their specialty meats) and diversify to cater to people who want non-mainstream products. Bloom is Food Lion's more specialized, high end store, catering to people who desire more ready-made foods and specialty items, while also having Bottom Dollar which, umm .. not meant to be un-PC, looks to cater to the less affluent

We don't shop at Walmart. By watching the weekly sales flyers, using coupons, and our customer card, we do fine by shopping at Lowes (#1 choice) and Food Lion (most everything except meat), and sometimes Harris Tweeter. Even if we could get cheaper food at Walmart, we still want to support a diverse marketplace.

[luckydog]

However, the cutthroat competition has spurred one good response: it has made the other stores specialize

silverwing...never thought about that, but it seems an obvious result to me now & a good one!

BTW, my small eastern NC town (a historic town) banned wally world, and all big boxes. The independent business owners practically linked hands & stood in the road...wally world has aggressively expressed interest here multiple times, but the local backlash was tremendous & loud...NO! Shopping locally is heavily promoted & advertised here. I do so as much as possible, though it's not as cheap as big boxes, for the principle of it...but still travel the 30 miles to Walmart, in a neighboring city, when I sometimes need to.

This town has a functioning, prosperous mayberry type downtown, that's just as alive now, as it ever was. This town is more of the exception.
Most eastern NC towns have them, popular in their yesteryears, but badly deteriorated & devoid now of the activity they once enjoyed...I guess due to the alternative of big boxes in large part.

They also recently decided some time back that anyone else national, chain, franchise, etc locating here must follow aethestic architectural guidelines they have established to preserve the historical look/feel of the town...some talk of making the ones already here have to refacade their buildings.

Anyhoo...the people here realized what they had, & that it was special, & that they would surely lose that, if they opened the door & invited wally & his friends to lunch. It's refreshing. And the tourists love it & the town relys on tourism substantially. So for now, if I need something I pop in to the hardware store downtown & they greet me, by name, ask me what I need, escort me to it, carry it for me to the counter, I pay & they thank me warmly, and then they give my daughter a sucker.

Just a sidenote, for smiles ...

this is my husband's hometown & I was not very familiar with it when we were first married. In fact, I didn't know his parents very well either, as we met & married in a year's time, and we were living far away. Before the wedding his mom called & said I HAD to do a wedding registry at the dang hardware store! She was insistent. I thought she was crackers & I was very resistent! I mean c'mon, a hardware store in a little town wasn't going to have my stuff.

We came for a visit & she took me there. I was used to entering businesses that had operated for a 100 years, by the same families, by virtue of having grown up in eastern NC, but I was shocked when I entered this store.

They had everything imagineable from lawn mowers to *****s, TV's & electronics (have a radio shack in there). Another "store" adjoining them, but within, encompasses an enormous line of crystal, stainless & sterling, & china, plus a huge line of giftware, jewelry, linens, etc. Then yet another store of theirs adjoins & is a complete craft store, with everything from silk flowers & ribbons, to scrapbooking...& everything for your kid's school projects.

Everyone here patronizes local stores for births, wedding & graduations almost exclusively. I received almost all of my complete registered service from that hardware store alone. I was astounded. They've done a great job here ...trying hard to supply what we need/want to promote keeping our dollars in our town.

And I love my daughter gets to experience this town...just as it was when her great grandparents were here. I take her to the same lunch counters my husband sat at, as a boy...to eat off the same menus (gotta have a vanilla coke, cherry coke, or fresh squeezed orangeade, with a grilled cheese, & then a thick shake, or ice cream) with the same cash register, counter & stools... & the same dang lady waiting on you still...and it's still for just about the same prices...that's priceless to me. And I'll be insisting she register her china at the same hardware store one day...I can only hope.

[henayneiCLNC]

in our area we have a Lowes, Ingles and WM - all seem to be thriving - not too far away (30 miles) is a Harris Teeter......

as we keep kosher it has been a real challenge to find the products we need - Passover was a TRIP as not one of the local stores had the Passover Matzoh - LOL - finally went to Charlotte to get ours

Harris Teeter has the best kosher selection, but still no meats (except hot dogs), still have to make the 2 hour drive to Charlotte for that

But I do most of my "normal" shopping at Ingles or WM, you'd be surprised how many of the products YOU buy every day are kosher

p.s. don't get me wrong, we figured it wouild be like this before we made the move - we love it here anyhow!!

[just_sayin']

Seeing as Winn-Dixie shut down all of its NC locations, Food Lion is crappy, and Harris Teeter is outragously priced. I'd say yeah. Lowes is Good. But if they ever built a Wegmans down here, they'd put the other stores out of business.

[mindync]

We still have Bi-Los in Charlotte. To me it is inbetween- not as nice as Lowes but better than Food Lion. I've never been one to grocery shop at WalMart before but they do make it quite convenient to get your cereal and your shampoo- AND your mile walk all in one stop.