Kenosha Woodman's (Darien, Aurora, Arlington: buy, live, prices)

[Suburban Gal]

I just discovered the benefits of grocery shopping at Woodman's: a tremendous variety, low prices, and no to little tax.

I know there are 3 IL locations, but none of them are close to me. The nearest one in Carpentersville is a little over an hour away in Carpentersville. The one in North Aurora is an hour and a half away and the one in Rockford is 2 hours away. That's way too long to go for groceries even if it was once a month for a huge stockpile and not all items would survive that kind of trip, especially in the summer months. Sorry, but I'm not going 40 or miles for groceries. Even if I could, I'd still have to pay IL tax.

The Kenosha Woodman's is only 30 minutes away from me. A straight shot on Route 41 or I-94. All I have to do is take the exit for HWY 50.

I wish I had went to the Kenosha Woodman's a lot sooner than I did. I've really been missing out for quite some time. And apparently, I'm NOT the only one from IL who goes to the Kenosha Woodman's either.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by Suburban Gal

I know there are 3 IL locations, but none of them are close to me. The nearest one in Carpentersville is a little over an hour away in Carpentersville. The one in North Aurora is an hour and a half away and the one in Rockford is 2 hours away. That's way too long to go for groceries even if it was once a month for a huge stockpile and not all items would survive that kind of trip, especially in the summer months. Sorry, but I'm not going 40 or miles for groceries. Even if I could, I'd still have to pay IL tax.

I have been to all three Woodman's stores that you referenced. Those three stores are all pretty similar - approximately 250,000 square feet.

If you go to one of the IL stores, you WILL find more of the brands that Chicagoans like that will NOT be carried in Kenosha. The folks at Woodman's do a PHENOMENAL job of sourcing food products from LOCAL producers in MN, WI, IL, IN, and MI.

As for shopping around, I must confess that I purchase groceries at a variety of stores from Darien, WI to Niles. IL. While I rarely if ever make special trips, I plan my other trips to include stops at the places where I want to make purchases. For example, if I am heading into Wisconsin, I will stop at Sorg's butcher shop; if I am heading to Arlington Heights, I stop at Mitsuwa. I always carry a cooler.

[Drover]

We live on the northwest side of the city, and whenver it's time to do a major stock-up we head to either the Carpentersville Woodman's or the Kenosha Woodman's, depending on a couple factors. The Carpentersville one is a little closer but sometimes traffic patterns favor going to the Kenosha one instead. Plus Woodmans stores in general have a very good liquor/beer selection in their liquor stores, and there are a number of beers you can only buy in Wisconsin. So when it's time to stock up on certain beers, the Kenosha Woodman's is the closest liquor store with a reliable selection of beer brands I'm looking to stock up on.