Safeway's rating in Consumer Reports

[Meg Worley]

Very surprising that there really is no premium "regular" supermarket
chain in California. Not talking about a niche player like Andronico's
or Lunardi's, but a large chain.

Gelson's doesn't count?

One store I really like is Sprouts. It's normal prices are ridiculously
expensive, but they have excellent sale prices on produce, USDA Choice
beef, and seafood. We buy a lot of wild fish there.

Sprouts is good for fish, but I hate everything else there (at
least at the Claremont one). Since the moment they opened, their
bulk bins have been infested with pantry moths; their produce is
overpriced and pitiful; and the employees are so surly and
unhelpful that I think they've been trained to behave that way.

(x-posting to la.eats, for topical reasons)


Rage away,

meg

[Julian Macassey]

On Sun, 1 Apr 2012 15:00:30 +0000 (UTC), Meg Worley

Post by Meg Worley

Very surprising that there really is no premium "regular" supermarket
chain in California. Not talking about a niche player like Andronico's
or Lunardi's, but a large chain.

Gelson's doesn't count?

Gelsons is a high end super with less than twenty stores.
Mostly in Los Angeles and Orange County with one store in Santa
Barbara.

For eclectic selection and customers I like Jons, about
fifteen stores in LA and Orange counties.

Then there is Gefer Farms in Burbank. Also a fun
location.

822 S San Fernando Blvd
Burbank, CA 91502

[Peter Lawrence]

In southern CA, Von's was at one
time a step up from the other chains -- at least until they were bought by
Safeway.

Nah. I shopped at Von's during its pre-Safeway days. Its quality was
actually very similar to Safeway's even *before* the merger.

In Los Angeles, it was Ralph's that was considered a step above Von's,
Lucky, Safeway, and Alpha-Beta.


- Peter

[Meg Worley]

Post by Peter Lawrence
In Los Angeles, it was Ralph's that was considered a step above Von's,
Lucky, Safeway, and Alpha-Beta.

Nowadays, Ralph's is hit or miss. Some of them are really sad;
others are super-posh. In the case of Marina del Rey, there's
one of each, a block away from each other.

And when we lived in Florida, Publix was no great shakes. But
maybe it's cleaned up its act.



Rage away,

meg

[Julian Macassey]

Post by Peter Lawrence

In southern CA, Von's was at one
time a step up from the other chains -- at least until they were bought by
Safeway.

Nah. I shopped at Von's during its pre-Safeway days. Its quality was
actually very similar to Safeway's even *before* the merger.

Vons was always crappy. So crappy that they launched an
upmarket version of themselves called Pavillions.

Post by Peter Lawrence
In Los Angeles, it was Ralph's that was considered a step above Von's,
Lucky, Safeway, and Alpha-Beta.

True, of the big supers, Ralphs was good and consistent.

[Peter Lawrence]

Post by Julian Macassey

Post by Peter Lawrence

In southern CA, Von's was at one
time a step up from the other chains -- at least until they were bought by
Safeway.

Nah. I shopped at Von's during its pre-Safeway days. Its quality was
actually very similar to Safeway's even *before* the merger.

Vons was always crappy. So crappy that they launched an
upmarket version of themselves called Pavillions.

The Pavilions were created after the Vons merger with Safeway. At first,
Pavilions usually were former Safeways that were near a preexisting Vons (at
least where I lived).


- Peter

[Al Eisner]

Post by Peter Lawrence

In southern CA, Von's was at one
time a step up from the other chains -- at least until they were bought by
Safeway.

Nah. I shopped at Von's during its pre-Safeway days. Its quality was
actually very similar to Safeway's even *before* the merger.
In Los Angeles, it was Ralph's that was considered a step above Von's, Lucky,
Safeway, and Alpha-Beta.

Not my experience. But it's entirely possible that the level of adequacy I
found at Von's way back would not satisfy me now.