gregory morrow

Ten or so years ago the Wednesday "Food" section of the _Chicago Tribune_
annually published a "Shopping Guide" that was quite helpful. Basically,
the Trib food staff compiled a "basket" of 25 or so common grocery items and
would cost out that basket of items at a variety of food stores here in the
Chicago metro area, IIRC they'd visit around 30+ stores to check prices.
This was a very handy and useful feature for us savvy consumers as you'd get
a good view of where was expensive, where was cheaper [As it so happens the
most consistently expensive supermarket in the whole metro area was the
now - gone (burned down - a portent!?) Dominick's in my Lakeview
neighborhood (at Briar & Broadway), followed by the Jewel (or "the Jewel's
as we in Chicawgo often call it) a few blocks north. My local store,
Treasure Island, placed 5th or 6th down, so much for those who always
lambasted TI for being "SOOO expensive"!]...

I have not seen such a useful comparison survey for years now in the Trib
(or it's competitor, the Chicago _Sun - Times_). I figured that they
dropped the feature for fear of offending their advertisers. I've noticed a
trend of these food sections having a lot more "puff pieces", a lot less
hard content; many of the articles now resemble nothing so much as extended
and quite blatant "adver - articles". So I get a lot of my local food
"news" from boards such as www.chowhound.com and www.lthforum.com (the
latter is especially fine, a model of a solid and useful food discussion
forum with savvy contributers)..._Consumer Reports_ also publishes grocery
price surveys, I'll have to check the most recent survey out.

Lo and behold, this week the Trib published a "supermarket survey" entitled
"Supermarket Love". This consists of excerpts of readers' opinions (a
stunning 350 in all!) of their fave shopping destinations. The "top six"
markets are rated, this was solely decided by the number of reader "votes"
(and the Trib flatly states that they are not sharing their other
"criteria" -- huh!?). Price checks? Yeah, for THREE items: ground beef,
milk, bananas. Laaaaame...

At the beginning of the article they quote "industry expert" Michael
Sansolo. And why is he an "expert"? Why, he's employed "as senior vice
president of the Food Marketing Institute. That's the Washington, D.C.-based
trade association of food wholesalers and retailers." GEE, could that be an
industry LOBBYING group with an AGENDA!?

I found his following comment laughable:

"And because Chicago has an incredibly robust restaurant scene, supermarkets
compete with restaurants [for shoppers' food dollars]."

The competition pays off for consumers, Sansolo said: It "means prices have
to stay good."

</>

Has this dude been to Chicago at all and has he actually ever been grocery
shopping here? FWIW Chicago's stupormarket scene is dominated by the two
big dumb giants Jewel (owned by Albertson's) and Dominick's (owned by
Safeway). Between the two (especially since being acquired by the national
conglomerates), "competition" is virtually nil, prices are laughably high,
quality laughably low, and "service" is a foreign concept. I'd say Chicago
probably has the least competitive supermarket chain scene of any major
metro area. I've talked to a number of new arrivals from other major
locales and many of them are shocked by just how dire the two big chains
are...the crummy produce...the "select" grade meat that is sold at "prime"
prices...the stores that have all the charm of a cramped 50's bomb
shelter...store brands that are more expensive than cheaper (and sometimes
better) national brands...

In any case, I 'd thought I 'd throw this out. The article is included in
it's entirety below (the Trib site requires registration, no one should
endure that to read such a mediocre rag). I WAS a bit surprised by mention
towards the end of Chicago Consumers Checkbook, a non - profit that found
that the highest prices at Whole Foods (no surprise there), Dominick's, and
Jewel. From the latter twos' advertising you'd think they had the Bargains
of the Century, but natcherly if you look closely you'll see it's all
advertising flim - flam...

[FYI I shop primarily at Treasure Island, Walgreen's, and the cheap Asian
markets in the Uptown section of Chicago around Broadway & Argyle...I am
single and spend around $60.00+ per week on store - bought vittles (doesn't
include household/cleaning supplies, booze...). I eat well and healthfully
and I make a lot of things from scratch, e.g. soups, salad dressings, etc.
I normally entertain once per week]


Here ya go:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...goodeating-hed

Supermarket love

We asked for your favorite supermarket and why you like it, and boy, did you
tell us!


By Robin Mather Jenkins
Tribune staff reporter

September 6, 2006

Tribune readers are crazy loyal to their supermarkets.

"When we asked you to nominate your favorites, responses poured in--nearly
350 of 'em, via fax, e-mail and U.S. Post. Some were impassioned; some were
terse. Many named employees by first and last name, the sign of a really
local market, even if a chain owns it.

We craftily didn't tell you what criteria we wanted you to use, because we
were curious about what makes you love your market. Some respondents were
all about price; others were all about service. Some correspondents cited
huge variety in produce, meat or other aisles; others talked only about
quality.

In the end, we tallied the nominations and arrived at a fistful of your
favorites and the stories of why some supermarkets succeed while others
fail. We dispatched Good Eating staffers to each of the top six vote-getting
markets. Each staffer reported on the store's "gee whiz!" factor and other
aspects, and all reported the prices of three household staples: a pound of
the least expensive ground beef, a half gallon of store-label milk and a
pound of bananas. You'll find their reports on the centerspread.

You'll also see excerpts from readers' letters nominating markets that
didn't make the top six.

"People are unbelievably passionate about the grocery stores they love,"
Michael Sansolo said. "Wherever I go--PTA meetings, the drugstore--people
want to tell me stuff about their stores, good and bad."

Sansolo has been watching supermarkets for nearly a quarter of a century,
first as editor of the trade journal Progressive Grocer and more recently as
senior vice president of the Food Marketing Institute. That's the
Washington, D.C.-based trade association of food wholesalers and retailers.

The reason for that passion, he said, is because supermarkets are "one of
the places we go most often, on average 2.1 times a week. There are a lot of
industries where we come into contact with them one or two times a year: a
car dealership, a hospital. And the products we buy at the market come into
very intimate contact with the shopper."

Supermarkets now compete with many more food sources than they used to,
Sansolo said. "You have some non-supermarket operators like Walgreens, and
they sell a lot of food. And because Chicago has an incredibly robust
restaurant scene, supermarkets compete with restaurants [for shoppers' food
dollars]."

The competition pays off for consumers, Sansolo said: It "means prices have
to stay good."

Your favorite markets

After Good Eating staffers read the more than 350 nominations for best
supermarket, the results were tallied and we figured out which six markets
had the most nominations. They were, in alphabetical order, Caputo's,
Dominick's, Jewel-Osco, Sunset Foods, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market.
Six Good Eating staff members each visited a store and made these reports.


JOE CAPUTO & SONS FRUIT MARKET

2070 N. Rand Rd., Palatine, 847-705-7200. 7 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; 7 a.m.-8
p.m. Sun.

What one reader said

"I go well out of my way to Joe Caputo's for the best selection of meats,
seafood, veggies and international foods around. Not only is their selection
tops, but their prices are ... usually well below the chain stores."

--Craig Doherty of Arlington Heights

Gee whiz! factor

Imported food selection is awesome. Italian, you would expect; also Polish,
Hungarian, Mexican and more. Cheeses, meat products and packaged foods from
all of those countries. Hungarian bacon, for example!

Drawbacks and/or limitations

Very crowded on the Saturday we visited. Some aisles are too narrow to
navigate because of displays in center of the aisle. Long check-out lines
snaked into some aisles. Deli counter wait was long.

Room for improvement

Quantities of produce are well displayed, quality is not top-notch. On the
other hand, they had Key limes and Michigan tart cherries, two hard-to-find
items.

Price snapshot

Cheapest ground beef: $2.89/pound

1/2 gallon store-label milk: $1.69 (Prairie Farms)

Bananas: 39 cents/pound

Additional comments

Clean. Walls painted with nice murals of rolling Italian countryside. The
mostly Hispanic staff in the produce area are helpful, but didn't understand
a request in English. Customer service desk was very busy, but helpful.


DOMINICK'S FINER FOODS

8700 S. Cicero Ave., Oak Lawn, 708-422-3906. 6 a.m.-1 a.m. Tues.-Sun.; 6
a.m.-midnight Mon.

What one reader said

"They have a really wonderful produce department, a friendly staff, and 9
out of 10 times I can find obscure items I am looking for."

--Mary Piper-Stanwyck, Oak Lawn

Gee whiz! factor

Really friendly staff, calling out hellos to regular customers; clean and
brightly lit with unintrusive music; a comprehensive produce selection,
including a good selection of Hispanic foodstuffs.

Drawbacks and/or limitations

Limited fish selections when we visited; the fish and meat service counters
are small and not very broadly stocked.

Room for improvement

Ladies' room had plumbing issues and needed cleaning.

Price snapshot

Cheapest ground beef: $2.69/pound

1/2 gallon store-label milk: $1.99

Bananas: 69 cents/pound

Additional comments

This is the kind of supermarket that makes new immigrants marvel at the
bounty of the American food supply: Long, long aisles, lined with more food
than anyone could imagine. But most of it is the most typical generic
American food: cans of soup and beans and vegetables, frozen pizzas and so
on.


JEWEL-OSCO FOOD STORES

12001 S. Pulaski Rd., Alsip, 708-371-3460 6a.m.-1 a.m. daily

What the reader said

"All their meat and produce is of very good quality, always fresh and
reasonably priced. The employees are all excellent . . . if you cannot find
something, a cashier will turn off his/her register and help you look for
it."

--Joanna Perna, Merrionette Park

Gee whiz! factor

Jewel has practically everything you need to live today, from produce to
seafood to makeup to prescriptions to flowers to floppy summer hats to
freshly fried chicken and even a $159 bottle of Dom Perignon Champagne. Well
stocked, nicely lit and boasts wide aisles; laid out sensibly.

Drawbacks and/or limitations

Red bell peppers were wrinkling; corn on the cob looked tired. The selection
of ethnic food was pretty conventional. The Hispanic canned goods section,
for example, was notable only for the 11 brands of salsas. Eleven makers
were represented, from Pace and Picante to Chicago restaurateur Rick
Bayless' Frontera line.

Room for improvement

Some meat cuts could have been trimmed better. More choice among poultry
brands would be nice.

Price snapshot:

Cheapest ground beef: $2.48/pound

1/2 gallon store-label milk: $1.99 (Fieldcrest)

Bananas: 57 cents/pound

Additional comments

Sprucing up the store facade would give a more accurate hint of all the neat
things inside.


SUNSET FOOD

1812 Green Bay Rd., Highland Park,

847-432-5500. 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon. --Sat.; 8 a.m. --8 p.m. Sun

What two readers said

"We like to go to Sunset in Highland Park because then we get to see Terry
and Frida. They work in the fruit section and they are always nice to us and
ask how school is. They have known us since we were born."

--Madison and Zoey Jaffe-Richter, ages 6 and 2, Highland Park

Gee whiz! factor

First, service. Clerks unloading groceries from my cart onto the checkout
counter? There was somebody supervising checkout traffic, and plenty of
baggers. Clerks at bakery and deli were on a first-name basis with many
customers. Second, inventory. Coffee brands, for instance, included high-end
(Starbucks, Peets) and esoteric (beans from a local roaster, several
imported brands). Ethnic foods impressively stocked; lots of organics.
Kosher and specialty items catering to the Jewish community are here too.
Upscale labels like Robert Rothschild, Silver Palate and Stonewall Kitchen.

Drawbacks and/or limitations

Sometimes I need a supermarket after 8 p.m. Narrow aisles, low ceilings.
You're supposed to get produce weighed by the produce guys before proceeding
to checkout. (Not that big a deal, given that they make checking out so
painless.)

Room for improvement

Oh, for wider aisles.

Price snapshot

Cheapest ground beef: $2.29/pound 1 gallon store-label milk: $1.99
(Centrella; no 1/2 gallon available). Bananas: 69 cents/pound

Additional comments

The store is very, very clean.


TRADER JOE'S

1840 N. Clybourn Ave.,312-274-9733

9 a.m.-10 p.m. daily

What one reader said

"My absolute favorite is Trader Joe's. There are so many healthy
options--lots of organic choices--they let you sample stuff before you buy
it--plus they'll take it back if you really don't like it."

--Susan Derex, Skokie

Gee whiz! factor

Prices are great when compared to other specialty groceries for staples such
as olive oil, etc. Individually quick frozen fish and seafood, great quality
and selection. Bulk nuts offer tremendous savings: Raw cashews are much less
expensive than Whole Foods.

Drawbacks and/or limitations

Take your pick from half-a-dozen esoteric ethnic glazes, but supermarket
basics aren't always on the shelf. Produce limited and not always best
quality.

Room for improvement

Getting to the second-floor store can be confusing for pedestrians.
Negotiating the parking lot isn't any easier with its narrow passageways and
limited spaces.

Price snapshot

Cheapest ground beef: $4.99/pound

1/2 gallon store-label milk: $2.09

Bananas: 49 cents/pound

Additional comments

The best staff--friendly, happy, upbeat. We dream they could give
customer-service workshops to stores all over town.


WHOLE FOODS MARKET

7245 Lake St., River Forest ( in the River Forest Town Center) 08-366-1045.
8 a.m.-10 p.m. Mon.-Sun.

What one reader said

"You can pick out fantastic vegetables, peruse the seafood or meat counter
quickly and grab some nice cheese and wine, working the perimeter in short
order. The layout of product is great and everything is visible to check for
freshness."

--Drew Peterson, Forest Park

Gee whiz! factor

Produce is mounded in colorful piles like little islands in an open-air
market. The cheese, meat and fish displays are equally inviting, with
impressive variety, quality and freshness. Love the pizza oven and the
delicious-looking pies on display. Four staffers went out of their way to be
friendly and helpful.

Drawbacks and/or limitations

At each end of the store, the produce section and prepared foods/deli
section, tight navigation around free-standing displays could become a
Saturday morning traffic jam.

Room for improvement

Where do we put the carry basket once unloaded at the checkout counter? The
traditional space beneath is full of bags of charcoal. Cashier was slow, but
lots of room for forgiveness when someone is as pleasant as she.

Price snapshot

Cheapest ground beef: $3.49/ pound

1/2 gallon of store-label milk: $3.29 (365 Organic)

Bananas: 79 cents/pound

Additional comments

Bulk spices, grains, dates, nuts, etc., are real values. Plenty of parking
in front.

- - -


Readers' letters

No doubt about it, my favorite grocery store is Walt's Food Center in
Frankfort. . . . The store is clean, well-lit and very organized. Employees
are service-oriented and eager to help you accomplish your shopping errands.
Walt's has an old-fashioned appeal, yet easily competes with other
megastores in price and variety."

--Joseph Forrest, New Lenox

My favorite supermarket is Valli Produce International Fresh Market in
Hoffman Estates. They have 10 checkouts going all the time, they are busy.
They have every vegetable you can think of and some you never heard of. The
people who work there are friendly and nice-looking."

--Charles Kennaugh, Hoffman Estates

Kramer Foods in Hinsdale . . . is the best supermarket. Why? Because it's
not supersized. One can dash around quickly after work, purchase dinner and
exit in under 15 minutes. (Kramer's policy is [that] if more than two people
are waiting to check out, they will open another register)."

--Debora Judycki, Downers Grove

My very favorite shop is Schmeisser Meat in Niles. The best meats and deli
items around for many years. Owners in shop at all times, and service is
excellent."

--Toni Holzwart, Niles

I would have to say that my favorite store would . . . be Treasure Island.
They have some of the best produce I have seen . . . and they carry a very
wide variety of produce from all over the world. The butcher will usually go
out of his way to find you what you want if it isn't out there. I love that
store!"

--Anna Hurm, Chicago

My favorite supermarket is Butera Foods. It carries many name brands, also
many import items. Most of the employees are shareholders of the company,
therefore very familiar with the items."

--Martin Benjamin, Norridge


MORE LETTERS

Potash Brothers Supermart takes telephone orders (no need to have a computer
or to be computer-savvy); Potash has excellent personnel that fill these
phone orders; and Potash has excellent personnel that deliver these orders
right to your door. My compliments to the management for their foresight,
and to their staff for their dedicated attention to telephone orders."

--Donald H. Bussman, Chicago

My favorite supermarket is Fox & Obel. There are . . . items found perhaps
nowhere else in Chicago. All the staff is personable, helpful and
knowledgeable. For these items and a few others, there is no place in
Chicago this unique."

--Elaine Rosen, Chicago

My favorite store . . . is where I can get good food for less money. So the
name of the supermarket is Food 4 Less."

--Willie Jean Dukes, Chicago

A very special grocery is the Blue Goose in St. Charles. The store is just
the right size, and the staff is very helpful. Overall, the atmosphere is
homey and welcoming--makes you feel at home. It is a pleasure to shop
there."

--Donna Orlandini, West Chicago

You probably have many letters about my favorite supermarket, Tischler's
Finer Foods, Brookfield. The prices are competitive, they have the very best
meats in the area, the produce is fresh and priced lower . . . than the
larger supermarkets, and the deli department is above par. The best part is
that the employees are always vigilant about accommodating their customers."

--Kitty Earhart, Western Springs

Aldi is my favorite store because of the good quality food at low prices."

--Dorothy Santoyo, Addison


What about prices?

Groceries cost the most at Whole Foods, Dominick's and Jewel-Osco, according
to the summer/fall issue of Chicago Consumers Checkbook, published
semiannually by the non-profit Center for the Study of Services.

The center surveyed Chicago supermarkets and found the lowest prices at
Wal-Mart Supercenter and SuperTarget, though there aren't many stores in the
area.

A family that spends $150 a week could save more than $2,000 a year by
shopping at Wal-Mart Supercenter, the study found.

Sunset Foods on the North Shore and Walt's Food Centers in the south suburbs
earned high consumer-satisfaction ratings and offered prices competitive to
Dominick's and Jewel-Osco, the survey reported.

Shoppers who visit both a warehouse club like Sam's or Costco and a
supermarket could save nearly a quarter of the money they would spend if
they shopped at the supermarket alone.

For more information on the survey, visit the magazine's Web site,
checkbook.org, or call 312-255-8454.

-- Robin Mather Jenkins


Shopping smart

Consumer Reports has tips to help grocery shoppers spend shrewdly. It
reported some of these in an article on its Web site, consumerreports.org.

- Pay attention to packaging. One staff member bought two bunches of
broccoli for $3; another shopper, also instructed to buy 3 pounds of
broccoli, spent more than $11 on "a bunch of little bags containing precut
florets."

- Store brands "can yield big savings with quality similar to national
brands. Also consider off-brands. Our thrifty shopper bought two pounds of
Fireside Old-Fashioned fig bars for $2.49; two pounds of Fig Newtons were
more than $7."

- There are exceptions to the "bigger package means lower prices" theorem.
"At a Wal-Mart, we found cereal that cost 8 cents less per pound in a
14-ounce box than in a 20-ounce box."

- Price differences can be sneaky. "At one store, Alpine Lace low-salt
Muenster cheese was sold in two areas: sliced to order at the deli counter
and prepackaged in a display 10 feet away. The smart shopper bought the
cheese at the deli, where it cost $2 less per pound."

- Pay attention at the register. "Mistakes happen more often than you might
expect. About 9 percent of survey respondents complained of wrong prices
scanned."

-- R.M.J.


YOU ALSO LOVED . . . .

Passionate Good Eating readers nominated their favorite markets by the
hundreds. The top six markets are highlighted in our chart on this page. The
following markets comprise the next 12 most nominated markets.

Walt's Food Center, Frankfort, Homewood and Tinley Park

Aldi, all locations

Happy Foods, Edgebrook and Edison Park

Woodman's, Carpentersville and Kenosha, Wis.

Meijer, several locations

Treasure Island, Lake Shore Drive, Lakeview and Wilmette

Butera, all locations

Casey's Foods, Naperville

Kramer Foods, Hinsdale

Blue Goose Super Market, St. Charles

A&G Fresh Market, Chicago (Northwest Side)

Cub Foods, all locations

-- R.M.J.

Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune

</>

lou decruss

<snip most of a picture sized post>

You make Chicago shopping sound rather dismal. Making your statements
based on Treasure Island, Walgreens, and those Asian shops makes your
view rather limited. Sheesh! Walgreens isn't even a food store.
Being upset about your limited selection based on where you live is as
ridiculous as someone from Iowa complaining about the lack of fresh
seafood. If you like living deep in the city EVERYTHING will cost more.
<Snip>


And you thought the "dude's" comments were laughable?

Jewel and Dominicks may be the biggest, but I don't know any foodies
who would go there for anything other than a last minute emergency.
If you don't have decent shopping either move or take a short trip to
a real grocery store. There's many great stores that didn't even make
the list you posted. Many of which are far more crowded than the
biggies because of the value and quality they offer. There's a store
on Harlem and Ogden called Berwyn Fruit market. As a whole you'll
probably save 40-50% of your grocery total. Even beer is cheapest
there. Milk is always $1.99 a gallon. There's a Jewel less than a
block and it doesn't seem to hinder them one bit! Granted that's
outside city limits, but you did refer to the Metro area.
<snip>

LOL...$60.00 a week? Maybe someone should open up a store right next
to you to gobble up that big budget. That's hardly enough to do a
decent job of entertaining.

I've been to at least one location of all but Caputo's. TJ's is the
only one that's even close to good. But they seemed to do something
to please the test staff. The biggies lure people who buy frozen
junk. Not those of us who make real food. Jewel just sent out a
flyer called the "freezer sale." 10 pages of nothing but freezer
goods. We won't be getting anything from there.
<random snipping>


The rest of the article including all the "reader letters" and the
"you also loved" section is where the real information was. But
actually even they missed a few gems. Did you read that far in the
article?

I assumed JOE CAPUTO & SONS FRUIT MARKET was spinoff of Angelo
Caputo's which should have been on the top of the list. I called them
and it's not. The other Capoto's (Angelo) originally on Harlem will
save you lots of money. Meat and cold cuts are half the price of the
biggies.

Obviously Jewel and Dominicks are terrible for anything unless you
want cheap frozen pizzas

TJ's is ok, but not a one stop shop.

Someone in the letters mentioned Tischler's. We head out that way
about once a month. Great meat. They have Daisy hot dogs for half of
what Jewel has them for.

McChesney and Miller in Glen Ellyn didn't make the list but has
wonderful meat for about what you'd pay for the garbage at Jewel.

Blue Goose made the list luckily. It's been a long time since I've
been there but it's a good little store.

All Woodman's locations are awesome. Employee owned so they have good
attitudes. The meat is exceptional and about half of the big chains.

Casey's in Naperville and Kramer foods in hinsdale are both good but
not the price bargain some of the others are.

As I said before Berwyn fruit market is good. Springbrook market In
Carol Stream is a scaled down version of Capoto's. Eurofresh Market
in Palatine is good but it gives me the creeps because the KFC murders
happened on what was an outlot. Now it's torn it down. Westbrook
Market in Westmont has a better selection of Asian veggies than most
Asian markets do. Ultra foods in Forest Park always has a least one
kind of roast for well under 2 bucks a pound. The quality is always
good. That's where I get my Dago Beef meat.

The two big chains may have the biggest market share, but there's
certainly many other choices. You must be very lazy. You're
commentary was sillier than the article. If you don't like your
choices move or quite bitching. As much as you hated Sheryl, you
sound just like her.

Lou. <---happy to shop in Chicago

naomi

x-no-archive: yes

Yeah, I hate the self-righteous copyright violation.

gregory morrow

Lou DeCRUSTY writhes:

Lol...is that YOU, "Uncle Grumpy"...???

Hey, I see that Walgreen's has stool softeners and Ex - Lax on sale
this week, mayhaps you can pick some up!

--
Best
Greg

lou decruss

On 10 Sep 2006 11:04:52 -0700, "Gregory Morrow"

Nope. That must be someone else. I'm always happy and helpful. You
didn't like the review so I gave you a better one. So much for appreciation. LOL

No need. You're the one who likes things in your ass. Including your
head.

Lou