Been through all the Philly aspects of food shopping from the old FOOD FAIRs to the ACMEs past the PATHMARKS and the SHOP-RITES...seen it all!

Or so I thought....

When I moved to Ohio, and now Fort Wayne, they had Kroegers and Scotts grocery stores. Not bad considering what a lot of stores in Philly had "devolved" into.

First off, they DO sell beer and wine in the stores (hard liquor is in a segregated area called "The Wine Cellar", and the prices are not too bad.

But WHEREVER you wind up going (in whatever state), there are some tips:

1) NEVER go after 9AM on ANY first weekend of any month (my wife and I call that WELFARE WEEKEND)..that's asking for trouble (and a lot of open shelf space)...lol!

2) ALWAYS make a list...never go shopping "on the fly", as it were. Spur of the moment purchases are costly!

3) NEVER go food shopping on an EMPTY stomach. Again, you'll wind up getting stuff you really don't need, 'cause you're starving!

4) Don't be afraid to drive your cart through the store like an M1A1 Abrams! Someone has a cart where it doesn't belong?...nudge it out of the damn way!

5) See someone with unruly kids?..casually bump (or back) into them...THAT will get their mom to keep a better eye on them in almost EVERY case.

6) Whenever possible...ALWAYS bag your OWN groceries...better to get it done RIGHT (by you) the FIRST time, than have your bread and eggs at the bottom of a bag filled with CANNED GOODS! (Omelets or french toast anyone?)

7) Always park next to where the carts are supposed to be returned to(WHY?...because that's the ONE place the carts NEVER are, so your car is safe)

8) Be a coupon clipper....save yourself some time AND money...and don't be afraid to ask for a RAINCHECK!

9) If there is a problem in the store (with supplies on the shelves OR people)...go find the store MANAGER. Go to the TOP!

10) Lastly, the BEST time to go is after 11PM, when the shelves are being stocked (take a utility knife to cut open all the boxes of what you've been looking for the past week, because it will be there). Besides, a lot of cops love to "coop" in the parking lots, so your car will be safer then.

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We're ALL in the same boat...just at DIFFERENT oars!

Bob G.

Now they let you take your cart outside those poles....are they insane?

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Eat your heart out Mr. Obama.

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what is for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote" Benjamin Franklin

Yes there is a place where you wont be treated like a child.

Everything you all have mentioned is the same things I gripe about and sometimes even make my kids or my husband embarressed at me when I go up to the manager and ask why it has been 3 weeks now and their is still not several items I have been looking fo every darn time I am there!!
I`m always like"See that label,that means it should be on the SHELF"!
I thought moving from Florida to King Of Prussia would be a bitch with grocery shopping,esp. the high prices,but the supermarkets here in philly are the worst.By the time I leave I want to choke someone..

In every grocery store in St.pete there is a bagger at every register.
And for the most part that is how it is at Genaudis in King of Prussia..
THe annoying long lines alone in Shoprite,make ya go nutz and people have even bumped in front of me at times..Whatever happen to the rule if their are 3 or more people in line its time to open another one??
The carts along all the driveways and pavements(not to mention the trash and all the gangster type kids with their foul mouths) really are a reminder that I have went 10 steps backwards in my life..
I really tought coming back here for one yr to show my children where I grew up before I take them back to Florida(4 GOOD) would be a nice little change and show them how life is different in other places.
Now my 14 yr old daughter is like"thanks mom,good going,we live in the most violent part of the country"!!
I am starting to think and believe that unless they get some really good people working for this city(really need a different mayor),that this will turn into "THE City of brotherly Hate".. ANd before you know it I will have no relatives to come visit anymore here ,I hope they will soon realize that unless more people ban together and do something it will remain this way and keep getting worse!!
I know I was away for many yrs,,but it appears to me that they make it too damn ez for people to get welfare,ssi and FREE housing..
But hey look on the bright side no more smoking in bars,,that will bring the city crime rate down?Right?LMFAO!!!
Malisa

Do the carts have the mechanism on the wheels that lock if they go outside of the parking lot? If not, Pathmark is insane.

Great tips, BGALHS70!

I have never in my life tried to push a cart home. But I found myself a little embaressed when me and my daughter parked outside of Dominoes in the Lawndale shopping center and then proceeded to go into shoprite to shop first..Well anyways, after I came out I tried to push my cart to my car ,and it locked up on me 3 feet away from my car.I was like Oh look at me, I look like I am going to actully try to steal this now!!LMAO!!

As far as I know they dont.....and I didnt see any signs saying you couldnt take them past a certain point etc...

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Eat your heart out Mr. Obama.

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what is for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote" Benjamin Franklin

Yes there is a place where you wont be treated like a child.

Now you made me hungry. I miss those things about San Diego also. Also running into a chevron or am/pm and getting a case of beer. And those Jack in the Box tacos uhggg. Do you remember La Fuente the little mexican hut in hillcrest? good times...

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Why have a signature when no one can read my handwriting?

"We painted the town red in our 1979 winnobego, ( PURPLE ) with maggie hanging her wooden leg out the window." OLD 4 SQ

Nop cant say that I do....I remember a little food joint off base (I was at MCAS Miramar) that was called JuanBurtos (sp)....it was near, or on, Mira Mesa Blvd...along with IN-N-OUT etc....

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Eat your heart out Mr. Obama.

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what is for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote" Benjamin Franklin

Yes there is a place where you wont be treated like a child.

We got a loaf of Sourdough Bread from Genuardi's last week (on Huntingdon Pike). Not as good as Boudin, but pretty good. Worth a shot if you're longing for it....

The no baggers thing really gets me, especially when I have my 18 month old with me.

Grocery shopping has become my least favorite household chore lately because of the lack of baggers; rudeness of customers (and I don't even mind if you fog up the frozen food section ; and the fact that if an item is on sale, the store is out of it by 10am on a Sunday. I've tried the delivery services, but it's not much better with the slowness of the sites to place the order. Maybe I should make the husband go more often...

Obeying signs? That's a hoot.

Shopping cart races down Megargee here we come!!!