Does anyone shop at Albertson's (supermarket)?

[Kat45]

I just found out they're buying a chain in my area. I don't think there are any in the area already, and I was wondering if the store is any good.

[flamingyouth]

1. Are you talking about Shaw's in New England?

I just saw an article regarding this in the NY Times today.

Personally, I don't care for Albertson's quality or for the way they treat their workers (regarding the SoCal grocery workers strike). It sucks having to deal with grocery chains, I think. I try to buy from small, indy stores here, but it's really hard. The cost is usually much higher, and then you have the inconvenience factor.

Albertson's does have that irritating-as-all-get-out card thing that they swipe when you buy stuff. I hate that fucking thing, personally, and I think it's way too intrusive and evil, but I could likely be overreacting.

[Kat45]

32. Yup. Shaw's in New England.

Shaw's bought a small local chain here several years ago, and I guess Albertson's is now buying Shaw's. I don't like Shaw's much, so I'm hoping that it at least won't be worse than that.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

37. Shaw's has a union

I think Albertsons may cause some trouble..

[Intelsucks]

2. Albertson's... It's YOUR store. So I guess you can walk in and take

whatever you want without paying for it.:evilgrin:

[MAlibdem]

29. steal this frozen pizza! (nt)

[DrWeird]

3. Yeah, they're alright.

They've got a decent deli. I don't usually shop there as I'm broke and they're a little on the steep side, but I think they've got one of those club card deals.

[amazona]

4. get a loyalty card

If yours is like mine, you wouldn't be able to afford anything that is not a loss leader but I do go in each week or so (some weeks they have nothing good for sale) and pick up those loss leaders because they can be very well-priced. You only get the loss leader price with the card. Normal prices are too high -- they are a few steps away across a parking lot from a SuperWalmart in my area -- yet a bottle of the same wine (for one example) might be $2 more at the Albertson's.

On Edit -- of course they have way better selection that WalMart's, don't get me wrong, but you pay a premium for it.

[INTELBYTES]

5. I do! They are the second least expensive Supermarket in town.

For convenience I'd rather shop with them. Our largest chain in Austin is HEB. They tend to be overcrowded and a bit slower at the checkouts.

[dawgman]

6. They are alright. Better than Safeway but worse than QFC as far as

produce and meats go. Prices are fair to middlin' and I don't know what their labor policies are. There was always a rumor that I never verified that Albertson's was owned by the mormon church (or church members).

[flamingyouth]

15. Very true regarding Seattle quality/prices

:thumbsup:

[brook]

35. uh-huh...

you're correct about Mormon ownership...at least,they did own Albertson's - and Marie Callender's - in the 80's. Of course, the way they swap companies nowadays...who knows?

I seldom go to the one in town here. They did a huge PR campaign about hiring a number of our high school kids when they opened. Then they turned around and fired them all after the grand opening. Most hadn't even made enough to pay for their *required* uniforms.

I went about 2 weeks ago looking for St. Pat's decor. There were aisles blocked off; cases of stuff standing around; tiles torn out of the floor, etc... when I checked out, I mentioned that I'd been in markets in 3rd World countries that weren't as dirty and smelly. The defense was that they're "remodeling". On my scale of 1-10...-3.

[shekina]

7. They got good prices

but they're kinda like the ghetto supermarket

[HydroAddict]

8. I used too...

But I too did not like their selection or quality. I've switched to the HEB.

My only three choices in my town are Alberton's, HEB, and Nazi-Mart.

[teach1st]

9. We have Albertsons...I won't shop there

The one in my neighborhood just doesn't seem to have much respect for their customers and their employees seem markedly disinterested.

I stopped shopping there a long time ago, except for their liqueur store, which is the only booze shop in town.

[theoceansnerves]

10. i used to

i used to have a pretty good opinion of them, but after the grocery worker's strike and now the addition of a card program, i think they're pretty damn rotten. for what it's worth, they always had a better selection than the other big chains in town.

[wryter2000]

18. Self-checkout

Albertson's supported Safeway in the recent strike, but I don't know how their policies are toward their own employees. I do know our local Albertson's has a few self-checkout lanes, which are meant to put checkers out of work. I walk by those.

[flamingyouth]

24. Albertson's supported the strike

i.e. they locked out their workers. Bad, bad Albertson's.

[theoceansnerves]

28. here too

there's self checkout machines in the store here. when they first put them in a lot of people were using them, but the last few times i was in the store they were empty. by looking at them it looked confusing and even more time consuming than waiting in line, but i never actually tried them.

[madaboutharry]

11. There is an Albertsons near my house

It is not so great, kind of dumpy. I don't shop there, but it always looks busy.

[readmylips]

12. AZ, I shop Albertson....

They have good prices and you don't need to have that Courtesy Card to get the sales prices. They also have the best meats, fresh from their in-house butcher shop. I give Albertson an A.

We have a new specialty grocery store that's fantastic: Sunflower. They have great fresh vegetables, butcher store, organic products, etc. All prices cheat. Sunflower is like a Trader Joe's but better.

[pinto]

13. for what it's worth, they locked out workers during the "grocery strike"

against Vons, here in CA.

Used to be a good "no card needed" specials market, good selection, yet post strike they've gone to the club card thingie....I've only been there twice since the strike ended, so it's hard to tell yet what that means to prices.

[Bridget Burke]

14. Most of the ones in Houston have closed.

They didn't offer a card back then--actually, just last year!

However, when they advertised something as 2 for $1.00 & you only bought one, you were charged the full price for that item--not 50 cents. Thought that was a little cheap.

[AspenRose]

17. Not surprising.....

I'm sure HEB, Randall's and Fiesta collectively kicked major Albertson booty.

[wryter2000]

They're okay

Very much like Safeway but a little lower in price.

[Dover]

16. I LOVE their cleaning supplies...ie - products by a company called

METHOD, which I haven't seen elsewhere.

They have heavenly natural fragrances like mint and grapefruit mandarin and REALLY do a great job.

I have found the prices to be in the average to good range.

[madaboutharry]

21. Method is also

sold at Target.

[Dover]

26. Thanks. I haven't been in a Target for a loooong time, but am glad

to know of another place to get Method.

[Dover]

27. Albertson's is too far from me for regular shopping, BUT I do like the

fact that I can still get name brand products that my usual grocer, HEB, has taken off their shelves and replaced with their own (often inferior) brand. Pretty soon HEB won't even HAVE other brands outside their own. And they always take away the most popular items!
ARRRGGGHHH!

[LiviaOlivia]

19. Albertson's is based in Boise, Idaho

I find them expensive here in the West. They do offer many different
varieties as compared to Kroeger or Safeway which only sell their
own generic brands. Like anything shop the sales. The Albertson's
in Denver are more oriented to up-scale shoppers. It is funny how
different the Albertson's are state-to-state. I hope they remain union. My support goes out to the Southland(Cailfornia)union people.

P.S. They do offer a good selection of organic produce here in the
West.

[Katarina]

20. We have one

they're kind of on the pricey side here though some weeks they have good sales. I will say their Albertson store brands are as good as name brand so that brings the grocery bill down quite a bit. I refuse to buy meat there though. It always looks nasty.

I was in there a couple of weeks ago with my kids to pick up a few things and noticed this man walking around with a clipboard and a couple of other men following him around and just assumed they were having some kind of inspection. Going around the store I noticed them a few times and didn't think anything of it. And then we went back towards the meat aisle. All of a sudden the man with the cipboard let's out a loud FUCK and proceeds to throw...yes I said throw his cipboard into one of the freestanding freezers. His pen went flying and came within a few inches of my sons face. Before I could say a word to him he took off. So I went to the front of the store to complain to the manager only to find out it WAS the manager that threw the fit. If I had said anything to him I would have had the police called on me. Needless to say I haven't went back since then.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

22. There is one in Yukon...

And it's great, if you have the money to shop there. We like the seafood counter and the butcher shop has some nice cuts there. The bakery is nice too. We find good buys on things every once in a while, like last month they had yogurt 10 for $5. You have to look around. There's also a homeland in the area, which is kinda ghetto. Or there's the Super Walmart, and as much as I hate them, we're poor, and don't have another choice.
Duckie

[Marymarg]

23. Happy Albertsons shopper, here.

I love Albertsons. We have one very close to us and it is great. Very nice, clean store with good selections. Extremely customer-friendly.

If the one you get is like ours, you are lucky.

[boobooday]

25. They are taking over in California

Owned by a major Mormon dude, based in Idaho or Utah.

http://www.wgoeshome.com

[MarianJack]

30. Here in Waterville, Maine...

...we have Shaw's, 2 Hannaford's and a walmart supercenter that's being built with, I'm sure, the intent of putting all of them (as well as K-Mart) out of business.

Shaw's is too damn expensive for us, so we always shop at Hannaford. I see no reason to change.

By the way, Albertson's will own Shaw's, but the name will not change (at least not yet).

[camero]

31. GET THE CHICKEN

It's delish. :)

[daa]

33. Its run by

another Jack Welch disciple from GE like Home depot is. Employees treated poorly and lousy inventory. They finally got run out of Atlanta.

[Ediacara]

34. They're ok

In Seattle they're kind of viewed as a ghetto supermarket, and everyone shops at either Safeway (cheap) or QFC <aka Kroger> (good). In Montana, it's a different story, and they take Safeway's place as the cheap and clean grocery store. The Kroger chain here (Smith's) is nice, but like all Kroger's consistantly more expensive than the other grocery stores.

As with all grocery chains, the age of the building you shop in determines to a HUGE extent how good the store is. One thing though, their produce is a little high, and can be a victim of market fluctuations more than other chains. I think this is a result of having a limited number of suppliers compared to Kroger or Safeway, but with everything else, they seem to be more inexpensive.

Also, they're not like Safeway with their customer cards, and will scan one for you if you don't have one. They can have FANTASTIC sales too. Right now for instance, there is a 10 for 10 sale going on, and you can get things like 10 six packs of pop for $10, as well as other things I can't remember off the top of my head.

[Cleita]

36. I like Albertson's.

It's based in Boise, Idaho and pretty much run by Mormons, but they do keep the prices as low as they can without the gimmicks. I miss my local Alberston's that was taken over by Ralph's, which is now closing up.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

38. Shaw's is more expensive than Stop n Shop around here

maybe their prices will go down with the acquisition.

[arwalden]

39. Does Anyone Remeber When They Were Called "Skaggs Albertsons"?

I was living in Gainesville, FL at the time. About 21 years ago.

-- Allen

[Nevernose]

40. Yep.

Then they were Albertson's and Skaggs Alpha Beta.

[Nevernose]

41. They bought out Lucky's

At least locally; I don't know about nationwide. They're the most overpriced grocery store in town. $1.79 for a loaf of generic, store-name bread. $1.00 per bell pepper. Who, in their right minds, pays a dollar for ONE bell pepper?

Of course, the bell pepper prices at other grovery stores ain't much better...

If the closest branch of my bank wasn't in an Albertson's, I would never step foot in one again.

[absyntheNsugar]

42. Yeah it's OK...

I found it a bit more expensive than Safeway, but not as good.

Personally I like Food Maxx or Food4Less being as how I have a baby and need to save $$$.

[Gloria]

43. Albertson's has everything.....we have 3 in town,

Walmart has cheaper prices, but lots of times they don't have the store well stocked. They run out or things suddenly aren't carried anymore. We have two Lowe's and an independent.

Albertson's is the best all round store around ....I hope Walmart doesn't run it out of business here, because we'll be screwed....

The best part is the day old bread. We get these incredible gourmet breads for 99c...and they're not really stale in most cases.