Where to buy groceries in Shelton

Where to buy groceries in Shelton and beyond: 

Wal-mart: Parking nightmares and everyday high prices combined with a PTSD triggering environment make this grocery store worth avoiding, even if you don’t care about labor issues.  Trying to get in and out of the parking lot on a bicycle, without getting run over is a hair raising experience every time.  Breathing in exhaust fumes while waiting for the light on Wallace Kneeland road is an added benefit of commuting to Wal-mart on a bicycle. 

 The meat is very expensive, but milk is priced OK.  They demand your driver’s license and punch your birthday into their machines if you try to by beer there. I find this invasive and won’t buy beer at Wal-mart because of this.   But at least they don’t have a privacy invading “member card” . Sometimes you can get good deals on bread back in the dairy section.  For me Wal-mart is just a place to pop over and buy some milk, bread and eggs when I’m done shopping in the non-grocery sections.  I try to avoid Wall-mart as much as possible.

They do have a nice bicycle rack at Wall-mart but unfortunately many people use is as a smoking area so breathing in second had smoke is part of the package.

Safeway meat clearance section

Bicycle parking at Safeway

Safeway:  Super high prices, and a privacy robbing “Club Card” but within walking distance for many city residents.   Safeway's parking lot is fairly safe for bicycles to get in and out of and there is a nice large bike rack at both entrances. Safeway is the cheapest place to buy meat when it is on sale.  Pop into the very back left corner of the store and check out the meat deals.  They used to have some great deals on meat but now best deals are mostly gone.  I wonder what happened?  The meat wrapper is a really friendly woman who does her best to try to help me figure out the complexities of buying meat.   The only things I buy at Safeway are meat on sale and sometimes eggs, sugar, tea and milk.  It's way too expensive to do my regular shopping at Safeway.  They will take your phone number rather than a member’s card so you can give them a different phone number every time, if you want some privacy protection.   I give them my deceased grandparent’s phone number instead of my own, in an attempt to protect some of my privacy.  I like seeing my Grandpa’s name on my receipt and I get a kick out of watching the clerks try to pronounce it.  I won’t be exhorted for my personal information with the promise of saving a few cents on something that is already massively overpriced



Let me out of here!

Fred Meyer: More expensive than Wal-mart, cheaper than Safeway, Union labor.  If you go in through the credit union parking lot getting in and out of Fred Meyer on a bicycle is not too scary.  I really wish that Fred Meyer had a bicycle rack! I like the bulk food section at Fred Meyer for good deals on oatmeal, falafel, tabuli and sometimes hummus. But it’s much cheaper to make hummus at home.  I like the environment inside of Fred Meyer; I can actually stand to shop there.   Unlike Wal-mart or Safeway I can usually get all of my shopping done at Fred Meyer without stressing out to the point that I think they are talking about me on the store intercoms.  Some good deals can be had from time to time in the back left corner where food and toiletries are put on sale.   Fred Meyer is where I do most of my grocery shopping simply because shopping there does not drive me up the walls and they use union labor.  I won't buy meat other than bacon there though, it's too expensive.  Fred Meyer has a privacy invading club card.  You have to give them your real name and address so they can send you a “rewards” check after you have spent enough money.  It’s costing me money, but I won’t sign up for it.

Red Apple Market:  Run down, small selection high prices.  There is a nice neighborhood feeling to this store and I really want to like this store, but the lack of selection and high prices turn me off.  I like the cheap cups of self-serve drip coffee near the front door.   I don’t know if they use union labor.  I don’t know if they have a privacy invading “member’s card” I don't remember if they have a bike rack but the store parking lot feels safe for cyclists to ride in and out of.

Shop and Hop:  No privacy stealing members cards here.  This is a grocery liquidator on Front Street.   I used to be able to get some great deals there.  I was the star at potlucks when I could get Brie there at three for a dollar!  Cases of normal yogurt used to cost $2.50.  But sadly the Brie is all gone and most of the yogurt is now weird stuff with fiber in it.  I don’t buy meat at this store after getting bad bacon there.  I also don’t buy nuts or chips there after finding some of them to be rancid.   I have to check all the sell by dates very closely.  Most of the stuff in the store is past its sell by date.  For some food that is OK, but for nuts and meats and oils it’s not OK.   They freeze the meat right before its sell by date, but I don’t care, one taste of rotten bacon was enough to make me stop buying meat there forever.  It’s a shame though, the staff is really friendly and I enjoy shopping in this store, but between the old food and my MSG sensitivity, there is just not much there that I feel safe eating.

They don't have a bike lock but they do have a covered back porch with sturdy posts that are good for locking bikes to.

Healthy Benefits Market:  Located on 8^th and Franklin, this store seems to be in the wrong neighborhood.  No member’s cards and lots of really tasty and healthy looking stuff that I will never be able to afford in this life-time.  They have a bulk food section now though, so I intend to make this a regular stop on my grocery days.  I might start buying all of my oatmeal and peppermint here.  I kind of got told off for using the bulk food scoop the wrong way the last time I was in there.  If that sort of thing happens again I won’t go back.  I am the customer and I will vote with my feet if I am not treated like a rock star.  No bike rack here and no nearby place to lock up a bike, but they do have a bicycle ramp.  They did not complain when I brought my bike into the store.

The Tortilla Factory:  This is the cheapest place to buy tortillas, don’t over look it.  No member card, friendly staff who speak very little English, and you get to watch tortillas being made.  Bring your bike inside the store there are plenty of places to park a bike inside.  Outside you can lock your bike to a street sign.

The Mexican Grocery store next to what used to be the bowling alley.  I like this little store, the prices can be a bit high but the fruit is nice.  It’s the best place in town to buy a papaya that is reasonably ripe.  They also have a nice selection of baked goods.  The restaurant is good too but I would like it better if they turned up the heat and turned down the television.  No member cards.  No place to park a bike, dangerous scary place to get to get out of in a car if you are headed back to town.

AM/PM

I don't buy a lot of beer but I think they have some of the best beer prices in town at AM/PM.  I don't recall seeing a bicycle rack there.

Outside of Shelton

My favorite grocery store is The New Angkor Market  in White center, too bad it’s so far from home. (9660 16th Ave SW between Roxbury St & S Delridge Way Seattle, WA 98106)  I still pop in there from time to time if I happen to already be in Seattle.  It is a Cambodian market with some very good prices.  When I lived in rat city I did most of my grocery shopping there.

My next favorite out of town grocery store is the East Asia Market   (602 S 38th St Tacoma, WA 98418)  I have been known to make special runs to Tacoma just to buy a Durian there.  When I am in the area I like to have a “French sandwich” and a bubble tea in the little Cambodian or Vietnamese deli that is nearby.

 There is one Asian food store in Oly that I know of and  I don’t know the name of it but, it’s next to the Taco truck on Harrison.  The selection is small and they don’t have fresh durian.  But sometimes it is better to settle for a durian flavored cookie in Olympia than it is to drive all the way to Tacoma to get a fresh durian.

The Olympia Gross Out:  Some times you can get good deals at the Grocery Outlet on Harrison Ave in Oly.  But the environment is a highly stressful place to shop and some of the stuff costs more than you would pay for in a regular store.  I miss the Gross out on Callow Street in Bremerton; they had some good deals in there.

Trader Joes:  Located at maybe the worst intersection in Olympia, it's the closest place to Shelton get cheap tempeh.  The prices are pretty good considering the high quality of the food.  It’s a high end market with some good deals.  I’ve only been there three times because getting in and out of that place in a car is a nightmare and the store feels like an alien environment with strange  foods and customs that I don’t understand.  It has also been quite crowded and noisy every time I have gone there.