1606 replies to this topic

[pherthyl]

As for Fairways, a friend of mine picked up some milk at one of their stores recently and it was three weeks past the expiry date. He's had some issues with their meat too.

That sucks, but really he doesn't check expiry? Fairways is great for just about everything but you do have to look. Don't buy stuff with the expiry on a sticker.
If you're a little bit aware Fairways is the cheapest and has good stuff. Very rarely do I go to thriftys, and then only to get some picnic food, their deli is a bit better.

[sdwright.vic]

If you do it right, Safeway can be a great place to shop with their Airmiles promotions. I will generally do my large shop when they are doing the 100 bonus, and take advantage of the other bonus Airmiles offers. I can wall out with anywhere from 250- 350 (on a good shop Airmiles spending about 150-175. Thats not including the additional Airmiles I get from using my Airmiles Visa at a Airmiles merchant. I can get 600-700 Airmiles out of Safeway a month. Each Airmile is worth .11 - .15 cents on a trip. Every year Safeway contributes a good portion of the required miles for a free yearly trip for two to Mexico every January.

[phx]

Safeway seems extremely optimistic about expiry dates on their fresh chicken - usually 10 days or so. I used to buy chicken thinking "it's a few days before expiry, it should be good" only to open it the next day and be quite disappointed.

For disappointing meat, be sure to check out the Gordon Head Safeway...

[jonny]

I put high quality food in my body and try to adhere to the shopping on only the periphery of a supermarket principle. I only eat fresh meat, seafood and vegetables, and rarely eat canned or prepackaged items. You are what you eat, and there's a reason there are so many lard asses at Costco.

Market on Yates has the best meat and seafood in the city so I shop there quite a bit. Thrifty's is not bad. Safeway and Fairway are awful quality and filthy stores I find.

[sdwright.vic]

^Do what? Safeway stores are filthier then Market on Yates? Really? I will give you Fairway though.

[Baro]

I never understand how safeway is so much bigger than thrifties yet has like half the selection and a quarter the quality. It's just aisle after aisle of processed garbage and hungry-man "human-feed" type food.

[G-Man]

I have never had an issue with meat or seafood at Fairways. Just wondering what exactly is the issue with it.

[Mike K.]

The only true high quality source for fresh meat and good cuts is a local butcher. For fish, a local fishmonger. Anyone buying meat or seafood in one giant grocery over another thinking it's superior over the competition has been fooled by the image the store is selling and it's meat and seafood marketing. Yes, there are certainly exceptions to the rule but fighting over whether or not Safeway has better or worse meat than Thrifty's when neither offers anything remotely close to the quality from a local butcher nullifies the argument.

[G-Man]

^ I will agree with that. I do really like that I can always get Grouper at Fairways.

[Mike K.]

Fairways sells seafood and cuts of meat you genuinely can't find anywhere else unless you special order from a fishmonger or butcher.

Btw, has anyone tried the vegetable and fruit greenhouse on Glanford just as you pass Carey? I drive past there every single day and I have never thought of dropping in.

[Kikadee]

I would really like to walk into the Hillside Thrifty's . . . just once . . . without seeing at least one step-ladder and a matching unmanned stock-cart in the middle of EVERY SINGLE AISLE.

[sdwright.vic]

I would really like to walk into the Hillside Thrifty's . . . just once . . . without seeing at least one step-ladder and a matching unmanned stock-cart in the middle of EVERY SINGLE AISLE.

Sobey's has cut the budgets way to much for that not to happen. There once was a standard for that to never happen, and if Alex Campbell would of walked into a store that was occurring at, someone would of lost their head.

Worked for Thifty's a while back, most everyone I know is jumping ship and can not stand it yet. The most common thing I hear is why didn't they just change the name.

[LJ]

Fairways sells seafood and cuts of meat you genuinely can't find anywhere else unless you special order from a fishmonger or butcher.

Where does Fairway source their seafood from?

I won't buy anything sourced from Asian waters after seeing the waters and production facilities.

Local fishermen going out to the sea and bringing back fresh caught fish and then having it prepared on the beach in Thailand is a different matter entirely.

[pherthyl]

Btw, has anyone tried the vegetable and fruit greenhouse on Glanford just as you pass Carey? I drive past there every single day and I have never thought of dropping in.

Yup. They have really good stuff. Obviously what they have depends on the season.

[Nanaimoite]

Well , Quality Foods will be moving into the Victoria market really soon, that was the reason they have partnered with Jim Pattison, things will be getting much more competitive in the Victoria large Grocery format business.

[Dimitrios]

Having recently moved to the area, I'm pretty excited by the Root Cellar on Mackenzie. My first trip there didn't disappoint, with great produce, tonnes of local stuff, a friendly vibe and great prices, with all sorts of ' dirt cheap' specials. My second trip had all of the above minus the great prices - suddenly everything was 1.99 a pound. Huh?? Maybe I got there on a shipment day the first time and they were keen to move product? I went from thinking I'd be there all the time to thinking it would be a mostly 'quality produce shopping' destination.

[Mike K.]

How long ago were the prices much lower than they are now, geek?

[Bingo]

I would really like to walk into the Hillside Thrifty's . . . just once . . . without seeing at least one step-ladder and a matching unmanned stock-cart in the middle of EVERY SINGLE AISLE.

I go there often and have never seen carts in every aisle.

As for shoppers having bad experiences with meat and fish, the quality might go down quickly if you leave it in the trunk of the car for a few hours, and then tuck it in the back of the fridge for a few days more.

[G-Man]

I am with Kikadee the Hillside Thrifty's is a disaster, it is slightly better than the one at Cloverdale because they seem to actually have some stock on the shelves. I was at the Cloverdale one tonight. What a gong show. The store was like a third empty of stock. No freakin zucchinis! No big block mozzarella. These are basics!

[Holden West]

As for shoppers having bad experiences with meat and fish, the quality might go down quickly if you leave it in the trunk of the car for a few hours, and then tuck it in the back of the fridge for a few days more.

I bypassed Thrifty once and foolishly bought shrimp at another supermarket. Returning home minutes later, it had turned. Obviously it had been out for a few days. I suspect it had been relabeled.

We seem to like the Broadmead Thrifty. I don't know exactly why. It may be bigger or it may have better selection and quality because of the wealthier demographic it serves.