West Coast ladies...Trader Joe's or Safeway?

[mamakelly]

I don't think I'd survive without a Trader Joes.

[Carol in Cal.]

I don't like Trader Joes'.  They are small, confusing, and have bad parking.  Plus the produce is iffy.

 

Costco is my big box bulk items store for groceries and office supplies.

Safeway and Raley's/Nob Hill are my 'everything' markets.  I like Raley's the best, but there isn't one close by.

For major organic/healthy/crunchy granola stuff, there is Staff of Life in Santa Cruz (THE BEST!) and (close second) the local mini-chain New Leaf.  Whole Foods is a distant third. 

 

Not sure where you are in CA, so I'm not sure of SoL or NL are local to you but they are fantastic.

[Carol in Cal.]

OH!

For produce very locally to Silicon Valley go here:

http://jandpfarms.com/J%26P_Farms/Welcome.html

 

It's the best, very fresh stuff, seasonal, can't get more local than this, organic, reasonable prices.

 

AMBER IN SJ!  Hope you know about this.

[kubiac]

My carefully curated West Coast grocery hierarchy, ranked by overall usefulness and general value to our family for price and food quality:

 

1. *** SPROUTS ***

 

2. Smart & Final

 

[non-brick-and-mortar stores Amazon Prime and Azure Standard fall in about here somewhere, replacing Costco, which just stresses me out at this point]

 

3. Trader Joe's

 

4. Whole Foods

 

5. Northgate Market (oriented to Hispanic market, good produce, great prices, interesting product lines)

 

[one-offs like local hippie emporium, Indian grocery store and one particular local farmer's market rank about here]

 

6. Ralphs (this is Kroger/Smith's in other areas)

 

7. "Safeway" (this is called Pavilions in my neighborhood, or sometimes Vons)

 

I find Safeway totally overpriced and largely stocked with commercialized mass-market food products, although I do like the Starbucks inside option. Ralphs is quite similar, and maybe even a little more downmarket than a Pavilions (which is an upmarket Safeway), but it was my neighborhood grocery store growing up and I have to be at a strip mall with a Ralphs twice a week so I do use them. Mostly I hit the "ugly produce" and "markdowns" shelves and then now and again I'll get some fresh fruit or an ingredient for a particular dish.

[Liz CA]

Where we lived in California, our Sprouts was great; it is a cheaper version of Whole Foods.  I went there for produce, meat and some specialty items.  I went to Trader Joes for other things and bought the rest at the commissary.  I really miss Sprouts.

 

We alternate between Sprouts and TJ about 35-40 minutes driving time. Yes, we are lucky. I need to remember that! Our Raleys is a third choice when we are desperate and then there are two organic health food stores locally owned.

 

Edited August 31, 2016 by Liz CA

[flyingiguana]

It must vary by store.  The Trader Joes I've been to haven't had the best quality produce.  The produce has been better at Safeway.

 

But Trader Joe's has way better snacks.  Some of the frozen items are great.  And a lot of stuff is pretty cheap.  (The cheeses in particular.)  I tend to do occasional big runs to Trader Joe's.

 

But the Safeways I've been in do seem to be moving toward a "quality" shopping "experience".  This probably comes with a price tag.  Still, my mom swears by them, so that's where we go for groceries with her.  The two near her are pretty crowded, though.  

[SJ.]

I see that this is an old thread, but I will still chime in 😎

 

Each week I compare sale prices at Sprouts and Safeway. Safeway is near my home and I am in the vicinity of Sprouts once a week. I have found that 90% of the time Sprouts is much, much cheaper for meat and produce and has very fresh food.

 

Trader Joe's has some neat specialty items but tends to cost more and it is too far away to make a special trip.

 

OP - I am surprised that in your update that you didn't mention frequenting Sprouts!

[December]

There are actually three levels of pricing that a Safeway store could have depending on what area the store is in. So I don't think there is anyway to know for sure whether Safeway in your area will be cheaper or more expensive than Trader Joe's...If you live in an area where people generally make high incomes it might be safe to assume that Trader Joe's is cheaper.  

[Guest]

I live in WA and we have Safeway and Trader Joe's and QFC (Kroger, upscale) and a store called Fred Meyer, all within 10 minutes of my house.  I LOVE it.  :0)  Anyway, Safeway and Fred Meyer are both better options on natural or gluten-free foods than QFC or TJ.  QFC has superior produce and broader selection of specialty items.  TJ's has a good selection of things I can eat, including vegan and meaty (we alternate) packaged foods and pre-cut produce.  

 

I looked it up, and it doesn't look like Fred Meyer exists as such in CA, but they do own Foodsco.  I don't know whether they follow the mold of Fred Meyer, but it might be worth a look.  

[Barb_]

Produce runs at Sprouts once a week. They have good sales on cereals, dairy, frozen produce, etc but I go there primarily for produce and nuts. So much cheaper and fresher.

 

Monthly costco for bulk, meat to freeze, and non-food products.

 

Trader joes for packaged stuff, fill in produce, dairy.

 

Walmart neighborhood market for fill-in grocery runs.

 

I rarely ever go to Safeway because I just hate large stores. So no super Walmart. Super target, or super anything else. Costco is just so heavenly that I make an exception.

[Guest]

Produce runs at Sprouts once a week. They have good sales on cereals, dairy, frozen produce, etc but I go there primarily for produce and nuts. So much cheaper and fresher.

 

Monthly costco for bulk, meat to freeze, and non-food products.

 

Trader joes for packaged stuff, fill in produce, dairy.

 

Walmart neighborhood market for fill-in grocery runs.

 

I rarely ever go to Safeway because I just hate large stores. So no super Walmart. Super target, or super anything else. Costco is just so heavenly that I make an exception.

I forgot to mention Costco. It is twelve minutes away. Meat, that's always better at Costco. Especially if I ever get a freezer.