59 replies to this topic

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

I can't believe I'm resurrecting this old thread.

I'm a SoCal native who has been transplanted into the Bay Area. I've been living in the East Bay for 10 years now. I lived in the San Gabriel Valley for the first 21 years of my life, and still visit frequently.

I never noticed a shortage of produce stores in the area of the SGV I lived in... but they are/were either fairly small, or ethnic.

We definitely didn't have anything like Monterey Market out there... the one thing that I noticed when I first moved up to the Bay Area is how much more "foodie" it is up here. The area of the SGV I was in had just a few Trader Joe's at the time, nothing like Whole Foods Market... for higher end grocery stores, we had to head out towards Claremont, Pasadena or the OC. We had to drive to Industry Hills for the nearest Japanese market.

We did have access to very fresh strawberries though. Mom almost always bought her berries straight from a strawberry field... she loves the ones from Starberry Farms in Glendora.

I've been to Monterey Market many times (my kids particularly like to go near Halloween)... my husband worked there as a teenager. I can't say that I've ever been to Berkeley Bowl though. People's descriptions of the parking/crowding there has kind of scared me away.

I live a little farther east of Berkeley now, and I honestly can't say that there's any big produce stores around here either... but pretty much every city in my area has at least 1 farmers market a week, which I can't say for the SGV.

[Sergio]

You really should conquer your fears and make the trip out to Berkeley Bowl as the place will win you over. I recently moved from Berkeley to Los Angeles and have been having a very very hard time finding suitable replacements for my Bay Area stops in almost every respect. Los Angeles, to me, just seems more style than substance. Whenever I find a place I think might be good, it just seems to have sub par product and lacking in "soul". I guess the trio of ACME, Berkeley Bowl, and the Cheeseboard may never quite be replaced until I find myself back in the Bay Area.

[Joe Blowe]

...but pretty much every city in my area has at least 1 farmers market a week, which I can't say for the SGV.

As found here:

http://www.cafarmers...et?marketid=322

[heidih]

Never having been to the originally referenced markets I can't compare, but I have to say that I am continually amazed by the quality of produce here in the greater LA area (South Bay). The prices and quality at my Korean market is incredible. There is this frenzy and joy about the shoppers. Nobody is buying one bunch of anything, its 5 or 10. The variety is also wonderful. I have a small Sunday farmers market across the street and a big one 2 days a week within 12 minutes, as well as an actual farm stand with limited produce still grown locally. Then there are the hispanic markets which also cater to African Americans - giant fresh bunches of greens, those little limes, and chilis, tamarindo and all those dried goodies. I have to restrain myself and make sure everything will get used within a week. Then when my garden kicks in....... It takes some snooping around but I enjoy the hunt.

[kimcooper]

It's a supermarket and not a farmer's market, but we've been quite happy shopping at Super King on the edge of Glendale. Hard to beat the loss leader prices on berries, and incredibly fresh and varied offerings, from stonefruit to herbs and all between.

The article by Kathryn Maese in the Downtown News (linked below) about a recent decline in quality at the Grand Central Market is upsetting. She's quite right: there's no reason GCM can't again become a destination. It survived the loss of the Bunker Hill residential community in the 1960s, so it's madness to think the loss of the Angels Flight funicular is really the problem, especially when there are more people living downtown now than there have been in 50 years.

http://www.downtownn...nion/edit04.txt

[savvysearch]

Mitsuwa, the japanese market, is excellent when it comes to produce. Costa Mesa. I believe they have a couple stores in LA as well.

[heidih]

The article by Kathryn Maese in the Downtown News (linked below) about a recent decline in quality at the Grand Central Market is upsetting.
http://www.downtownn...nion/edit04.txt

Oh man - GCM was one of my main markets when I learned to cook while in school in the 70's. The fish guy took a lot of time teaching me how to de-bone the trout and tried to educate me about seafood in general. Sometimes the produce seemed like seconds and I found other outlets, but it was a joy to walk around there and pick up unusual cool stuff for next to nothing- which is all I could afford.

[mcohen]

I've been amazed at some of the produce I've been finding in your run of the mill supermarkets, and oftentimes the quality and the price surpasses those at the farmers market. At the same time, I've noticed a number of supermarkets closing. Maybe, the market is oversaturated with supermarkets. But, then, you see new companies like Sprouts and Fresh & Easy coming in.

[heidih]

I've been amazed at some of the produce I've been finding in your run of the mill supermarkets, and oftentimes the quality and the price surpasses those at the farmers market. At the same time, I've noticed a number of supermarkets closing. Maybe, the market is oversaturated with supermarkets. But, then, you see new companies like Sprouts and Fresh & Easy coming in.

Sprouts- totally not impressed- seemed like "seconds" on the veggie end. Fresh & Easy- cute but I refuse to do the pre-packaged vegetables and fruits- I want to pick my own. Anyway, as you noted, there are mainstream markets in more"ethnic" neighborhoods that have incredible produce and great prices- quick example is the Food 4 Less in Gardena. Then right across the road is a Ranch 99- so you're set.

[Vanilla Guerrilla]

I've been amazed at some of the produce I've been finding in your run of the mill supermarkets, and oftentimes the quality and the price surpasses those at the farmers market. At the same time, I've noticed a number of supermarkets closing. Maybe, the market is oversaturated with supermarkets. But, then, you see new companies like Sprouts and Fresh & Easy coming in.

Sprouts- totally not impressed- seemed like "seconds" on the veggie end. Fresh & Easy- cute but I refuse to do the pre-packaged vegetables and fruits- I want to pick my own. Anyway, as you noted, there are mainstream markets in more"ethnic" neighborhoods that have incredible produce and great prices- quick example is the Food 4 Less in Gardena. Then right across the road is a Ranch 99- so you're set.

There is a Food 4 Less near my house and I wasn't too impressed with it, I wonder how it differs from the one in Gardena though? I do go to Ranch 99 and Marukai every so often, so perhaps I will check out the Food 4 Less over there.

A Fresh & Easy just opened up by my house but I haven't gone there yet. The company I work for did a lot of the ad work for them some time ago though, so I am curious about it.

[heidih]

There is a Food 4 Less near my house and I wasn't too impressed with it, I wonder how it differs from the one in Gardena though?  I do go to Ranch 99 and Marukai every so often, so perhaps I will check out the Food 4 Less over there.
a lot of the ad work for them some time ago though, so I am curious about it.

The Food 4 Less I mentioned is not comprehensively great for vegetables but they almost always have great collard and mustard greens, avocados, small limes, cilantro and cabbage at super prices. They also now have bins with tamarindo, jamaica and chilis which are really fresh and I like picking my amounts. It is worth a quick walk through if you are right there.

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

Sprouts is one of the few places I make sure to go to (along with Marukai) every time I visit my parents in the San Gabriel Valley. I'm generally not going there for the produce though.

[mcohen]

So, with all these new players like Sprouts and Fresh&Easy coming into the Southern California market, are they paying their workers the same wages and benefits that other supermarkets' workers fought for and went on strike for?

[Toliver]

So, with all these new players like Sprouts and  Fresh&Easy coming into the Southern California market, are they paying their workers the same wages and benefits that other supermarkets' workers fought for and went on strike for?

I believe Fresh&Easy, a European-based grocery chain, has self-checkout. The grocery workers union wasn't too happy to hear this but the stores are open now and there's not much they can do about it.
I haven't been to one of the stores yet but a friend has and she says she likes them. In addition to produce, they sell pre-made meals like carne asada (not cooked but marinated), pasta carbonara, lasagne, etc. The thing my friend likes most about the pre-made meals is that they all have nutritional/caloric breakdowns on the labeling. She also said she likes that they don't use preservatives in their food. That means it can't stay in the refrigerator forever and has to be cooked up in a short amount of time before it spoils.
As for the employees, I don't know if they are union or not but think it's likely that they are not.

As for Sprouts, I believe it's an off-shoot (no pun intended) of the Henry's chain. I recall some sort of a connection between the two chains. If Sprouts is like Henry's, then their workers are not union. For the longest time, the union did have informational picketers in front of the Henry's in the area where my mom lives but now the picketers are gone.
Henry's did great business when the strike was on and I am sure a lot of their current customers are hold-overs from that time. My mom always gets her produce at Henry's and swears by them. When she goes grocery shopping, she'll buy certain things at Von's or Albertson's but always ends up buying her produce at Henry's.

As for overall impact on the union, you have to realize that both chains you mentioned are relatively small in the grand scheme of California grocery stores. Regarding your original question, it's not likely that either Sprouts or Fresh&Easy are paying their workers the same or providing the same level of health benefits as grocery store union members.

[mcohen]

As for overall impact on the union, you have to realize that both chains you mentioned are relatively small in the grand scheme of California grocery stores.

When will Target and Wal-Mart break into the California market? That would certainly shake things up. I listen to a podcast of Splendid Table, and one of the sponsors is Target advertising a new concept combining a traditional Target store and a grocery store.

[Toliver]

When will Target and Wal-Mart break into the California market?

Target and Wal-Mart are here but not the grocery-store versions. Interestingly, the local Targets have expanded their refrigerated food sections so they're selling more prepared foods. But they're not large enough to house a fresh grocery section. If any Super Targets come in here, they'd have to start from scratch as opposed to adapting a current Target.

That would certainly shake things up. I listen to a podcast of Splendid Table, and one of the sponsors is Target advertising a new concept combining a traditional Target store and a grocery store.

I don't intend any offense by saying this, but you must be young or new to the state. When I was a child San Diego had the successful Fed-Mart chain (started by, and then sold by, Sol Price who went on to found the Price Club warehouse store chain which was eventually bought out by Costco). Fed-Mart was basically a Target and a grocery store all in one space. Then there was the Gemco chain, which was basically a Target and a grocery store all in one space. The difference was that Gemco usually had a line of delineation (is that redundant?) within the store keeping the grocery section seperated from the rest of the store where Fed-Mart didn't....it was a one huge happy space.
When Sol Price sold the Fed-Mart chain to a German conglomerate (I believe), it eventually went out of business. Gemco went out of business, too.

While I haven't heard much about the Super Targets, the Super Wal-Marts have been trying to get a foothold in the state. Wal-Mart tried to build two of the stores here in Bakersfield. But residents who lived near the building sites feared an increase in traffic if the stores were built so they filed lawsuits effectively stopping them. Of course, the local grocery chains also did what they could to stop them from being built.
In fact, there is a half-finished Super Wal-Mart on the southern edge of town that you can see from the freeway. Welcome to Bakersfield.
The funny thing is, if they tried opening the stores again here in town, I think they'd get quite a different reception given the sad state of the U.S. economy. I think now they'd be welcomed with open arms.
Yes, having these "super" stores in the state certianly would "shkae things up". Which is why the current grocery chains in the state are trying to fight them at every turn.

To get back on topic, we still have a local Farmer's Market here in town. I don't think the super stores would really impact the Farmer's Market since I believe they have two diferent customer bases.

[NVNVGirl]

None of these come near replacing the one-top stopping ease of Northern California ... I don't think there's another place on Earth where it's as simple to come by good ingredients.

That's what I am saying. What would it take to have something of this caliber here in the Southland? Or as Andie said, is this area just not conducive to this type of thing?

I know when I moved from the San Francisco area to Sacramento, I used to still drive over to Berkeley once a week or so. These markets are that good.

Maybe I will write the owners of these markets, and tell them that we need something like this down here.

You know, I'm glad someone broached this subject. I moved to the S. Ca desert 8 yrs ago, thinking (why, I'll NEVER know now) that we were in a somewhat agricultural district. WRONG. I haven't seen a decent tomato or peach since I left the Napa Valley. The produce in the markets here is, in my opinion, mostly a mere facsimile of real produce and for the major part, tasteless.

Even the "farmer's market" here is for some reason deficient in their quality. I don't understand why people aren't more aghast at this sad situation than they are. It seems like they say "oh, I buy my produce at Jensons" or "I only buy my produce at Bristol Farms"....well, I've tried both and occasionally, they'll have PRETTIER produce, but it's not any more flavorful (with the possible exception of berries in season) and it's 3-4 times as expensive. No thank you.

I guess I didn't realize how lucky and how spoiled we were, living in an agricultural wonderland so to speak. In fact, I didn't realize it was so difficult to come by ripe juicy, flavorful tomatoes until I moved here. Now I know . I just know that when I went to a farmer's market, I could be assured of being able to purchase high quality produce that tasted like real food even if I couldn't find it in the markets.

Just what does it take to get decent fresh produce into an area that seems so close, yet, oh so far away?

Thank you though for the info on Berkeley; my mom is there 3 times a week, my stepdad 4 days a week, so I'm passing this market info on to them and I know they'll appreciate it. Even if they do live a mile from produce stands and farms~ there's always something interesting at a new one .

[NVNVGirl]

As for overall impact on the union, you have to realize that both chains you mentioned are relatively small in the grand scheme of California grocery stores.

When will Target and Wal-Mart break into the California market? That would certainly shake things up. I listen to a podcast of Splendid Table, and one of the sponsors is Target advertising a new concept combining a traditional Target store and a grocery store.

We have two Walmart Superstores here and a Target supercenter is opening soon in Indio. Some of their produce is passable (mainly the peppers, tomatillos etc) , some of it is pretty run of the mill....and most of it isn't considerably cheaper than the other grocery stores.

[mcohen]

To get back on topic, we still have a local Farmer's Market here in town. I don't think the super stores would really impact the Farmer's Market since I believe they have two diferent customer bases.

Maybe, not Wal-Mart, because things are generally more expensive at a Farmers Market than grocery stores, while Wal-Mart's focus is on reducing price. But, I'd think you'd see greater overlap for customer base between a Target super store and a Farmer's Market.

As NVNGirl has pointed out, the stuff at a farmer's market oftentimes isn't even that great a lot of times. Its surprising to me all the times I've found better produce at a local grocery store at cheaper prices than at my Farmer's Market.

So, if prices are higher at a Farmer's Market and the stuff isn't necessairly even better, then why do people shop at a Farmer's Market? To make them feel good about themselves when they buy at a Farmer's Market. Given Target's commitment with local communities, consumers could also feel good about themsleves if they bought from Target.

[yasuofenix]

I will be moving to Southern California next year from NYC. I've visited both North & South in the past few months. I was under the impression N. California had a lot of great produce. I went to a farmer's market in Napa, but thats friggin Napa. Sadly I didn't get to go to one in SF. But from what I bought in The Embarcadero, the stuff was good, but compared to the farmer's market in Union Square NYC it wasn't anything special. I remember reading an article with Nate Appleman talking about how he can find so many types of lettuce and arugula in SF and how its better than NYC. Funny enough, he is now setting up shop in NYC, but that has nothing to do with what he said.

I also got some really good strawberries, but from some farm off Highway 1 close to Santa Maria. In S. California I could only find these nasty steriod berries full of water. I visited Bristol Farms, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods. Those places have their purpose such as buying things like mustard and far away foods, for me at least. But their produce sucks mostly, and there's only one type of something. The world is such a beautiful and diverse place I doubt nature created only one type of strawberry. But I say that because I've tasted real fresh produce grown by a decent farmer that has been doing it all his/her life. All my grandparents were farmers. And in NYC I can buy or grow tomatoes full of natural pectin or sweet yelllow and strawberries that are completely red inside, sweet, or grassy . But this past summer we had a bad year, it rained too much and most farmers lost their tomatoes. Except my family's garden.

And one thing I might add is that buying vegetables and fruits from the farmer's market here in union square can be cheaper than buying at Whole Foods or Trader Joes. But there could be a reason for that: people actually buy consistently. I know this because I see the same people Wednesday and Saturday.

So whats up with California? Everyone always talks about how California grows so much. People over here think of California as the food basket of America. People in my culinary school dream of going to California and opening some restaurant out by the farms. I was one of them, and still am. The land is great it really is.

Please don't take it as I'm bashing your state and think poorly of it, it doesn't matter what I think and if that was the case I wouldn't be moving there.

I would say more, but I am more curious about how many people really cook? Who cares about restaurants, how many people actually cook (meals) in the their home. Thats the bedrock of food culture not restaurants.

Do tell me if I'm sounding nasty, aggressive, or making sense. I've spent most of my time staring into an ice cream machine and cutting horrible mangoes so my contact with people is limited to helping old ladies cross the street. I normally don't talk, but I'm drawn because a lot of California seems to be coasting on wasted talent.

[andiesenji]

There are plenty of farmers markets in the greater Los Angeles and Orance county areas.
I live in Lancaster and there are none in my area but there is not a great deal of produce grown here, though there are almonds, peaches, pears and apples, and onions, lots of the "sweet" Antelope valley onions. (They are not sweet when compared to Vidalia or Maui, but are okay.)


"Down Below," as we characterize the lower elevations, there are many farmers markets on various days. Depending on the area in which you live, you should have ready access to at least three within a reasonable driving distance. Unless you live in the immediate area, don't expect to find one within walking distance, that is rare.

To find one that will be near your sphere, click here: http://www.cafarmers...s.com/index.cfm
and select your location.

I've visited farmers markets in Santa Barbara, Oxnard, the San Fernando valley, Pasadena, Santa Monica, Valencia, Northridge, Yorba Linda, 2 in Temecula, Costa Mesa and Del Mar (when there for the dog show). I found the variety of produce and other goods to be enough for me and as I always bought more than I actually needed, possibly too much.
The quality was always better than in most supermarkets. However for certain produce, I never buy at regular supermarkets - try to find a Mexican supermarket, such as Vallarta and check their produce. Not only are the prices better, the quality and variety of the more "exotic" produce is terrific.

[blue_dolphin]

I will be moving to Southern California next year from NYC. I've visited both North & South in the past few months. I was under the impression N. California had a lot of great produce. ...

I would say more, but I am more curious about how many people really cook? Who cares about restaurants, how many people actually cook (meals) in the their home. Thats the bedrock of food culture not restaurants...

I don't think California's any different from anywhere else in the US with respect to home cooking. Some people do, others don't.

On the produce front, once you get here, visit a half dozen or so of the local farmer's markets and draw your own conclusions.
They've all got their different personalities. I recommend visiting the Santa Monica Wednesday market and the Hollywood Sunday market for starters.

And for strawberries, this isn't the best time of year for them, but look for Harry's Berries at the farmer's markets.

[Franci]

Hi!
My husband is thinking of accepting a job in San Diego and I've been reading this topic a bit and I got somewhat scared of what I'll be able to find there.
I'm now in Monaco and used to the fresh vegetables and fish from the French riviera, before we were in London, prior to that NY. 10 years ago, when I first moved to the US, I lived in San Francisco and I was struggling to find my Italian products but maybe now it's different. What about asian markets around San Diego? And fresh fish?

Thanks

[FrogPrincesse]

Franci,
Rest assured - there is no shortage of farmers markets in San Diego. I frequent the markets in Hillcrest, La Jolla, Little Italy, and Solana Beach, and they all have a great selection of local produce. Some of these markets also have fish, meat, cheese, etc. Little Italy has a very diverse selection which includes fish, meat, cured meats and even live urchins! I don’t think that you should be scared. For fish there are also a few specialized stores such as Point Loma Seafood and Catalina Offshore Products. I think that you will be happy with the food options in San Diego if you decide to relocate.

[kalypso]

Franci

I really have to echo FrogPrincess, San Diego has some exceptional farmers markets. Right now Little Italy or Hillcrest are the the 2 heavyweights. Both of them have highly regarded and respected local farmers, and producers. Little Italy also has a vendor selling locally harvested sea urchin, which is acknoweledged to be some of the best in the world. LI also has a meat vendor selling locally grown, grass fed beef. You can find at least 2 of the better local cheese shops represented as well as several bakeries and olive oil produced by Italians.

Here's the link to the list of local farmers markets

For fresh fish you've got 4 options

Catalina Offshore

Point Loma Seafood

Blue Water Grillwhich is a combination restaurant and fish market. I've never purchased a bad piece of fish from them and they will gladly prep the fresh fish however you'd like, i.e. boned, skinned, fileted, etc.

The 4th choice would be either Whole Foods in Hillcrest which has a great seafood counter,tho' it is very pricey, or the 99 Ranch Market on Clairmont Mesa Blvd. The later is an Asian grocery store chain. They've got tanks and tanks of live fish and shellfish at very good prices. They'll also clean and prep the live fish to your specifications. I usually do not purchase fresh fish from them on weekends because they super stock the tanks and I think they are overcrowded.

You will have some difficulty sourcing good Italian products. Even though SD has a neighborhood called Little Italy, SD never had a large Italian population to begin with. That which it did have has been pretty well assimilated into the overall community. Your two best bets are probably

Assenti's Pasta

Mona Lisa

Both are in Little Italy. Hands down the best gelato in town is at Papplecco and there are a lot of Italian ex-pats and Italophiles that hang there. The Italian Cultural Centeris very active in SD and would be a good resource for you in finding particular items in SD.

San Diego has a reasonably sized Asian population. Most of the restaurants and stores are located on Convoy St. in the Kearny Mesa neighborhood. You will find Vietnamese and Japanese markets to be partciularly well represented.

Geographically, San Diego covers a large area. Do you know yet in what part of the county you'll be living. That will make some difference as to what's readily available (i.e. you don't have to drive a long way to find it)and for what you're really going to have to travel. The links I've provided above are for purveyors in the central part of San Diego, if you are in North County, they would be at least 30 mintues away from there.

And finally, I can't close without recommending one of the best kept grocery secrets in San Diego - Northgate Market on 43rd St. This is the Disneyland of Mexican markets. While the Asian influence is strong in SD, the predominant influence is undeniably Latin, and in particular Mexican. Mexican markets are good sources for a lot of things, particularly produce. Northgate has an enormous produce department and the quality is better than anything in the local grocery stores and in some cases equal or better than what you can get at a farmers market. Their in-house bakery is very good. Bolillos, very, very similar to french bread and baguetts, are sold hot from the oven 4/$1.00. Quality is good. Even if you don't shop there regularly,it's worth a visit just to check it out, particularly on a Saturday when they're firing on all pistons and have lots of sampling going on.

Don't worry about sourcing products in San Diego, that you will be able to do reasonably well once you get settled in and know your way around. What will be much harder will be adapting to the local restaurants which are decidedly casual and not all what you're used to.

Welcome to SD!

[Franci]

FrogPrincess, Kalypso, thank you very much! It sounds I could really enjoy SD.
At the moment we don't know yet what to do but after so much moving around I'd like to stay in a place for sometime and food is a very important component for me being comfortable.
If we end up in SD, I'm sure I'd become a regular of this section of egullet.

Thanks again!

[heidih]

Franci- I am in Los Angeles which is 2 hours north of San Diego but I will echo the other posters. California in general is one of the top agricultural states in the US. The Latin American and Asian immigrant population has added to the drive for diversity in fresh produce. Plus- you can drive a few hours north or south and go wine tasting (we produce some pretty decent wine as well)

[andiesenji]

I'm bumping this topic up because we now have a "Farmers Market" in Lancaster on "The Blvd." and I walked through it yesterday afternoon. (Thursday 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
I was not impressed and did not buy anything. I thought much of it was overpriced.

This morning I'm just back from an early morning excursion to the produce market (just down the street from UPS where I had to ship a box).

Tomatoes 2 pounds
Apricots 1.3 pounds
White corn 4 for 1.00 large plump ears
Green grapes seedless 1 pound
Red grapes seedless 1.55 pounds
Cherries Ranier 1.5 pounds
Lettuce 1/ - 1.00
Cabbage 1/- 35 ¢
Cucumbers 2/ - 1.00
Mango 1/- 49¢ jumbo size
Gld.Del. Apples 3 pounds
Peaches, yellow 2.5 pounds
Bananas 5 pounds
Strawberries 3-pack 4.50

Total cost: $31.37
The total was 10% more but they gave me a senior discount even though the usual senior discount day is Tuesday. However, I am a regular customer so the owner, who checked me out, extended the courtesy.




I can only guess at this point but I am sure I would have spend at least half again as much at the Farmers Market.

[CaliPoutine]

When will Target and Wal-Mart break into the California market?

Target and Wal-Mart are here but not the grocery-store versions. Interestingly, the local Targets have expanded their refrigerated food sections so they're selling more prepared foods. But they're not large enough to house a fresh grocery section. If any Super Targets come in here, they'd have to start from scratch as opposed to adapting a current Target.

That would certainly shake things up. I listen to a podcast of Splendid Table, and one of the sponsors is Target advertising a new concept combining a traditional Target store and a grocery store.

I don't intend any offense by saying this, but you must be young or new to the state. When I was a child San Diego had the successful Fed-Mart chain (started by, and then sold by, Sol Price who went on to found the Price Club warehouse store chain which was eventually bought out by Costco). Fed-Mart was basically a Target and a grocery store all in one space. Then there was the Gemco chain, which was basically a Target and a grocery store all in one space. The difference was that Gemco usually had a line of delineation (is that redundant?) within the store keeping the grocery section seperated from the rest of the store where Fed-Mart didn't....it was a one huge happy space.
When Sol Price sold the Fed-Mart chain to a German conglomerate (I believe), it eventually went out of business. Gemco went out of business, too.

While I haven't heard much about the Super Targets, the Super Wal-Marts have been trying to get a foothold in the state. Wal-Mart tried to build two of the stores here in Bakersfield. But residents who lived near the building sites feared an increase in traffic if the stores were built so they filed lawsuits effectively stopping them. Of course, the local grocery chains also did what they could to stop them from being built.
In fact, there is a half-finished Super Wal-Mart on the southern edge of town that you can see from the freeway. Welcome to Bakersfield.
The funny thing is, if they tried opening the stores again here in town, I think they'd get quite a different reception given the sad state of the U.S. economy. I think now they'd be welcomed with open arms.
Yes, having these "super" stores in the state certianly would "shkae things up". Which is why the current grocery chains in the state are trying to fight them at every turn.

To get back on topic, we still have a local Farmer's Market here in town. I don't think the super stores would really impact the Farmer's Market since I believe they have two diferent customer bases.

Our 2 Target stores will be offering fresh produce in October.

[CaliPoutine]

I'm bumping this topic up because we now have a "Farmers Market" in Lancaster on "The Blvd." and I walked through it yesterday afternoon. (Thursday 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
I was not impressed and did not buy anything. I thought much of it was overpriced.

This morning I'm just back from an early morning excursion to the produce market (just down the street from UPS where I had to ship a box).

Tomatoes 2 pounds
Apricots 1.3 pounds
White corn 4 for 1.00 large plump ears
Green grapes seedless 1 pound
Red grapes seedless 1.55 pounds
Cherries Ranier 1.5 pounds
Lettuce 1/ - 1.00
Cabbage 1/- 35 ¢
Cucumbers 2/ - 1.00
Mango 1/- 49¢ jumbo size
Gld.Del. Apples 3 pounds
Peaches, yellow 2.5 pounds
Bananas 5 pounds
Strawberries 3-pack 4.50

Total cost: $31.37
The total was 10% more but they gave me a senior discount even though the usual senior discount day is Tuesday. However, I am a regular customer so the owner, who checked me out, extended the courtesy.




I can only guess at this point but I am sure I would have spend at least half again as much at the Farmers Market.

Andi, how is the quality? I find that the produce in the supermarkets( except Whole Foods) doesnt compare to the Farmer's Market. Local peaches were 2.25lb at The farmers market and 2.99lb at Whole Foods.

I have recently bought some great melons at Sprouts, but the cherries have been horrible. The cherries I got at the Farmers Market were excellent, but that was over a month ago too. No more cherries at the farmers markets.