Whole Foods - anyone shop there?

Whole Foods like any other store is one in which you have to know what to buy and what not to buy. I go to Whole Foods all the time for my fruits, vegetables and things out of the butcher shop section. I also get various hair products from them. I love the store and would suggest it to anyone. Their food whether local or name brand is always fresh and high quality, so I don't have to concern myself with spoilage.

The stores aren't the problem with a lot of these things, it's the shopper. There are plenty of things that you should get from Whole Foods and there are things that you get from other stores.

 

My friends jokingly call it "whole paycheck" because of the prices. I only shop there for my herbal stuff. Surprisingly Whole Foods has the best price in the area for that product. I usually shop at the Farmer's Market for my vegetables and fruits. I get my other items from Trader Joe's or Sprouts.

 

We go there once a month ans stock up on a few choice items. Animal welfare is important to our family. We know we can go to Whole Foods and by animals products from animals that were treated humanly. I am a penny pincher but my values are very important to me and it's wort a little extra for me to know where my animals product comes from and how it was treated.

 

I love this store but only shop for specific items here since it is so pricey. I usually go for cheeses, jams, meats, specialty breads and/or flours and things I just can't find at any other supermarket which for whatever reason I know I'll be able to find at Whole Foods. Everytime I go though I brace myself for the final price at the checkout box because I know it wont be cute.

 

Well, they probably had you purchasing things that would be "expensive" any where. But, one thing that can be said for Whole Foods is that what they price is close to the value of the product because most of it is of high quality. You gotta learn how to shop so you don't miss out on the things that a place like Whole Foods can offer.

 

Definitely shopping at Whole Foods and enjoying it !
Now, is it expensive: yes !! But for unprocessed organic food (most of what we buy there), it is the cheapest by far (only our local organic coop can beat their price, not the farmers market, not any other like Safeway ..)
So it really depends what you need or want to shop when you go at Whole Foods...

 

I shop at Whole Foods regularly and I think that people tend to give the grocery chain a bad rap. Organic Food, in particular, produce is by nature more expensive. The key to successfully shopping organic is knowing what to buy and from where. Whole Foods 365 Organic line has some of the best prices around while their organic meats and poultry are some of the highest around. I use websites like organicdeals and organicmomanddad to find coupons and information on organic food. There are lots of sites like these that really can teach you a lot about organic living and how to save money at whole foods and elsewhere.

 

After reading this thread, I'm going to take another look at Whole Foods. Yes, their meats are very expensive, but I haven't really looked at their veggies. I usually pick up most of my veggies at Traders Joe's or the Farmers market, but now I will do some comparison shopping.

 

I don't usually shop there, but every once in a while I will stop in to see what they have in store. My eating habits are so unhealthy, I try to make up for by shopping at Whole Foods. Their food is a bit pricer than at your local supermarket, but it's worth the extra money.

 

The rep at Whole Foods is that if a stocker drops a fruit, they can't shelve it. It has to go to the back, so the way they go about selecting, picking and stocking their fruit and vegetables really make a difference for me. They always seem to be the freshest of the fresh and I've actually gotten in on some of their sales for their fruit. Only once have I left a Whole Foods and walked into another store with regret over a price.

That was over some blueberries that I knew I didn't have to worry too much about spoilage because I would eat them up rather quickly. But, definitely make a comparison between the two stores in that regard. Also, if you eat bacon, try some of their bacon. I usually get mine from the actual butcher part versus the pre-packaged, but that was because they kept running out the packs that I liked and I had to switch it up. I never returned to the packs.

 

I used to shop there all the time. However, I have found some of the foods are poor quality and I can get the same thing from my local farmers market. So I figure I will shop at the local place, rather then waste my whole paycheck.

 

Whole foods can be expensive but you have to use it the right way. I use it to buy produce and meats so that I can get organic. I also buy some stuff there that only is available there. What I don't use it for is my regular grocery shopping. Name brand stuff that is available at other stores is much cheaper at other stores.

 

I've only ever walked into Whole Foods once because it's rather inconvenient for me to actually get there in general. I was only in the area to pick up some art supplies at a nearby Michaels. What I have seen though are the prices are, well, pricey to say the least. The vegetables I saw looked really high quality compared to what's at my local supermarket. Not a spoiled cabbage to be found. I was only in their for a couple minutes before I had to catch the bus, but I'd like to actually do some shopping there to share my experiences with them.

 

Though most items in Whole Foods are pretty pricey, if you really look, you can get some delicious food items at a great cost. I prefer Whole Foods and Fresh Market stores in comparison to the more generic WallMarts and Krogers. I can actually taste the difference between a lot of the Whole Foods items versus a similar brand you would find in most other places. It's just something about the quality of the food that gets me going back despite the prices.

 

The one near me would sometimes have live musicians playing on Friday evenings. I stopped in there and was like "do we really need this sh*t!?", lol. Their store brand canned goods are reasonably priced and of good quality, but yeah, most everything else in that store is ridiculously overpriced. I also noticed that their store brand spices appear to be made by the same company that makes store brand spices for World Market stores. Only World Market charges about $1 less for each of them. It's the same bottles and selection and everything - they just slap a different label on them.

 

My husband and I shopped there once. In our local area, we only have the conventional grocery stores. For us, this was a special treat that we budgeted and planned for. We enjoyed every minute of our experience! Whole Foods would not be a place that we would frequent often as we live an hour away from the closest one available. Also, we simply cannot afford to purchase everything we need from them and we prefer one-stop shops.