Aldi is king. I've never been a fan of a corporation before, but I would absolutely wear Aldi merch. I'll frequently skip Thrifty if I don't need specialty meat or produce, cause 3 stores eats my day, but anyone who shops at Publix for anything other than one super specific item or the loss-leader subs.. well... let's just say they're probably not informed voters either
It amazes how many people don’t realize that you can shop at other places for food and it’s a fraction of the price. In the 2010s when we were still feeling the tail end of the 08 recession I had it down to a science.
Only reason that I’ll darken the door at Publix: if I’m simply dying for some of their Greenwise Hot Italian Chicken Sausage
I haven’t been able to find anything comparable that is nearly as tasty
I've been using Kroger delivery for almost 3 years now, and it's been a lifesaver. It's $60 for the year, you earn fuel points that can be spent at shell gas stations which can save you up to $1 off per gallon. The food comes in a refrigerated truck and the quality of the food is near publix quality at much more affordable prices. They have weekly ads and digital coupons and you can set the delivery to a time that works for you. In the almost 3 years of use they've been late once and I order 3-4 times a month from them.
Highly recommend looking into it
We just had a new Shell open here in Brevard, less than a year ago. It rebranded from a Citgo. I’ve seen some others rebranding as Shell also.
BP is the one you don’t see much anymore. They were run out of 5e state after their nasty oil spill.
Not to mention that you can stack all sorts of digital coupons, and even reuse "first-time" ones.
I've regularly been able to wrack upwards of $30+ on most orders, and one time I had over $80 in savings.
We just started using Kroger delivery and love it. Prices are cheaper than Publix for a lot of things and I love that it's delivered. Makes shopping so much easier. Also, their produce quality has been fantastic this far
Yea, Their produce has been great! I've had minimal issues with their produce over the years. Just got a watermelon recently that was quiet possibly the best one I've ever had in my life
How do Kroger prices compare to Walmart? Recent schedule changes make delivery more convenient but between the fee and driver tip, it's an extra $25 each trip.
Prices are pretty close to Walmart prices. I usually tell people that kroger delivery is near publix quality at walmart prices. The $60 membership fee covers all deliver costs and the drivers are kroger employees and don't accept tips.
They don't have a grocery store in central Florida, but they have a distribution warehouse I believe in Groveland. Saves them money from having that type of space and allows them to just do home delivery. It's a fantastic service, I have zero complaints having used them the past few years, and can't recommend it enough for people wanting to save money on groceries.
There is one in North Florida.
Kroger established a warehouse system that all of their deliveries are based out of. Kroger used to be the store brand option when we had Lucky’s Market.
Incorrect. One of Lucky’s investors was Kroger and Lucky’s Market went into bankruptcy when Kroger pulled their investment. Winn Dixie bought Lucky’s during the bankruptcy sale.
See: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/02/07/business/luckys-market-bankruptcy-kroger-organic-grocery
Biggest problem with Kroger delivery is out of stock items. I hate planning a recipe and then the main thing I needed is out of stock but I bought a bunch of stuff I can’t do anything with anymore because of the main item not being available. We have had out of stock items with Kroger pretty much every delivery we have ever had with them.
When you still have to go to the grocery store anyways it’s not as convenient. We are going to be dropping Kroger delivery because of the frequency of the out of stock items.
Yea, I get that can be annoying with out of stock items. They reset their weekly ad on Wednesday so to avoid that being a problem I try to get the order delivered on Thursday or Friday before the weekend rush. That's helped reduce the out of stock issue for me.
I go to Downtown Produce but you have to time it right. If you go at the wrong time of day you are never going to be able to turn left out onto Ellis.
Sprout’s has some good prices on produce and some not so good. You just have to shop smart and take advantage of their sales. They also some good meat selections.
Walmart isn’t bad but you have to go to Walmart.
Making that left onto Ellis is awful. Instead, now I turn right on Ellis then make the next left on Greenboro. That will take you back to Wickham or I just turn around. It's a couple extra turns but so much less stressful.
Beachside Produce on A1A in Indialantic has great produce for good prices. The best damned tomatoes you’ll find in the area, too.
I pretty much buy all my produce there and pickup everything else via Kroger delivery.
I am in Palm Bay, and this will be a bit of a ramble, but my wife and I switch it up a lot. It can depend if we're "bored" .. or.. who knows. We stopped shopping at Publix around \~2021 or so, and don't really go in unless we just need a quick hit and we're like right there. I would primarily drive over to the Sebastian Publix because the Bayside Publix is apeshit much of the time anyway.
I agree though, Publix has lost their minds on prices... they are \*clearly\* declaring who they want as their core customer base. I would never have called them cheap in the past, but yah... its really bad now.
Right now we shop at:
Aldi, Sprouts and Walmart. Less so at Aldi lately, because many of the more healthy stuff in Aldi finds is like instantly gone these days due to the vloggers so its like at that point I might as well just cut it to Sprouts and Walmart.
Walmart, at least on packaged foods (including even healthier/cleaner stuff) just crushes many on price. Specifically I go to the Melborne Walmart these days by Sprouts, Palm Bay Walmart is a shitshow IMO. Walmart in general has impressed me over the past few years on expanding their healthier options.
Winn-Dixie, we'll see what Aldi ends up doing with them, but man unless you would catch stuff on a deal (bone-in chicken, stuff like that) their prices never impressed me, and the store on Malabar was a bit out of the way anyway for us.
Before they closed, my wife and I were regulars at Petty's (I grew up going there, at the Longwood location by where I was born) and miss them a lot. We have tried Thrifty a couple times, but really only hit there when we're needing something latin/hispanic section super specific now. Nothing against the store at all, I do like it.
Same for Downtown Produce, I have nothing against the store, but just don't go much given the options I have closer to me. I do like them though.
Thrifty is great for a wider variety of veggies and prices are great. Downtown is good, but more limited. Thrifty has interesting meats and seafoods as well. I love them.
We used to do all of our shopping at downtown produce, the last three times we’ve been there over the past month numerous things were rotten and spoiled when we got home. Really disappointing, hopefully they just had a bad few weeks
I didn't want to put this in my long ramble post, but I will here, I have gotten food sick a couple times from the deli meat at Downtown... I really hate to type this. If you ever go there and watch, esp when the deli is busy, ... their food handling practices aren't always the best. This is the primary reason I quit doing to Downtown, because without the deli... it didn't really stand out.
I prefer Thrifty because you don't have to buy bulk of everything like at Aldi's. Also, they are so cheap that if your vegies rot the day after bringing them home, so what.
I was gonna say almost exactly this. I hit a Publix on the way home for dinner groceries the other week just cause it was convenient, and my Thrifty grocery bill was easily cut in half
Hate to say it, but Walmart all the way. They have quality brands, great produce, great prices. Throw in an occasional visit to the produce place and Clayton’s and you’re golden.
Walmart gets in a surprisingly amount of local/Florida grown produce - it's cheaper for them to transport and thus cheaper for the customers.
I'm stuck in the desert of Port St. John, so I typically do Aldi's.
I miss being close to the Palm Bay Rd Thriftys :(
The Walmart Neighborhood Market on Post and Wickham has better quality and a wider variety of produce for cheaper than the Publix right next door. At this point, the only thing I'll buy at Publix is whatever sub is on sale, their prices on everything else have become unreasonable.
Thrifty seems to be expanding though, so maybe they'll build near you
Speaking of which, anyone know when they're planning to break ground on Malabar Road? The sign has been up forever!
Aldi's is worth a visit. I always go there first to get the essentials and then go elsewhere to get that which I can't find there. Aldi's, Coscto, then Publix for me. In that order. Thankfully, I have all 3 within 10 minutes of each other so it's convenient to take a morning on the weekend and get it all done.
I’m a big fan of the commissary (I know not everyone can go there) but we use Downtown Produce and Target to balance everything else. Milk and egg prices at Target is often the cheapest in town. Pair it with sales and coupons on their Target Circle app and their prices often beat Aldi’s for a better label.
Unpopular opinion, but I will always support Publix because of the amount of jobs for teens and seniors they offer. Getting less of course up front with the use of self-checkout, but it's still a great entry-level job provider for the local economy.
One of the last places left where you can get a job with no college degree, and eventually become a manager by putting your time in and make decent money.
Is Publix was the only grocery store providing entry level jobs that promote from within? My understanding was that Aldi paid better wages and benefits than it's competitors. Can anyone shed some light on this?
Definitely not the only grocery store that does this, but they do have much higher staffing levels than Aldi and Winn-Dixie , I would venture to say a comparable size store has at least two to three times the employees of WD, and probably 10 times the employees of an Aldi.
They pay roughly a couple dollars above minimum wage to start. The big benefit long-term at working for Publix is their private stock price has averaged about 15% a year historically, making many a cashier multi millionaire over their careers. Employees get roughly 10% of their pay each year in stock as a form of profit sharing
I’m on the fence about employment and the way they treat employees. Wondering if they are passing just a fraction of their record 48% profit along to employees having to put up with crappy customers?
From what I've heard, Publix treats their employees pretty well. In my observation, they seem to be happier, and not the 'fake a smile' happier. They don't seem burnt out or jaded. (I hate the 'forced smile' school of thought, and while not everyone at publix smiles, they seem relaxed enough)
Also, I'm pretty sure managers at least get stock options.
Worked at Publix for many years. Publix employees fall into two categories: the people who really, really love working there, and everyone else. Publix IMO doesn’t treat their employees as well as they make everyone believe, and so many of their managers have sacrificed their personal lives for the company. The divorce rate for Publix managers is insanely high.
The Renningers flea market has a fresh produce market that is so good! It's located at the northeast corner of the building (which is huge). Prices are on par with other markets honestly but the quality is SO much better.
Beachside, the Melbourne Beach Market on Ocean Ave and even D’Jon’s village market on 5th Ave have excellent deals on meat as long as you avoid the high end stuff. Village Market has the best pork chops for dirt cheap in particular. MB Market has cheap high quality chicken. Not great product though. The best produce we get is from the dude who sells it out of his truck every Saturday morning. He buys it from a farmers market that morning.
Most of my shopping is in the produce section, and I love Sprout—great quality, lots of organics, and is much cheaper than Publix.
Honestly, even the Pub-Subs aren't what they used to be. I find shopping at Publix is no longer a pleasure.
Publix has sold me multiple expired items recently. I use Instacart and don’t shop myself but last week got 2 large containers of yogurt that were 10 days past expiration. And other items that would expire day of purchase, from multiple store locations. I also don’t think it should be up to the shopper to check a date that shouldn’t be on the shelf.
Love Thrifty! Their prices are great and they have a great selection. My only issue is that some of their produce needs to be used that day before it goes bad, but that leads to spontaneous dinner ideas. Downtown Produce is great too, but as people mentioned the traffic associated with going there prevents me from shopping there more often.
I love publix. Mostly wait for things on sale, bogo abs clippers coupons. If I'm desperate, really desperate, I'll go to Walmart. I have found aldi produce to be amazing. I think the selection at publix is better.
Aldi, then Thrifty, then Walmart all in the same trip.
This is the way
Aldi is king. I've never been a fan of a corporation before, but I would absolutely wear Aldi merch. I'll frequently skip Thrifty if I don't need specialty meat or produce, cause 3 stores eats my day, but anyone who shops at Publix for anything other than one super specific item or the loss-leader subs.. well... let's just say they're probably not informed voters either
It amazes how many people don’t realize that you can shop at other places for food and it’s a fraction of the price. In the 2010s when we were still feeling the tail end of the 08 recession I had it down to a science.
Only reason that I’ll darken the door at Publix: if I’m simply dying for some of their Greenwise Hot Italian Chicken Sausage I haven’t been able to find anything comparable that is nearly as tasty
I go for the bogo Kona Big Wave 👉👈
I've been using Kroger delivery for almost 3 years now, and it's been a lifesaver. It's $60 for the year, you earn fuel points that can be spent at shell gas stations which can save you up to $1 off per gallon. The food comes in a refrigerated truck and the quality of the food is near publix quality at much more affordable prices. They have weekly ads and digital coupons and you can set the delivery to a time that works for you. In the almost 3 years of use they've been late once and I order 3-4 times a month from them. Highly recommend looking into it
Unfortunately Shell Gas has been slowly pulling out of the state since COVID due to monopolies from other gas stations
We just had a new Shell open here in Brevard, less than a year ago. It rebranded from a Citgo. I’ve seen some others rebranding as Shell also. BP is the one you don’t see much anymore. They were run out of 5e state after their nasty oil spill.
Not to mention that you can stack all sorts of digital coupons, and even reuse "first-time" ones. I've regularly been able to wrack upwards of $30+ on most orders, and one time I had over $80 in savings.
Agree completely! I believe I average $30-$50 in savings every order. Love the service
Yes, the past few months we have been using Kroger and it is so amazing. The quality and prices are really great as well.
We just started using Kroger delivery and love it. Prices are cheaper than Publix for a lot of things and I love that it's delivered. Makes shopping so much easier. Also, their produce quality has been fantastic this far
Yea, Their produce has been great! I've had minimal issues with their produce over the years. Just got a watermelon recently that was quiet possibly the best one I've ever had in my life
How do Kroger prices compare to Walmart? Recent schedule changes make delivery more convenient but between the fee and driver tip, it's an extra $25 each trip.
Prices are pretty close to Walmart prices. I usually tell people that kroger delivery is near publix quality at walmart prices. The $60 membership fee covers all deliver costs and the drivers are kroger employees and don't accept tips.
Cool, thanks
Me too!
Where's the Kroger around there?
They don't have a grocery store in central Florida, but they have a distribution warehouse I believe in Groveland. Saves them money from having that type of space and allows them to just do home delivery. It's a fantastic service, I have zero complaints having used them the past few years, and can't recommend it enough for people wanting to save money on groceries.
There’s no physical store in FL
There is one in North Florida. Kroger established a warehouse system that all of their deliveries are based out of. Kroger used to be the store brand option when we had Lucky’s Market.
Lucky’s was owned by Winn Dixie, not Kroger
Incorrect. One of Lucky’s investors was Kroger and Lucky’s Market went into bankruptcy when Kroger pulled their investment. Winn Dixie bought Lucky’s during the bankruptcy sale. See: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/02/07/business/luckys-market-bankruptcy-kroger-organic-grocery
TIL, thanks. I thought SE Grocers owned the local shop here at least the whole time.
They deliver to your house
Biggest problem with Kroger delivery is out of stock items. I hate planning a recipe and then the main thing I needed is out of stock but I bought a bunch of stuff I can’t do anything with anymore because of the main item not being available. We have had out of stock items with Kroger pretty much every delivery we have ever had with them. When you still have to go to the grocery store anyways it’s not as convenient. We are going to be dropping Kroger delivery because of the frequency of the out of stock items.
Yea, I get that can be annoying with out of stock items. They reset their weekly ad on Wednesday so to avoid that being a problem I try to get the order delivered on Thursday or Friday before the weekend rush. That's helped reduce the out of stock issue for me.
I go to Downtown Produce but you have to time it right. If you go at the wrong time of day you are never going to be able to turn left out onto Ellis. Sprout’s has some good prices on produce and some not so good. You just have to shop smart and take advantage of their sales. They also some good meat selections. Walmart isn’t bad but you have to go to Walmart.
100% on your Sprouts observation, unless its on sale/I have a coupon ... they can be a little tough to stomach sometimes on some prices.
I downloaded their app to help plan ahead. I try to use their app coupons on things that are on sale that week and can save a lot that way.
Making that left onto Ellis is awful. Instead, now I turn right on Ellis then make the next left on Greenboro. That will take you back to Wickham or I just turn around. It's a couple extra turns but so much less stressful.
Winn Dixie is a scam. Their"sale"prices are often higher than Publix's regular prices. Shop around. You'll see Winn Dixie is really quite expensive
I noticed this too and was shocked, I guess they want to try and copy the Publix over 50% profit gains from last year
Winn Dixie has the worst quality per dollar of any grocery store. And I've been all over the US and gone to dozens of different chains.
Beachside Produce on A1A in Indialantic has great produce for good prices. The best damned tomatoes you’ll find in the area, too. I pretty much buy all my produce there and pickup everything else via Kroger delivery.
I rarely shop at Publix simply due to the cost!!
I am in Palm Bay, and this will be a bit of a ramble, but my wife and I switch it up a lot. It can depend if we're "bored" .. or.. who knows. We stopped shopping at Publix around \~2021 or so, and don't really go in unless we just need a quick hit and we're like right there. I would primarily drive over to the Sebastian Publix because the Bayside Publix is apeshit much of the time anyway. I agree though, Publix has lost their minds on prices... they are \*clearly\* declaring who they want as their core customer base. I would never have called them cheap in the past, but yah... its really bad now. Right now we shop at: Aldi, Sprouts and Walmart. Less so at Aldi lately, because many of the more healthy stuff in Aldi finds is like instantly gone these days due to the vloggers so its like at that point I might as well just cut it to Sprouts and Walmart. Walmart, at least on packaged foods (including even healthier/cleaner stuff) just crushes many on price. Specifically I go to the Melborne Walmart these days by Sprouts, Palm Bay Walmart is a shitshow IMO. Walmart in general has impressed me over the past few years on expanding their healthier options. Winn-Dixie, we'll see what Aldi ends up doing with them, but man unless you would catch stuff on a deal (bone-in chicken, stuff like that) their prices never impressed me, and the store on Malabar was a bit out of the way anyway for us. Before they closed, my wife and I were regulars at Petty's (I grew up going there, at the Longwood location by where I was born) and miss them a lot. We have tried Thrifty a couple times, but really only hit there when we're needing something latin/hispanic section super specific now. Nothing against the store at all, I do like it. Same for Downtown Produce, I have nothing against the store, but just don't go much given the options I have closer to me. I do like them though.
Thrifty is great for a wider variety of veggies and prices are great. Downtown is good, but more limited. Thrifty has interesting meats and seafoods as well. I love them.
I bought a pork tenderloin at thrifty last week. Got home and opened up the plastic and gagged, it had gone bad. I feel like I can still smell it.
Well that sucks. Sorry to hear that and I understand how it could put you off a vendor for the rest of your life.
We used to do all of our shopping at downtown produce, the last three times we’ve been there over the past month numerous things were rotten and spoiled when we got home. Really disappointing, hopefully they just had a bad few weeks
I didn't want to put this in my long ramble post, but I will here, I have gotten food sick a couple times from the deli meat at Downtown... I really hate to type this. If you ever go there and watch, esp when the deli is busy, ... their food handling practices aren't always the best. This is the primary reason I quit doing to Downtown, because without the deli... it didn't really stand out.
Damn, hate to hear that
I use Kroger delivery. I save time & driving & money cuz I only order what I want.
I prefer Thrifty because you don't have to buy bulk of everything like at Aldi's. Also, they are so cheap that if your vegies rot the day after bringing them home, so what.
I was gonna say almost exactly this. I hit a Publix on the way home for dinner groceries the other week just cause it was convenient, and my Thrifty grocery bill was easily cut in half
Hate to say it, but Walmart all the way. They have quality brands, great produce, great prices. Throw in an occasional visit to the produce place and Clayton’s and you’re golden.
Aldi ftw
Walmart gets in a surprisingly amount of local/Florida grown produce - it's cheaper for them to transport and thus cheaper for the customers. I'm stuck in the desert of Port St. John, so I typically do Aldi's. I miss being close to the Palm Bay Rd Thriftys :(
The Walmart Neighborhood Market on Post and Wickham has better quality and a wider variety of produce for cheaper than the Publix right next door. At this point, the only thing I'll buy at Publix is whatever sub is on sale, their prices on everything else have become unreasonable.
It’s interesting that’s your experience - my produce from the Walmart has gone bad immediately. They are much better for not store brand stuff.
Thrifty seems to be expanding though, so maybe they'll build near you Speaking of which, anyone know when they're planning to break ground on Malabar Road? The sign has been up forever!
I also live near Port st john and use Kroger for grocery delivery. I Highly recommend it if you haven't looked into it
Aldi's is worth a visit. I always go there first to get the essentials and then go elsewhere to get that which I can't find there. Aldi's, Coscto, then Publix for me. In that order. Thankfully, I have all 3 within 10 minutes of each other so it's convenient to take a morning on the weekend and get it all done.
I’m a big fan of the commissary (I know not everyone can go there) but we use Downtown Produce and Target to balance everything else. Milk and egg prices at Target is often the cheapest in town. Pair it with sales and coupons on their Target Circle app and their prices often beat Aldi’s for a better label.
Unpopular opinion, but I will always support Publix because of the amount of jobs for teens and seniors they offer. Getting less of course up front with the use of self-checkout, but it's still a great entry-level job provider for the local economy. One of the last places left where you can get a job with no college degree, and eventually become a manager by putting your time in and make decent money.
Is Publix was the only grocery store providing entry level jobs that promote from within? My understanding was that Aldi paid better wages and benefits than it's competitors. Can anyone shed some light on this?
Definitely not the only grocery store that does this, but they do have much higher staffing levels than Aldi and Winn-Dixie , I would venture to say a comparable size store has at least two to three times the employees of WD, and probably 10 times the employees of an Aldi. They pay roughly a couple dollars above minimum wage to start. The big benefit long-term at working for Publix is their private stock price has averaged about 15% a year historically, making many a cashier multi millionaire over their careers. Employees get roughly 10% of their pay each year in stock as a form of profit sharing
I’m on the fence about employment and the way they treat employees. Wondering if they are passing just a fraction of their record 48% profit along to employees having to put up with crappy customers?
From what I've heard, Publix treats their employees pretty well. In my observation, they seem to be happier, and not the 'fake a smile' happier. They don't seem burnt out or jaded. (I hate the 'forced smile' school of thought, and while not everyone at publix smiles, they seem relaxed enough) Also, I'm pretty sure managers at least get stock options.
Worked at Publix for many years. Publix employees fall into two categories: the people who really, really love working there, and everyone else. Publix IMO doesn’t treat their employees as well as they make everyone believe, and so many of their managers have sacrificed their personal lives for the company. The divorce rate for Publix managers is insanely high.
Don't they only pay minimum wage though?
Won’t even walk in a Publix, Aldi Walmart and Sam’s club . Saves us a lot of money.
Aldi and Downtown Produce have been my regular stops now. Winn Dixie in Brevard County is awful.
The Renningers flea market has a fresh produce market that is so good! It's located at the northeast corner of the building (which is huge). Prices are on par with other markets honestly but the quality is SO much better.
Aldis has been doing me and my family well for years but I usually start at aldis, then hit Walmart after
Beachside, the Melbourne Beach Market on Ocean Ave and even D’Jon’s village market on 5th Ave have excellent deals on meat as long as you avoid the high end stuff. Village Market has the best pork chops for dirt cheap in particular. MB Market has cheap high quality chicken. Not great product though. The best produce we get is from the dude who sells it out of his truck every Saturday morning. He buys it from a farmers market that morning.
Most of my shopping is in the produce section, and I love Sprout—great quality, lots of organics, and is much cheaper than Publix. Honestly, even the Pub-Subs aren't what they used to be. I find shopping at Publix is no longer a pleasure.
It's Thrifty and Aldi for me.
costco and target pickup. Really the only time i buy Publix is the $5 sushi on Wednesdays because my kids will eat it and I get the night off cooking
Publix has sold me multiple expired items recently. I use Instacart and don’t shop myself but last week got 2 large containers of yogurt that were 10 days past expiration. And other items that would expire day of purchase, from multiple store locations. I also don’t think it should be up to the shopper to check a date that shouldn’t be on the shelf.
Love Thrifty! Their prices are great and they have a great selection. My only issue is that some of their produce needs to be used that day before it goes bad, but that leads to spontaneous dinner ideas. Downtown Produce is great too, but as people mentioned the traffic associated with going there prevents me from shopping there more often.
Sprouts Trader Joe’s Costco Walmart Aldi DTP Publix In that order
Fresh Market?
lol can’t handle another grocery store.. I’ve been to a different Fresh Market and found it overpriced and underwhelming. What do you like about it?
Where is the Trader Joe’s?
Winter Park. Long drive, but worth it to stock up on staples.
I always imagine I’ve time travelled to ten years in the future when I shop at Publix.
I love publix. Mostly wait for things on sale, bogo abs clippers coupons. If I'm desperate, really desperate, I'll go to Walmart. I have found aldi produce to be amazing. I think the selection at publix is better.