Groceries : Target vs Walmart ??

[LuLuO]

I get most of my groceries and household things at Target. Everything else is from Aldi or the fancy grocery store for specialty items.

I haven't set foot in a WM since May. I used to go there all of the time for years, and rarely had a pleasant shopping experience. WM just irritates me. I finally decided that I have so many options for groceries and household items within three miles of my home that there was simply no reason to go there.

 

[scrapquitler]

Target is fairly new to our area (been here maybe 7-8 years, tops) and they just put in a 'grocery' section within the last year. The grocery section is a SMALL section of the store, so it's not like a full grocery store like our Super Walmart has. I was just in Target yesterday and checked out the grocery section: there is very little selection, it's more like a convenience thing than a grocery store. For example, they had a very small section of packaged fresh meats they had vacuum sealed chicken breasts, chicken thighs, chicken legs and one sort of packaged beef. That was it. No pork, no whole chickens, no steaks. They had one type of apples (red delicious) and they were in a bag that was maybe 5lbs. If I wanted just a few apples, or a different variety, I was out of luck. They had prebagged salad mixes, but no individual heads of lettuce. So there were some choices if I wanted to grab something for dinner tonight, but I probably couldn't do anything close to my full week's shopping there.

Super Walmart is cheap. They have a lot of variety. But it's not a nice shopping experience. I do a lot of my grocery shopping at Walmart. But I don't buy my meats there because most of them seem to have that saline solution injected in them, and they are all prepackaged, there's no butcher in the store making the cuts. I buy my meats at a grocery store that does have a butcher. I also don't buy much produce at WalMart because they don't have a great selection or great quality. I buy lots of veggies at the farm market in season, and the rest of the year I go to a local greenmarket whenever possible.

 

[jrnunzio3]

I went to my local Target in August to try their grocery dept and see if I saved any money there. Well, the first item I picked up, looked at the expiration date, October 2011. Went to get some mini marshmallows, checked the expiration date, February 2011. I brought both of these to the store manager and she didn't seem to care too much, she took the items off the shelf, but was very non chalant about it.

Needless to say, I walked out of the store with only 4 items instead of a grocery cart full as I had intended.

I contacted corporate and they didn't even ask which store I had shopped at, so I don't know how they are going to fix this problem.

Maybe I should go back there soon and see if they items are back on the shelf or have they been replaced with fresh items.

This was just my experience there. I haven't had the freshness problem at Walmart.

 

[hrslvr142]

Another Target shopper here, there are only 2 adults in our household and not an issue with finding things we like at Target. The 5% off everything is really nice. Are they always cheaper than Walmart...not sure but since it is almost out my back door and I can get in and out much quicker than Walmart since I am not waiting behind 30 other people in line, it wins hands down. I do watch sales and also shop at my local Kroger as well if they have good prices, again much closer than Walmart.

 

[AmericangirlinFrance]

Neither! If I was just shopping off a list, without planning around weekly sales and coupons, I guess Walmart would be cheaper, but that's not how I shop.

I shop weekly sales + coupon match ups at Publix. Usually that is stocking up kind of stuff - cereal, pasta, frozen foods, salad dressing, etc. This week I got salad dressing (2), toilet paper, paper towels, 2 bottles of Windex, 4 jars of spaghetti sauce, 4 boxes of Kleenex, 2 bottles of wine. I do this pretty much every week. This keeps us stocked up on essentials/pantry stuff at low prices. (I got my salad dressing this week for 9 cents each!) I only buy this stuff at Publix when I can get it cheaper than Aldi.

For other stuff (stuff I need weekly for cooking that I don't have on hand already), I go to Aldi. Eggs, fresh produce, meat, sometimes canned goods.

 

[LilyWDW]

I would go to a local grocery store and shop by their ads before I would ever buy groceries at Walmart again. Our Target is not one of the ones with a full grocery so I can not comment on them. Walmart however is horrible when it comes to their meats and produce. I won't touch it. Their selection is also not that great, especially for "different" foods that I can get at my locally owned grocery store. It's not worth the time, drive, or hassle.

 

[JB2K]

Walmart has a much better selection. Target really doesn't have much

Chances are your Target may be an older store -- not all of their U.S. stores sell groceries, yet (they are currently in a 3 to 4 year plan to remodel all their stores to sell certain fresh groceries).

I also read when Target begins opening stores in Canada next spring, all of those new stores will have a fresh grocery department.

 

[Lilliputian]

Every time I buy produce at Walmart, I'm disappointed. It's always gross.

I go to Target if I need to go to one of those stores and I need groceries. I prefer a regular grocery store (Kroger is my favorite in my area), but sometimes I need enough other things that it's worth it to just get it all at Target.

 

[Roast]

My wife dislikes Wal-mart, so my vote is for Target.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I put a value on my time. Wal-Mart has the longest lines anywhere. So if it takes me an extra hour to shop because they won't hire any cashiers that would pretty much eat up the savings LOL! (We do have two stores near me. One is a Super Target with EVERYTHING and the other has no real grocery to speak of)

 

[jhenson84]

Chances are your Target may be an older store -- not all of their U.S. stores sell groceries, yet (they are currently in a 3 to 4 year plan to remodel all their stores to sell certain fresh groceries).

I also read when Target begins opening stores in Canada next spring, all of those new stores will have a fresh grocery department.

That was the plan. Unfortunately the Target remodels got pushed back a few years because of Target Canada. Any target that doesn't have a firm remodel date with a contract for 2013 is being postponed for a unknown amount of time.

The reason is because when Target decided to expand to Canada is was going to be in stages. Fortunately for Target, a large Canadian retailer went out of business and Target was able to buy all their properties in one large deal. This was more money than Target initially planned to invest in Canada, but a much better deal in the long run.

The larger than planned Canada investment has put all U.S. store projects on hold for at least a few years.

 

[Planogirl]

Our Target is a super center with a full grocery but I still find their selection to be paltry for some food items. They tend to only offer one brand of many things too and that brand might be the most expensive. Their meat is always expensive and they have awful sales. Their fruit is the same way here. Their sodas are the most expensive I've seen.

I do like a lot about the store but mostly the non-food items.

 

[STLnative]

In my area (central TX), Walmart's produce and meat are terrible, but Target's prices are high.

The supermarkets here tend to have bad produce too (or at least worse than I was used to in the Midwest), so I generally suck it up, go to Walmart, and stick to mostly frozen fruit/veg.

When I need meat or fresh produce, I go to Target for small quantities or Costco for large quantities.

 

[DisneyDizzy]

In central Indiana. I'm a huge fan of Meijer. I think their prices beat Walmart, at least on what we buy. Meijer produce is always good. Fresh and a HUGE variety.

We have Super Target but I just don't find enough variety. And they meat department is TINY.

 

[spacemountainmom]

I was a big fan of SuperWalmart when they opened a store here. The problem is that the closest one is 13 miles away. The gas to get there eats up any savings on groceries.

About two years ago a SuperTarget opened up about 6 miles from me. I now do most of my shopping there. However, it's getting frustrating to shop there. They are always out of something. Last week they were out of three different items on my list so I had to make a separate trip to the regular grocery store to pick those items up. I do find pretty good deals on meat and really haven't had any issues with the Market Pantry brand items. I love the 5% off and love it even more when I have an extra 5% off with the pharmacy rewards.

 

[LoveMyMoos]

From the majority of things I've seen, Walmart is cheaper by 1-2 cents. When something is 8.99 at Target, it's 8.98 at Walmart. The only thing I noticed a significant price difference in was produce, and I tend to go to our local farmer's market for that stuff anyway. Add in the 5% discount with the Red Card, and it's pretty much the same price, if not a bit cheaper. The 5% comes off immediately. Say you're total is $50, you swipe your Red Card and immediately it goes down to $47.50 before you enter your pin number. And even if it's not cheaper than Walmart, I'll pay the few extra dollars for the experience. I loathe Walmart and it's truly like a different class of people shop there. I go to Walmart, people are everywhere, they are rude, it's just mass chaos, not to mention it's always dirtier. Target isn't like that. And I'm almost convinced that Walmart pumps something through the ventilation system that makes my kids act a fool, they tend to be much better in Target lol.

 

[Honeybell]

Count me as another vote for Target. I won't buy produce there but they do have the best prices of Frozen Foods. There are tons of farm stands around here that have super cheap produce. The Archer Farms brand is excellent quality, sometimes better than the name brand.

I had a very bad experience in our local Walmart that made me decide there was nothing in the world I wanted to own badly enough to ever set foot in the store again. My In-laws shop there all the time. After the third weevil outbreak that was traced to something they had bought from Walmart, I now have a big Rubbermaid tub in the kitchen when they visit. Any Walmart food needs to go there, not my cupboards. Anything left when they leave gets thrown out.

 

[mistysue]

DS has a lot of allergies and I prefer organic, those items are ALWAYS less at my Target than my Walmart. We have gotten food poisoning multiple times from Walmart meat and their produce is not so good so we have nothing to shop for there. Walmart's organic and specialty foods are often $1-2/box or can more than Target or Meijer here.

I split shopping between Target and Meijer and it would cost another $30/week if I shopped at Walmart.

 

[tcufrog]

If your Target has a tiny grocery section then your Target must be a regular Target instead of Super Target.

I find Wal-Mart to be a beat down so I don't shop there. It's too big to easily take the boys without worrying about losing the toddler or one of them having a melt down.

For quick trips for staples with the exception of produce I go to Target since it's close and I have a debit card that gives me 5% off and takes the money directly from the linked checking account. The produce selection and quality stinks though although I like their store brand.

For fruit, diapers and wipes, organic milk (one of the only things I always buy organic), household cleaning supplies, over the counter meds, shampoo, almond butter (both boys' schools are peanut free and almond butter is costly anywhere else) and a few other things I go to Costco. The prices and quality are great plus I can return anything including opened items without a receipt. The only problem is that there are so many temptations there I really have to police myself to stick to my list.

For regular, long grocery lists I go to Kroger. There's one 10 minutes away that has a really great produce department plus they sell amazing store made tortillas. They also make their own sushi in house (you can watch them make it) that I rarely buy for my older son as a reward for good behavior. They also have car shaped carts which the boys will happily share. That makes it easier to take them both shopping at the same time.

I don't have time to visit a whole bunch of places to get everything I need so Aldi's is out. I got tired to going to Aldi's and then having to go to the Tom Thumb across the street to pick up what Aldi's doesn't have. I'd have to say the same thing about Trader Joe's and Sprouts.

 

[etch416]

target!