My closest Walmart just became a Super Store!

[ChrisinNJ]

They have been under construction for quite a while, and today was the big grand opening of the Marketplace section of the store. It looks like they have a nice selection & all of the produce & meat looked great. I didn't do much shopping as I ran in for 2 items (was actually sneaker shopping at the outlet center next door), didn't know the market had opened & didn't have my coupons.

So what items so you find to be a great deal at Walmart?

How are their meats/ produce/ deli & bakery items?

Anything you avoid buying there because it is not good quality?

My only experience w/ Walmart super centers is in Orlando during my Disney trips.

Thanks for any info!!

 

[ccgirl]

I have one near me and find it can be very dangerous if I don't stick to my list. Also, you need to know your prices. I love their bananas. They are lower priced than the other supermarkets near me and seem to last longer. They also have little snacks I buy for my kids like sliced apples with peanut butter or caramel. I know....I could do this myself but I don't even get home until 6pm and run around crazy until 11pm when I finally sit. I just buy them premade. Their cold cuts are good, as are their a la carte items (chicken wings etc.). I am actually going there after work becuase I need some stitch witchery and needed to pick up just a few grocery items. I will go there since I can go to one store. They also just had an 8 pack of small G2's for $4. I got that for my DD7's lunches. It really is super convenient. I wish my Target was a super Target. I actually like them better.

 

[ChrisinNJ]

I wish my Target was a super Target. I actually like them better.

I found out last week that our target became a Super Target. The produce all looked pretty bad though & the prices on much of the stuff were high (

 

[rock_doctor]

It should be like the one in Kiss except for no Disney stuff. They all should have a Disney section in my opinion... They are in the process of converting ours over to a super but since there is an Aldi down the road (who will always be cheaper) we don't plan to change our shopping habits that much. When we lived in Florida the local super always had great deals on sweets (day old donuts/cakes and so on) and they were a few pennies cheaper then the other stores on non-sale items.

 

[Dizneydaz]

Ours too! They had the Grand Reopening on Saturday and this weekend they will be completely up and running (bakery and deli!) I am very excited since I think WM has some great prices and Albertson's and Von's can be insane! We do a lot of our grocery shopping at Sam's Club (across the street) but with Super WM now here I can use my coupons on top of their low prices.

Oh, and my Disney friends will understand this...when I went on Sunday morning it reminded me of being at WDW. The only other Super WM I've been to are the ones by WDW.

I'm glad the construction is finally over. Each time I would go things would be in a different place.

 

[TinkTink78]

Neptune

 

[ChrisinNJ]

Neptune

Yep! We were at the Outlet center & I needed a couple of things.

If I had known it was the Grand Opening I would probably have stayed away, but I'm glad I went. It wasn't too crazy crowded.

So where in NJ are you from? I'm in Middletown Township

 

[ChrisinNJ]

They all should have a Disney section in my opinion...

I agree!!

 

[LuLuO]

Our walmart turned into a super center a while ago. Maybe it has been a little more than a year now. At first their prices on name brands were awesome but I noticed that after the first couple of months the prices were creeping up on just about everything and now they within a few cents of the grocery stores on many things. Of course that could be walmart raising their prices and the grocery stores lowering their prices to compete too.

Also the produce was BEAUTIFUL and now it's just so-so most of the time. The last time I went to buy oranges I noticed that they were very poor looking. If they had been in my kitchen I would have thrown them away. The bananas are great. I was never impressed with the meat department.

I'm sure the super centers vary from market to market. Overall though I've been disappointed with ours.

 

[Scully12]

When I worked at Disney I got my groceries from the SUper Walmart nearest the CP apartments. Their fresh produce was always better priced and a lot better quality than the publix. The meats and things were fine too. Before Disney I never went to Walmart. but since then I would definitely go back if only there was a Super Walmart near me.

 

[TinkTink78]

Yep! We were at the Outlet center & I needed a couple of things.

If I had known it was the Grand Opening I would probably have stayed away, but I'm glad I went. It wasn't too crazy crowded.

So where in NJ are you from? I'm in Middletown Township

I am in Eatontown... Just down the road. DBF went in on Saturday, I stayed in the car, didnt feel well, so I didnt get to see how it looks yet.

Do you have any trips planned?

 

[ChrisinNJ]

Do you have any trips planned?

I wish I did, but not right now. I was hoping to go for Jersey week, but the kids only have 2 days off this year. I'd love to get away Thanksgiving week too (just to escape family obligations) but I don't think I could deal with the crowd levels.

It would be great to go this year since my kids are 9,9, & 6 so last year of paying kids rates....


Oh well, maybe next year...

 

[Michelle and crew]

Their meats have more of the nasty salt and flavoring than is normal. I bought beautiful looking steaks once. That was the end of it. They were hideous.

My boys like their fresh pizzas. We keep a couple in the freeze for emergencies.

 

[ShesAPirate]

My local WalMart (Secaucus, NJ) just became a super walmart, too. AND it's open 24 hours now I wonder if this is happening all over NJ?

I haven't bought much produce other than bananas, cherries, and some other fruit. I think their prices are really good on pre-packaged and frozen things, and the produce is less than Shop Rite, too. Haven't tried the deli or bakery yet.

 

[smokeyblue]

We've had a Wal-Mart Super Center for quite a few years now. I do mostly "inside aisle" shopping there, most every dry or canned good is cheaper than the traditional supermarket. Most of their dairy items are almost always cheaper like yogurt, sour cream and certain cheeses. I also shop a lot in the freezer section for frozen veggies. TV dinners are almost always significantly cheaper there too.

I don't care for their produce or meat. Sometimes they will have some really good looking fruit, but it isn't very often. The deli at my Wal-Mart is actually about the same price or even more expensive than the local supermarket deli's, but from traveling I've found that our local deli's are super cheap! Around 8 p.m. they mark down the rotisserie chicken to $2 to get rid of it.

They do have good inexpensive bakery items. They have some really good breads and rolls (pepperoni sandwich rolls are my favorite). They often have a bakery cart with marked down items. Sometimes it's a lot of good stuff, sometimes not. Everyone I know likes their cakes and they are super cheap. There is no way that I can make a three layer 8" chocolate ganache cake for $8, I consider it a steal!

You will notice that the prices on somethings will flucuate quite a bit on some items. It must be something with the distributor or getting a better than usual price on a large lot of an item. It's usually pop, cereal, snacks and ice cream I see this happen.

So for as much information as I gave you probably wouldn't beleive that I don't do most of my shopping there. It's just been around so long that I'm used to what they have and how they do things. You will figure out quickly what you like, what you can save money on and what you should buy elsewhere.

 

[dsilva51]

Shout out from Freehold here!!! LOL The Walmart in Freehold is turning into a Super Walmart too and so it the Target in Manalapan. I'll have to drag my BFF to the Neptune store to see what to anticipate for Freehold.

 

[kydisneyfans]

For the first time in about 3 months I went into our Walmart and came out with absolutely nothing. Their paint selection was a joke and prices high. I then checked produce-it really was embarassing. The prices were high, the items looked old, and fruit flies were common.

I have had too many stale items from Walmart bakeries to try those again. Meat prices are higher than the competition, plus I am paying a 12% premium since 12% of the weight in a Walmart meat package is solution to keep it looking fresh longer.

For the second quarter of 2010, CNBC reported that the average overall prices at Walmart went up 5.3% over 2009, Kroger actually went down 1%. I see no price savings at Walmart at all.

I am lucky to live in a part of the country with good Walmart competition so I don't have to waste my time or money there. I'll take Meijer or Kroger Marketplace over Walmart anytime.

 

[SCADC]

I worked at our local WalMart for 10+ years. The prices will vary on items from city to city because they comp shop their competitors. They will beat the prices of other stores on consumable items like: personal care items, paper goods, candy, etc. Also they will match the sales paper prices of their competitors.

Personally, we rarely buy meat there. When our supercenter first opened in 1996 - 1997, they had a full meat department where they cut their own meat and it was good then, but now they get everything pre-packaged and it is not as good - especially their beef.

 

[MoniqueU]

I was a former wal mart basher. I still won't go to the two regular ones near me for any reason. I went down to alabama to stay with friends and she made me go take a look at her super walmart. HOLY COW it was really nice. That gave me the courage to try ours out. Ours isn't as nice as hers but it is out of the boondocks and not crowded and I can deal with it. I still would never buy shoes or clothes there but the food prices are pretty reasonable. We like the deli meat alot, not the packaged meat that they sell. The produce doesn't always look that great but the kids polish it off just the same. The one thing I can say that is by far and away the best deal is the progresso soups. Those things are so expensive at our supermarket even on sale. Also they have this weird asian soup called kimchi that my son loves and it is over 2 bucks at the grocery store and under a dollar at super walmart. They have alot of the things we like in jumbo packs but they have yet to bring back the jumbo box of eggo waffles. I have to get that at the regular grocery store. I am bad and never paid a whole lot of attention to what things actually cost at the store but I am amazed at how much food I can get for the same or less money at superwalmart. We also have a supertarget right near there and even with my limited grocery knowledge their prices were sky high. I can never find a good deal on anything at target but I still like it more then walmart I just won't grocery shop there. I do have certain brands of things I like that they don't stock at super walmart so I pick those up at the grocery store when I get my prescriptions. If you really crunch numbers and use coupons you may not see a huge price difference, I am not sure, I don't use coupons so shopping there makes a huge difference to us. Oh and dog food is 20 bucks for name brand in the bags that are pretty much too big to carry. You can't beat that.

 

[cbg1027]

I do not do any grocery shopping at Wal-Mart. At least at the stores in my town, the meat and produce are NOT good. I don't care how cheap it is - it's wasted money to bite in to an apple and have to throw it out because it doesn't taste good.

And I find they either don't carry the dry items I want, or they are ALWAYS out of them when I go. So I don't waste my time in there.

I do the majority of my grocery shopping at Publix, and try to buy produce from the farmer's market.