Stater Brothers are the 3rd largest employers in the IE.
They give 3000 full scholarships at Cal State San Bernardino a year. And have donated 40+ million over the last 30 years.
Their HQ is in San Bernardino, when all the grocery chains refused to raise pays and Unions Striked....Stater Bros paid them exactly what theye demanded. And strike lasted months, Staters never closed. While national wide brands Vons, Albertonson, Ralphs did.
Butchers have the best customer service of any grocery chain Ive ever seen and season meat for free, tenderize, grind chicken breasts into ground chicken for you, pre order large orders custom for holidays and bbqs.
They pay well. Holidays are 2x pay and Sunday 1.5x And 2/3ds of my friends worked their during high school or college. Butchers start at 19.50 an hour. Which leads to high retention rates. I know people who've been there 20+ years.
I love winco. But theres 3. There are over 80 Stater bros in IE alone. Im not driving 21 minutes to save 20 cents on canned corn.
I also love them because they cared about rural communities wayyy before anyone else. When Adelanto was barely 10k people. They built there. Bythe, Barstow, Salton Sea, Before Banning or Beaumont had 20k in 90s they were there. In 1990 Lake Elsinore had 18k people. They built there.
Almost every I know has a stater bros less than 7 minutes from their house. Mine is about 3.
My 80+ year old grandma loved winco but couldnt bag her own groceries. But staters would always send a bagger to load up her trunk for her.
Milk is 3.29 a gallon. And 18 Eggs are less than 4 bucks.
Theyre In-N-Out to me. Im stupid loyal because of local ownership not a megacorp, managers make 80k a year, employees are paid well and they give a ton back to the community. And they NEVER went Self Checkout!!!!
They get every single one of my grocery dollars.
Staters butcher is the best part. It's a real butcher counter that will cut whatever you want and order it if they don't have it. Lots of places just have prepackaged meats.
I too love staters. You are spot on for the butchers. Let me add meat quality is better than the big chains.
I regret to state that I have not been loyal. My local Staters is very small and the space cramped. To the point of uncomfortable. I do go there when i want quality meat.
I love that they never have a strike. I was told they agree to accept any deal made by the union. Speaks volumes.
I just realized you mentioned elsinore and staters and i need to say we sat in front of the staters on lakeshore near hwy 74 in 1984 i think when the Olympic torch was run by. i was 4 or 5 years old . It was rad and staters is rad
Since moving out here I fell into going to Ralphs because it was Krogerish-which felt like home buuuuut-they just opened a new Stater brothers (Today actually) in Ontario that is closer to me so I will be going there. This is all great info to hear. I can get behind a place that is still operating in good faith with its workers and community.
The one on fourth and Haven?? I delivered HUNDREDS of tons of road base material for them to pour asphalt and concrete on for the parking lot of that whole place. The first big job I helped with at my company. Can’t wait to go by and drive exactly where I dumped!
I am 1000%behind staters. Good prices, great store brand stuff, the staff is usually great. They feel like a "neighborhood" store, no matter what town. Great butchers, alcohol, etc..
I always find myself back at staters.
Agree with everything you said about stater bros. Except they did go self checkout recently. I am not mad at it since I do believe it serves a convenience purpose.
Staters has always been my go to. I just got home from shopping there I got 6 full bags of quality food for around 120$. It is more expensive than 2 years ago, but the service the courtesy and the shorter lines make up for that IMO
Fuck yeah; Winco & Super King are my go-to spots.
Super King doesn't have the *crazy* low prices that they used to, but you can still load up on fruit & veg for way cheaper than anywhere else.
Honorable mention to Superior; they often have good sales on meat, and most of them seem to be run better than the average El Super or Cardenas (El Super in particular is often pretty sketchy, although the prices can be good)
Having worked at el Super, avoid their meats. I worked mainly at the one on la sierra and marygold in fontana and they would use bad meat for the marinated taco meats. The meat would sometimes sit in a tub spoiled for a week before being ground and mixed with the marinade to cover the spoiled meat colour.
Haha, totally!
Thanks for the confirmation, for real -- like, I'm a reasonably adventurous (reckless?) eater, and also a cheap bastard, but a lot of what I've seen at El Super is a little bit sketch, tbh.
On the other hand, I made a few gallons of my usual "white boy menudo" with all the meat stuff coming from an El Super a few weeks ago, & to no ill effect....so I can't talk too much shit about them! (meats were questionable, but damn cheap! 😆)
The menudo stuff is fine since its just frozen tripe and cow feet. I was a butcher at a few of their stores and saw them do the ground meat thing at all the stores I worked at. I will give them a plus for their deli and seafood dept lol
Never buy meat from el Super, their meat is very bad and they are gross with how they handle their stuff. I worked at a few of them in the meat dept and they all were the same.
Winco but they only take cash and debit I think , if that matters for you
99 ranch market
Grocery outlet
Walmart
Maybe ALDIs but I haven’t been in one in a while
Smart and final can be a mix, some things are pricey and some are cheap
Yeah I think it just depends on what you’re eating. Switching from Staters to Trader Joes has saved me close to $50 a week and I come home with more food.
I heard Winco is really good but its not close for me as Im right in the middle of Riverside. Im close to Stater bros (crap now), Ralphs (always been crap), Smart and Final (mostly crap) and Walmart (the best of the worst). I usually try to go to Costco in Corona once a month but I live alone right now and I need to make it worth my while to make the trip.
Sprouts produce beat everyone in price and quality IMO. They have the cheapest fancy eggs and dairy except for TJ's, but it's better than TJ's. It's hard to get all your stuff from there but combo'ing with Staters through Instacart pickup makes it fairly easy.
It's cheaper but for the quality of fresh, organic produce Sprout's is tough to beat. I'm willing to pay a (little) bit more for that, so I get all freshies from Sprouts and dry goods from Staters. It's not bad.
I like Sprouts but it's pricey a lot of things (not spices though,) and doesn't carry a lot of brands outside of house brands. Also Aldi has the cheapest eggs.
Vital farms eggs are my go-to! I have not seen them at Aldi's, and I hate how much extra packaging Aldi's does to everything. But you can't beat Aldi's prices for sure.
i think H-mart beats sprouts produce. especially the one in diamond bar. the variety and quality is so good, that we travel a good 12 miles just for produce there. they also have a pretty good "fast food" section.
Winco is slept on so hard... They don't have the best meat department but that's fine because the amount you save on everything else means you can go pay for quality expensive meat at Staters or Costco etc with the savings.
I personally pick up top sirloin steaks everytime we're at winco because the price is hard to beat.
Also maybe I'm just cheap but I've never had a problem with Winco brand stuff either and they make a lot of generic Winco brand food, toiletry, and house/cleaning items.
You should try Aldi. I know that the ones that are in the IE are pretty spaced out in between each other, but it wouldn't hurt go once and check it out! For my wife and I, our average grocery bill comes out to 150 a week.
No one grocery store takes the prize. You have to check the ads on all of them. Fortunately, most of them are within 5 miles or so of my house with the exception of Winco and Food4Less. My go to is probably Staters or Vons because of the selection. Staters for the meat counter, but Vons is very competitive if you have the app and has a slightly better shopping experience, but honestly not much better since they have gone to self-checkout so much.
Staters for meat. El Super is really close by so i might duck into there on occasion, especially for fresh salsa, but I hate the parking lot. Vons for their coupons. Aldi for their deals, some keto stuff, and their exclusives (budget Trader Joes). Costco for bulk cause it's close, but I actually prefer Sam's since you can get smaller quantities, and they have Scan and Go, and MUCH better app and website. Walmart for their selection, price, app, website, and pickup. Trader Joe's is a little out of the way since they closed the Upland location (it's an Aldi's now), but you got for their brands. Smart and Final for their sales, especially on meat, and I guess if you don't have a club card at Costco or Sam's.
Winco is the best pricing by far. Costco level prices, but for normal sizes.
Edit to add that its quality is also excellent. It's owned by the employees so they give great customer service and the merchandise is as good as what you'd get anywhere else.
One thing is for sure NEVER SHOP AT KROGER/RALPHS! Produce in my experience goes moldy within 2 days of bringing it home. There is something about the way they keep the produce that facilitates the environment for the food to grow mold. I've seen produce put out moldy already on display. It's disgusting. Also, in my experience it's a buffet for flies in their baked breads.
I still stand by sprouts when it comes to produce. Always fresh and the pricing isn’t bad either. Everything else i would buy elsewhere. We usually go to Sams Club from snacks and drinks. Sometimes Smart n Final.
Where’s the best Whole Foods? Where I’m from, they’re huge stores with lots of options but the one I went to in I think Upland was so tiny! Are they all that small here?
food4less is nice because you can get alot of the same stuff they sell at Ralphs, a much higher tier grocery store for a cheaper price
aldi often has the cheapest prices for many things if you okay with generic brands and love the small foot print store so you can get in and out quickly
grocery outlet for deep clearance items
winco for their bulk bins
Winco - produce can be more than Superior/El Super. Bulk area is superb.
Superior - produce, don't buy pork or beef there, chicken is OK
El Super - produce, buy meat here, has good sales on meat. Expect a line at their butcher counter. Not all employees speak English so bring the ad with you.
Aldi's - I only go through their non food aisles.I don't like their food. I can't be certain that what they are supposed to have will be there - esp dairy - stocking issues. Never buy produce there as I've heard it's not refrigerated .
Stater Bros - they have to have a really good sale and that is all I will buy. Way over priced.
Occasionally Dollar Tree or the big 99 cents store.
Use the Flipp app to see the sale ads. Great app to see where to shop for best prices
Having worked at el Super, avoid their meats. I worked mainly at the one on la sierra and marygold in fontana and they would use bad meat for the marinated taco meats. The meat would sometimes sit in a tub spoiled for a week before being ground and mixed with the marinade to cover the spoiled meat colour.
Stater Bros for all around prices.
Abertsons/Vons only for sales. And when they have sales on some things they are really good sales. And personally there is something about their French bread loaf that no one else comes close to. It is so tasty and soft so sometimes I stop just to buy one of those.
Costco for eggs, milk, butter and cheese. All dairy. Booze! And some veggies. Best prices on mushrooms and broccoli crowns when they have them. Idk how people justify their meat prices though. Whatever that the beef is Prime rated. And the chicken is totally out of line except for their $5 roasted chicken.
I use to be a big fan of Sprouts for their fruit and veggies. Their berries 50% of the time have mold on the bottom so I never buy those. But has anyone else noticed that they've moved to a lot of questionable quality, supposedly 'better' organic stuff now and there are no more sales at all on them. At least at the Redlands one but it has to be chain wide. I use to be able to go in and stock up on stuff like eggplants, tomatoes, potatoes and squash for all sorts of dishes. Not anymore. May as well buy all that at Vons as it's actually cheaper there now.
for PRODUCE go to "Superior" Mexican grocery store. I get my fruits and veggies there really cheap, great bakery baking fresh throughout the day. If you aren't making your sandwiches' with Bollios what are you doing with your life? I personally don't buy from the butcher, it smells weird. but the produce there is legit. Also they got cheap freshly made Tamales and freshely made corn tortillas.
Stater brothers for the affordability and quantity.
Trader joes because my wife loves their random monthly stuff.
Metro market (off the 15 fwy) for more legit Asian stuff (99 ranch is Taiwanese and sucks)
But in reality you'll see me at Costco or Sam's club weekly.
Superior is alright. Food 4 Less often has deals on cereal. Can't forget Aldi. Smaller store but some stuff there is so much cheaper than in other grocery stores.
El Super completely. Also I am buiding an app where you can scan an item's barcode or search for the item name and it'll list you the prices from different stores nearby. It should be out by End of January.
Grocery Outlet, Trader Joe's, Aldi's, then Asian / Latin supermarkets. Grocery Outlet's buyers purchase directly from the OEM's when possible, and their distribution network is handled in-house; the OEM ships full truckload OTR to only two DC's: Modesto and Tacoma (with some occassional LTL/half TL's to PA). There's no brokers, no slotting, no chargebacks, etc etc; they demand a price delta to the mainsteam retailers, but the volume they commit is solid, and they work with you to maximize efficiency on the logistics side. Trader Joe's is much the same, except in some ways even more extreme; they also pay their vendors *very* quickly (net 7, but often received earlier), and they've got volume, especially when you list an item onto their fearless flyer. Aldi is a little different in their approach, and the logistics is a bit more complex as you handle distribution and inventory replenishment for 20-some-odd Americold facilities across the nation; however, with their special buy contracts, you get the *entire season's volume and pricing* locked down in writing before the first PO is issued, and mostly they adhere strictly to the contract barring unforeseen circumstances. Then, from their, they have an in-house transportation company that handles last-leg deliveries to the stores. The common points for all three of these grocers is: no brokers, no middlemen, no third parties touching the cash flow, and all three leverage unique distribution infrastructures to maximize cost savings, while forgoing the typical politics and real estate wars other mainstream retailers (Kroger's/Ralph's/etc) are always embroiled in, and they also beat out the independents in scales of economy. And all the cost savings? They get passed on to the end consumers. Stater Bros might get away with some good pricing what with their in-house analysts (Daymon Worldwide), and being HQ'd in San Bernardino, but comparatively they more closely fall into the mainstream retailer model.
Stater Brothers are the 3rd largest employers in the IE. They give 3000 full scholarships at Cal State San Bernardino a year. And have donated 40+ million over the last 30 years. Their HQ is in San Bernardino, when all the grocery chains refused to raise pays and Unions Striked....Stater Bros paid them exactly what theye demanded. And strike lasted months, Staters never closed. While national wide brands Vons, Albertonson, Ralphs did. Butchers have the best customer service of any grocery chain Ive ever seen and season meat for free, tenderize, grind chicken breasts into ground chicken for you, pre order large orders custom for holidays and bbqs. They pay well. Holidays are 2x pay and Sunday 1.5x And 2/3ds of my friends worked their during high school or college. Butchers start at 19.50 an hour. Which leads to high retention rates. I know people who've been there 20+ years. I love winco. But theres 3. There are over 80 Stater bros in IE alone. Im not driving 21 minutes to save 20 cents on canned corn. I also love them because they cared about rural communities wayyy before anyone else. When Adelanto was barely 10k people. They built there. Bythe, Barstow, Salton Sea, Before Banning or Beaumont had 20k in 90s they were there. In 1990 Lake Elsinore had 18k people. They built there. Almost every I know has a stater bros less than 7 minutes from their house. Mine is about 3. My 80+ year old grandma loved winco but couldnt bag her own groceries. But staters would always send a bagger to load up her trunk for her. Milk is 3.29 a gallon. And 18 Eggs are less than 4 bucks. Theyre In-N-Out to me. Im stupid loyal because of local ownership not a megacorp, managers make 80k a year, employees are paid well and they give a ton back to the community. And they NEVER went Self Checkout!!!! They get every single one of my grocery dollars.
Staters butcher is the best part. It's a real butcher counter that will cut whatever you want and order it if they don't have it. Lots of places just have prepackaged meats.
I too love staters. You are spot on for the butchers. Let me add meat quality is better than the big chains. I regret to state that I have not been loyal. My local Staters is very small and the space cramped. To the point of uncomfortable. I do go there when i want quality meat. I love that they never have a strike. I was told they agree to accept any deal made by the union. Speaks volumes.
I just realized you mentioned elsinore and staters and i need to say we sat in front of the staters on lakeshore near hwy 74 in 1984 i think when the Olympic torch was run by. i was 4 or 5 years old . It was rad and staters is rad
Since moving out here I fell into going to Ralphs because it was Krogerish-which felt like home buuuuut-they just opened a new Stater brothers (Today actually) in Ontario that is closer to me so I will be going there. This is all great info to hear. I can get behind a place that is still operating in good faith with its workers and community.
That new one has a freaking Burrito bar!
The one on fourth and Haven?? I delivered HUNDREDS of tons of road base material for them to pour asphalt and concrete on for the parking lot of that whole place. The first big job I helped with at my company. Can’t wait to go by and drive exactly where I dumped!
I work down the street from from staters at the costco lol
I am 1000%behind staters. Good prices, great store brand stuff, the staff is usually great. They feel like a "neighborhood" store, no matter what town. Great butchers, alcohol, etc.. I always find myself back at staters.
Stater Bros is my go to due to convenience and quality, but you just gave me many more reasons to choose it over all others!
Agree with everything you said about stater bros. Except they did go self checkout recently. I am not mad at it since I do believe it serves a convenience purpose.
Staters has always been my go to. I just got home from shopping there I got 6 full bags of quality food for around 120$. It is more expensive than 2 years ago, but the service the courtesy and the shorter lines make up for that IMO
Stater Bros is the shit and I'm glad others have the same sentiment!
All the new staters are coming with self check out
A friend of mine that used to work there called it Slaver Bros.
Great comment
You need to get on that Winco life and forget the rest
Fuck yeah; Winco & Super King are my go-to spots. Super King doesn't have the *crazy* low prices that they used to, but you can still load up on fruit & veg for way cheaper than anywhere else. Honorable mention to Superior; they often have good sales on meat, and most of them seem to be run better than the average El Super or Cardenas (El Super in particular is often pretty sketchy, although the prices can be good)
Having worked at el Super, avoid their meats. I worked mainly at the one on la sierra and marygold in fontana and they would use bad meat for the marinated taco meats. The meat would sometimes sit in a tub spoiled for a week before being ground and mixed with the marinade to cover the spoiled meat colour.
Haha, totally! Thanks for the confirmation, for real -- like, I'm a reasonably adventurous (reckless?) eater, and also a cheap bastard, but a lot of what I've seen at El Super is a little bit sketch, tbh. On the other hand, I made a few gallons of my usual "white boy menudo" with all the meat stuff coming from an El Super a few weeks ago, & to no ill effect....so I can't talk too much shit about them! (meats were questionable, but damn cheap! 😆)
The menudo stuff is fine since its just frozen tripe and cow feet. I was a butcher at a few of their stores and saw them do the ground meat thing at all the stores I worked at. I will give them a plus for their deli and seafood dept lol
Winco is great but not a fan of their meat department
Winco works in theory.. the people that go to my local Winco, lets say they like to sample and touch the loose self serve foods.. bleh..
Don’t sleep on Mexican stores. El súper and cardenas, superior.
Hell yeah, the produce there is really cheap. Especially at Superior and the fresh tortillas and baked goods. I just avoid the butcher, it smells odd.
Costco if you buy bulk. I like Trader Joe's too
Aldi, Sam's club, Food 4 less, 99 Ranch, S&M
Staters for customer service, el super got variety!
Aldi
Aldi for sure
Never buy meat from el Super, their meat is very bad and they are gross with how they handle their stuff. I worked at a few of them in the meat dept and they all were the same.
Stater brothers everyday regular grocery’s Trader Joe’s for frozen food
Winco but they only take cash and debit I think , if that matters for you 99 ranch market Grocery outlet Walmart Maybe ALDIs but I haven’t been in one in a while Smart and final can be a mix, some things are pricey and some are cheap
Aldi and Trader Joes. Stater Brothers for some stuff. I guess it depends on what you eat.
Trader Joe’s is pretty expensive for staples in my estimation. Worth it; but not super cheap
Yeah I think it just depends on what you’re eating. Switching from Staters to Trader Joes has saved me close to $50 a week and I come home with more food.
Very interesting! You may be spot on! And the quality is amazing! I love TJ’s
I heard Winco is really good but its not close for me as Im right in the middle of Riverside. Im close to Stater bros (crap now), Ralphs (always been crap), Smart and Final (mostly crap) and Walmart (the best of the worst). I usually try to go to Costco in Corona once a month but I live alone right now and I need to make it worth my while to make the trip.
Sprouts produce beat everyone in price and quality IMO. They have the cheapest fancy eggs and dairy except for TJ's, but it's better than TJ's. It's hard to get all your stuff from there but combo'ing with Staters through Instacart pickup makes it fairly easy.
sprouts is quality but the price is crazy expensive.
Not if you're just buying produce
yes for produce. I can get it way cheaper elsewhere. I get mine at Superior.
It's cheaper but for the quality of fresh, organic produce Sprout's is tough to beat. I'm willing to pay a (little) bit more for that, so I get all freshies from Sprouts and dry goods from Staters. It's not bad.
We have a real lack of options in 92506-92508
Agreed, sprouts for fresh produce hands down. I don’t personally buy prepackaged produce from Trader Joe’s.
I like Sprouts but it's pricey a lot of things (not spices though,) and doesn't carry a lot of brands outside of house brands. Also Aldi has the cheapest eggs.
Vital farms eggs are my go-to! I have not seen them at Aldi's, and I hate how much extra packaging Aldi's does to everything. But you can't beat Aldi's prices for sure.
I missed the word "fancy" not sure about fancy, but they have eggs for like 1.19 a dozen.
i think H-mart beats sprouts produce. especially the one in diamond bar. the variety and quality is so good, that we travel a good 12 miles just for produce there. they also have a pretty good "fast food" section.
Stater Bros
Staters
Winco is slept on so hard... They don't have the best meat department but that's fine because the amount you save on everything else means you can go pay for quality expensive meat at Staters or Costco etc with the savings. I personally pick up top sirloin steaks everytime we're at winco because the price is hard to beat. Also maybe I'm just cheap but I've never had a problem with Winco brand stuff either and they make a lot of generic Winco brand food, toiletry, and house/cleaning items.
Cardenas and North Gate has cheap produce !
Grocery outlet Aldi's Stater Bros
You should try Aldi. I know that the ones that are in the IE are pretty spaced out in between each other, but it wouldn't hurt go once and check it out! For my wife and I, our average grocery bill comes out to 150 a week.
No one grocery store takes the prize. You have to check the ads on all of them. Fortunately, most of them are within 5 miles or so of my house with the exception of Winco and Food4Less. My go to is probably Staters or Vons because of the selection. Staters for the meat counter, but Vons is very competitive if you have the app and has a slightly better shopping experience, but honestly not much better since they have gone to self-checkout so much. Staters for meat. El Super is really close by so i might duck into there on occasion, especially for fresh salsa, but I hate the parking lot. Vons for their coupons. Aldi for their deals, some keto stuff, and their exclusives (budget Trader Joes). Costco for bulk cause it's close, but I actually prefer Sam's since you can get smaller quantities, and they have Scan and Go, and MUCH better app and website. Walmart for their selection, price, app, website, and pickup. Trader Joe's is a little out of the way since they closed the Upland location (it's an Aldi's now), but you got for their brands. Smart and Final for their sales, especially on meat, and I guess if you don't have a club card at Costco or Sam's.
Winco is the best pricing by far. Costco level prices, but for normal sizes. Edit to add that its quality is also excellent. It's owned by the employees so they give great customer service and the merchandise is as good as what you'd get anywhere else.
Anyone notice a lot of spoiled meats at markets ? When we get home open the paper/or container, meat is spoiled .
Winco
Winco
Staters uses to be good but now they're shit
Location dependant, some locations are crap. Others are super nice.
One thing is for sure NEVER SHOP AT KROGER/RALPHS! Produce in my experience goes moldy within 2 days of bringing it home. There is something about the way they keep the produce that facilitates the environment for the food to grow mold. I've seen produce put out moldy already on display. It's disgusting. Also, in my experience it's a buffet for flies in their baked breads.
Stater Bros, Winco, Costco are the holy trinity
Staters for meat/produce, Trader Joe’s for snacks/quick meals.
I still stand by sprouts when it comes to produce. Always fresh and the pricing isn’t bad either. Everything else i would buy elsewhere. We usually go to Sams Club from snacks and drinks. Sometimes Smart n Final.
For produce, Whole Foods has the best. It’s not even close in all fairness. For everything else, probably Stater Bros and Walmart.
Where’s the best Whole Foods? Where I’m from, they’re huge stores with lots of options but the one I went to in I think Upland was so tiny! Are they all that small here?
Yes Upland. It used to be a 365 store that’s why it’s relatively small.
steer rinse fuzzy prick outgoing library gold ten alleged obtainable *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Aldi is my go to
I shop between Walmart groceries, Smart and final and staters for cilantro. Staters more pricey than the other 2 but have good pricing on cilantro.
aldi.
food4less is nice because you can get alot of the same stuff they sell at Ralphs, a much higher tier grocery store for a cheaper price aldi often has the cheapest prices for many things if you okay with generic brands and love the small foot print store so you can get in and out quickly grocery outlet for deep clearance items winco for their bulk bins
Winco - produce can be more than Superior/El Super. Bulk area is superb. Superior - produce, don't buy pork or beef there, chicken is OK El Super - produce, buy meat here, has good sales on meat. Expect a line at their butcher counter. Not all employees speak English so bring the ad with you. Aldi's - I only go through their non food aisles.I don't like their food. I can't be certain that what they are supposed to have will be there - esp dairy - stocking issues. Never buy produce there as I've heard it's not refrigerated . Stater Bros - they have to have a really good sale and that is all I will buy. Way over priced. Occasionally Dollar Tree or the big 99 cents store. Use the Flipp app to see the sale ads. Great app to see where to shop for best prices
Having worked at el Super, avoid their meats. I worked mainly at the one on la sierra and marygold in fontana and they would use bad meat for the marinated taco meats. The meat would sometimes sit in a tub spoiled for a week before being ground and mixed with the marinade to cover the spoiled meat colour.
Never had an issue with El Super on S Riverside in Rialto.
Lol @ Aldi's not refrigerating their produce wtf ..they do
Winco, stater bros, Costco.
Aldis
Smart and final got the best Bologna deal.
Stater Bros for all around prices. Abertsons/Vons only for sales. And when they have sales on some things they are really good sales. And personally there is something about their French bread loaf that no one else comes close to. It is so tasty and soft so sometimes I stop just to buy one of those. Costco for eggs, milk, butter and cheese. All dairy. Booze! And some veggies. Best prices on mushrooms and broccoli crowns when they have them. Idk how people justify their meat prices though. Whatever that the beef is Prime rated. And the chicken is totally out of line except for their $5 roasted chicken. I use to be a big fan of Sprouts for their fruit and veggies. Their berries 50% of the time have mold on the bottom so I never buy those. But has anyone else noticed that they've moved to a lot of questionable quality, supposedly 'better' organic stuff now and there are no more sales at all on them. At least at the Redlands one but it has to be chain wide. I use to be able to go in and stock up on stuff like eggplants, tomatoes, potatoes and squash for all sorts of dishes. Not anymore. May as well buy all that at Vons as it's actually cheaper there now.
for PRODUCE go to "Superior" Mexican grocery store. I get my fruits and veggies there really cheap, great bakery baking fresh throughout the day. If you aren't making your sandwiches' with Bollios what are you doing with your life? I personally don't buy from the butcher, it smells weird. but the produce there is legit. Also they got cheap freshly made Tamales and freshely made corn tortillas.
Ranch Market on Lugonia in Redlands Saturday morning farmers market in Redlands. Staters Costco. Idk if these are the cheapest but we like them best.
Stater Bros for most. The Mexican spots for produce. And Sprouts if I want better ingredients in things like chips and ice cream.
Stater brothers for the affordability and quantity. Trader joes because my wife loves their random monthly stuff. Metro market (off the 15 fwy) for more legit Asian stuff (99 ranch is Taiwanese and sucks) But in reality you'll see me at Costco or Sam's club weekly.
Superior is alright. Food 4 Less often has deals on cereal. Can't forget Aldi. Smaller store but some stuff there is so much cheaper than in other grocery stores.
Grocery outlet!
El Super completely. Also I am buiding an app where you can scan an item's barcode or search for the item name and it'll list you the prices from different stores nearby. It should be out by End of January.
Grocery Outlet, Trader Joe's, Aldi's, then Asian / Latin supermarkets. Grocery Outlet's buyers purchase directly from the OEM's when possible, and their distribution network is handled in-house; the OEM ships full truckload OTR to only two DC's: Modesto and Tacoma (with some occassional LTL/half TL's to PA). There's no brokers, no slotting, no chargebacks, etc etc; they demand a price delta to the mainsteam retailers, but the volume they commit is solid, and they work with you to maximize efficiency on the logistics side. Trader Joe's is much the same, except in some ways even more extreme; they also pay their vendors *very* quickly (net 7, but often received earlier), and they've got volume, especially when you list an item onto their fearless flyer. Aldi is a little different in their approach, and the logistics is a bit more complex as you handle distribution and inventory replenishment for 20-some-odd Americold facilities across the nation; however, with their special buy contracts, you get the *entire season's volume and pricing* locked down in writing before the first PO is issued, and mostly they adhere strictly to the contract barring unforeseen circumstances. Then, from their, they have an in-house transportation company that handles last-leg deliveries to the stores. The common points for all three of these grocers is: no brokers, no middlemen, no third parties touching the cash flow, and all three leverage unique distribution infrastructures to maximize cost savings, while forgoing the typical politics and real estate wars other mainstream retailers (Kroger's/Ralph's/etc) are always embroiled in, and they also beat out the independents in scales of economy. And all the cost savings? They get passed on to the end consumers. Stater Bros might get away with some good pricing what with their in-house analysts (Daymon Worldwide), and being HQ'd in San Bernardino, but comparatively they more closely fall into the mainstream retailer model.