Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my neighborhood, Giant is WAY better than Safeway, where the lines always take forever because they only have 1 or 2 cashiers working at any given time.

+1.

+1 for Burke Centre. The Safeways in Burke are horribly understaffed at the cashier. The Giant is terrific. I can also never find anything at the Safeways!

+1000 for Belle View Safeway. OMG the checkout lines have become notoriously long EVERY SINGLE time you go there. I've refused to shop there for a while now, as have a few friends. We have a nearby Wegmans now - thank heavens!

I really like Westbard Giant. I'll miss it.

Anonymous wrote:The cashier is just doing their job to ask.
And the electronic world changed the shopping experience so the machines replaced actual people.

What I hate about Giant is - late, 3x I have bought something liquid and 3x, the seal has been opened. So, if I do go there, better remember to open up the milk, juice or broth CARTON (not bottles) and see if the seal has been broken!

PP, this might not be the case for you, but I thought I was having this problem (at Trader Joe's) but then realized it was because they changed the design of the seals on the cartons. They break automatically when you open the plastic top (as opposed to opening the outer plastic cap and then breaking the seal separately.) I threw out multiple cartons of broth and juice before I figured this out! It might be unique to Ts packaging though, I'm not sure.

But yes, I've found that Giant lags behind Safeway, TJs, and Whole Foods in quality (for produce and meat) and definitely in selection. I've looked for some pretty basic products at Giant (that I somewhat regularly get at Safeway) only to be told they don't carry them.

Giant is gross, Harris Teeter is boring. I prefer Whole Foods, with a stop at Harris Teeter (closest to my house) when I need stuff I can't get at Whole Foods.

LOVE the Nutley St Safeway!

HATE the Vienna Giant!

Anonymous wrote:The cashier is just doing their job to ask.
And the electronic world changed the shopping experience so the machines replaced actual people.

What I hate about Giant is - late, 3x I have bought something liquid and 3x, the seal has been opened. So, if I do go there, better remember to open up the milk, juice or broth CARTON (not bottles) and see if the seal has been broken!

This has happened to me as well several times! I check all the seals now as well.

Another vote for Aldi. Not the best selection, but the prices are unreal. Of the mainstream stores I actually prefer Giant. Wegman's is too much of a hassle and way too big, while Safeway's nice but expensive.

For the record, I hate donations at checkout. I am actually charitable, but I'm not giving my money to Wal-Mart so that the Walton family gets a big tax write off.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my neighborhood, Giant is WAY better than Safeway, where the lines always take forever because they only have 1 or 2 cashiers working at any given time.

+1.

+1 for Burke Centre. The Safeways in Burke are horribly understaffed at the cashier. The Giant is terrific. I can also never find anything at the Safeways!

Another Burke Safeway hater. OMG the cashiers and managers are almost all rude. Every once in awhile there will be someone nice. They never last. Pet peeve is that they seem offended to be bothered to put bags in my cart. I avoid it as much as I can!

The cashier is just doing their job to ask.
And the electronic world changed the shopping experience so the machines replaced actual people.

What I hate about Giant is - late, 3x I have bought something liquid and 3x, the seal has been opened. So, if I do go there, better remember to open up the milk, juice or broth CARTON (not bottles) and see if the seal has been broken!

Anonymous wrote:I like the Giant at Cathedral Commons. I like it better than the Georgetown Safeway, actually.

Be careful.
They have overcharged me several times. When brought to cashier's attention, had to leave and go to a different lane to talk to the manager. There, I was ignored and then given some lame excuse about the computer not working properly ...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which Giant? I've given the Safeway on Sangamore Road in Bethesda a chance a few times, but it's always been worse than the nearby Giant. The produce is in bad shape, and they simply don't have items like organic strawberries.

Then the check-outs are usually understaffed AND they don't have any self-check-outs at all. Actually the CVS in that mall doesn't have them either -- was it some kind of requirement by the landlord?

Every time I go to Sangamore Safeway I end up cursing at myself. I do not understand why they are always so incredibly understaffed.

I *hate* the Sangamore Safeway. No self checkout and only a few (slow, often rude) cashiers. In particular there is one cashier who acts like he is grudgingly doing me a favor when he rings up my order ...

Anonymous wrote:Fortunately, we live in an area with a number of different grocery stores, so shop somewhere else, OP!

We need more Wegmans.

Fortunately, we live in an area with a number of different grocery stores, so shop somewhere else, OP!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never found a grocery store anywhere in or near DC that I liked. Ah, Publix. How I miss you.....

Harris Teeter was ok until it was bought out by Kroger. Sigh.

OH my goodness, isn't Publix the best? Great produce, great house brands of everything. Wish we had them here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never found a grocery store anywhere in or near DC that I liked. Ah, Publix. How I miss you.....

Harris Teeter was ok until it was bought out by Kroger. Sigh.

I've noticed this as well the past few years. They used to have the best customer service of any store I shopped at and now almost every employee seem so surly.