Saar's

[elfs]

Omaha and I went to the QFC grocery store to pick up a ton of food for tomorrow's Thanksgiving dinner this evening. We had half of a shopping cart filled, but we were surprised that the local grocery store was out of shallots. We also tried Traders Joe's and the grocery store next to it, but they were all also sold out of shallots. All three stores were insanely busy, packed up to the noise-absorbing ceiling tiles. The crowding generated short tempers for people trying to park their cars.

When we got home with our bounty, we decided to make pizza for dinner, but we were also out of crusts. So Omaha dispatched me to the Safeway, the third-closest grocery store in our area. Well, it was, except that a new grocery store between my home and the Safeway had opened. It has the unlikely name of Saar's.

It looks like one of those grocery stores that caters to lower incomes: lots of two-color posters bragging about 59¢ soap and 79¢ toilet paper plastering the outside walls. But inside, I was pleasantly surprised, was absolutely nothing like the discount grocers of my childhood memory. The place was well-lit, well-stocked, and clean. It had extensive Asian and Hispanic sections, the fruits and vegetables were well-stocked, fresh, and clean. But better than that, the place was empty. There were more than enough checkers and staff, the other shoppers were calm and relaxed, and they had a large, full bin of shallots, plus the same brand of pie crusts and Mozarella cheese that we use.

On the one hand, it's still trying to establish itself: it just opened a couple of months ago. On the other, it was so relaxing that I definitely want to go shop there again.

Comments

[elfs.livejournal.com]

There is a true "discount grocer" in the area, right around the corner from Saar's in fact, called "The Discount Grocer." They're so downmarket that we sometimes call it "Uncle Bob's Used Food," (a restaurant from Those Annoying Post Brothers) as it is truly scary what they sell in there.