A few peeps told me I should check out the Market Basket Grocery chain the next time I was in the Northeast so I made sure to put it on my list of “must see” destinations this time around. 😉
The HH was thrilled. Bahahahha!
Seriously. How can you not love a grocery store that closes at 9pm M-Sat and 7 pm on Sundays? Because really, we all know that nothing good happens after midnight. And apparently if you are in a small town in the Northeast… Nothing good happens after 9pm or if it’s a Sunday… 7 pm.
I LOVE IT!!!!
Go home. Get out of here. Go hang out with your family, your cat or just stare at the wall. You don’t need that pint of chunky monkey. Need a cup of sugar? Go ask your neighbor! Didn’t foresee that sinus infection on your way home from work and need meds? Too bad for you. This is the Northeast. Suck it up buttercup. Come back tomorrow, we’ll be open at 7am.
It kind of reminds me of when I was a kid and the only store open on a holiday was a gas station. And that was if you were lucky. Nowadays, it seems like everything is open 24/7/365 and you know what? I think it’s kind of lame. I know, I know, build it and they will come, right? Wrong. We need more sleep. We need to be home more. Enough with the crazy hours. Enough of getting what we want, when we want it at the cost of family/personal time.
Well then. 😉 LOBSTERS $5.99 a pound. Live and kicking.
Milk $2.59 a gallon. About what it costs here in the PNW when it’s not on sale.
Eggs $1.19 a dozen
Pork chops {and applesauce!} $1.69 a pound.
Boneless skinless chicken breasts $1.79 a pound.
Okay, so Market Basket gets an A for having a great price, but an F for packaging. Foam plates and plastic wrap? Boooo.
4 pounds of apples $2.69. Yes please!
And what is this? A MARKDOWN cart? Come to mama!
8 green peppers for $1.24. Now if that’s not worth moving to the east coast for I don’t know what is. HH do you see this? And the Lobster! Don’t forget that’s only $5.99 a pound. You LOVE seafood!
We’d have to get our own cow though…
And last but not least… Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. $3.89 a pint. And it wasn’t even on sale.
Market Basket. I think I found 2nd favorite grocery store {Aldi being #1} in the Northeast. Giddy up!
~Mavis
P.S. How do these prices compare with where you are?
Kate says
I’m amused by the “gluten free” sign on the milk…
Mavis Butterfield says
Me too. 😉
Teckla says
For the most part, prices in my little town of Dallas are off the charts! 15 miles away in Salem you used to be able to get really good sales, and I think you still do, although I seldom shop there. I have cataracts in both eyes and try to drive only locally where it’s familiar. Our Safeway did have some good prices this week though. Eggs were .49 limit of 2, butter was 2.99 (not sure of the limit) and milk was .99 a half gallon, but they were out of those (of course) and were substituting gallons for 1.98. I can’t use a gallon up before it goes bad and have only my frig freezer which makes it very difficult to store extra. The only other grocery here in town is the “neighborhood” Walmart and it’s gotten so expensive one can hardly afford to shop there! Fortunately, there is a Waremart in a another small neighboring town about 15 miles away and my sister and I go there particularly when we need to “stock” up as we can do a lot better. And their meat is okay and quite a bit cheaper than either our Safeway or Walmart, although not something to write home about. The only way I can really survive is shopping sales as much as possible. Unfortunately, cooking isn’t my thing so I really have to work at that. You are triple blessed in that you like to cook, you live where you have an abundance of stores to choose from, and you are still young!
Victoria says
My eyes registered something that was not lobster on that sign, lol!!! Time for new contacts!
Denise says
LOL! I see what you mean… You crack me up!
Marcia says
Definitely cheap compared to California!
The frustrating thing is that I’d be willing to bet a lot of the 99c a pound broccoli sold all over the country was grown here in my county, and we pay 2x that.
Carolina says
Glad to see that you made it to Market Basket, Mavis. It is my go-to store and unlike Aldi’s there is one close by just about wherever one lives in MA, NH or VT. The folks who work there all wear name tags that say how many years they have been employed, and many have worked there for MANY years, so they must do something right to have such loyal workers. There was some interesting in-fighting among the owners (cousins) a few years back, and everyone stayed off of work for weeks in support of the DeMoula cousin whom everyone loved.
Mimi says
Where I live there are a few stores open late but the bakery closes for the entire winter. Same with our favorite seafood restaurant. This doesn’t jibe with my own personal priorities but we’ve learned to eat “seasonally”. Doughnuts and fish & chips in the summer, home baked scones in the winter. 🙂
Pam Kaufman says
Milk and eggs are definitely cheaper where I live in SW Michigan (milk is 1.09 a gallon and eggs .35 cents a dozen at Aldi). The rest of the prices are comparable. Except the lobster. We have them at our bigger markets but they are a lot more. I don’t know how old they are or where they come from and my daughter and I would stand over the pot and bawl if we attempted to cook them, so we have never bought them.
Candy C. says
foam plates and plastic wrap are ok with me because I use the foam plates under plant pots or cover with fresh plastic wrap or foil and share baked goods on them or use them for small paint trays to mix colors. I only get the foam plates under meats though because we grow our own veggies and eat seasonally and put up excess.
Susan says
When I was a kid (many years ago) 🙂 growing up in Massachusetts, NO stores were open on Sunday.
Laura Salamy says
Thank you, Mavis! We moved out to Albuquerque from Massachusetts two years ago. This is a blast from our past! Especially the markdown cart. We’ve had to start shopping Walmart and Sprouts here. Generally, the Albertsons and Smiths are too expensive; though you can get a good meat sale now and again. We miss Market Basket bad!
Linda Sand says
Gorp originally stood for good old raisins and peanuts. But they had M&Ms in them by the time we too started using them for hiking food. We’d only bring a small bag of them; those things are heavy. And we always mixed our own! I still can’t bring myself to buy prepackaged trail mix.
MEM says
I’m in Massachusetts and we love our Market Basket(s)! My husband will only shop there and at Costco. We think the store hours are very reasonable because most people should be home with their loved ones in the evening. I am not a fan, however, of Market Basket’s seafood or lunch meats. BTW their butter frequently goes on sale 2/$4. The store is always busy, all registers are always open, stock people are constantly stocking shelves. I have not been to Aldi’s yet but I prefer the wide selection Market Basket has.
Susan says
MEM, I’m also in MA, and we’re nuts about Market Basket! My friends and I joke that it somehow comes up in every conversation, ha! The parking lots (at least on the North Shore) and lines are always nuts, but most every check out is open with a bagger, and things move fast. You’ll also see some seriously long-time employees there (their name tags show years of service, and it isn’t unusual to see 5, 15 and even 40+ years). I could go on and on, but I’ll stop.
Nancy from Mass says
as someone who grew up in Nashua NH with 4 Demoulas/Market Baskets in town, i have always shopped there. some of their prices increased after the Demoulas debackle but their lobster, butter, 24oz frozen broccoli florets and all of their produce prices are really good. also, my son (and my late hubby) love Superpretzels. they are typically 3/$5 there and $3.59 each at other stores.
it’s not unusual to see every register open with lines down the rows – especially during the winter before a storm!
CiCi says
One word, Wegmans. One has simply not experienced Northeast grocery stores until you’ve been to Wegmans.
Sarah says
Thanks for writing a post about my home! We LOVE living in Warner and LOVE having a Market Basket so close (and in the middle of nowhere) it’s one of the reasons why we chose to move here.
Ash says
I’ve shopped there. I’ve been in NH for seven years now and I do love Market Basket but some of them are bigger and offer way more. Wish it was the same for all of them. The MB in Warner is nice and they’re very helpful. Also did you know kids can start working at MB at 13-years-old? You always learn something new.
Mavis Butterfield says
13? I think that is AWESOME!