Shopping for groceries on Saturdays

I always avoid the shops full stop on a Saturday and I never get any shopping whether it's food, clothes or provisions on a Saturday, any other day is ok, I can't stand the stress of the crowds, trying to park or too many people about as well as the foods I want not on the shelves. I did it a few times and then it was a case of enough is enough so we used to shop on a Monday or Tuesday night and I have to say what a difference!

On Saturdays, Thursdays, and Tuesdays, we have an obvious problem at our local Walmart. Saturday because most people are finally off work and they have the chance to shop. Thursday because a lot of people get paid then, and Tuesday because the senior citizens get big discounts on that day. Usually we have enough check out people except on Tuesdays. There are never enough workers on that day. I'm not sure why. Maybe it only seems that way because some of them help the senior citzens out to the car with their groceries.

I love shopping on Saturdays, parking is easier, the supermarkets in my area always have full stock in fact sometimes have great specials on things like meat and such, there is not as many people shopping in the afternoon, probably all at home watching sport, I love it.

My small town has only a Wal Mart and one regional grocery chain store. Of course WalMart has beat the other store senseless in prices so WalMart is always terribly crowded. As you describe, seldom will one find more than 2-3 checkouts open and the lines will honest-to-God be halfway back through the store. (frozen food has been known to thaw). Lately, they must not be getting shipments or something. Hubby and I buy the WalMart brand of Raisin Bran and the last 3 trips to WalMar there has been none! There have been several items that we have not been able to get. Their prices are going up literally by the day. I got bread two days ago (their own brand of whole wheat) and I got a loaf today and it was 58 cents higher!!!!

I made the mistake of going to Wal-Mart this past Saturday. It was crazy busy in there. I was in such a hurry to get back out I forgot half the things I went in there for. If the employees at Wal-Mart are doing their jobs then the shelves would be getting filled back up when they get emptied. There were a bunch of checkouts open, but at least 4 people in each lane when I went to checkout.

Our Walmart is terrible. They usually have a bunch of stuff still in boxes in the lanes. They never have enough cashiers, you are guranteed a forty five minute or longer wait unless you go early Monday morning. They just don't have enough cashiers or stockers to keep the store running well. We were once in the 20 items or less line. We had been there about a half an hour. The old man in line started talking to our 18 month old son. He said, "Look at that!" (pointing to a young child), "They come in as babies, but by time they leave Walmart they are in the third grade!" It was pretty funny, but most of the time doesn't feel like much of a joke!

Webbers (IGA) across the street from where my husband and I live in Arizona, is a pretty good store. They run out of things now and then, the more popular items, but I don't see a pattern as to when they run out, they just run out sometimes.

Hey kg, I do my shopping all during the week b/c I never know what I'm gonna want to eat LOL +'s |:)

I try not to go shopping at our walmart on Saturdays anymore. That place is packed on the weekends. And yes they do run out of items sometimes or either you are trying to get an item and the guys are unloading the boxes right there in front of the item you need and the guys won't move out of your way. I can't stand that. If I have to buy something on the weekend I go to the Food Lion that is like 5 minutes up the road cause it's not usually too busy like walmart is.

I avoid shopping weekends as much as I can! I think most stores don't want to stock shelves during the busy times and that is why things go empty. It's always the sale items too! Like you'll go specifically to find the chicken that was marked 2 for 4, and find that is the only chicken that is sold out. So you have to buy a more expensive brand. As far as I know, there never was a sale chicken and it's just a ploy to make you spend more. I hate the register thing too. Most ppl do self checkout now adays if they can b/c then you move at YOUR pace instead of someone elses. I had 15 or less today but didn't feel like self checkout. Anyway I looked at the self check line and there was a guy about 4 people back. I was second in the "15 items or less" line. Well then I was 1st in the "15 items or less line" and I saw that same guy from before leaving, all done! That's when I realized no matter how long the self-check out looks, it's better.

We usually end up going grocery shopping either on a sat or sun and its ALWAYS really busy, but the store seems to keep all the stuff stocked up pretty good. I must say except the meat, a lot of the time there is a poor selection of meats when we go later in the day on a sat or sun. I dunno what would be. but sometimes we dont end up even getting any meats cause they look so badly.

I find this to be a problem in many places, kareng, not just in your area. I also think some of it is calculated to drive up the prices of certain items. We have had so many winter storm warnings recently that it has contributed to the problem also. People rush to the stores and stock up on all that their pantry will hold in order to be prepared for the next big storm(which rarely comes).

Sometimes. I am in the stores a lot on the weekend because I do Product Demonstrations so I have the opportunity to catch the sales and specials before most other shoppers. I try to shop during off peaks and away from mass merchandisers like Wal-Mart. I always build extra money into my budget so I can buy what's on sale even if the store is out of what I went to pick up in the first place. Think this is pretty much a universal problem.

Yes I noticed. What I don't I don't understand is why they don't have stock shelving people fill them as they are being depleted. If it is because they don't have more stock in the back then they should be talking to their buyers to purchase more. With computers now a day they can see how much they sell ever day or week or month so there is no excuse that they should run out. They should look into increasing their orders so that they don't run out. I know I was once working as a purchaser in a lumber yard and I bought according to previous sales. This is the reason I don't go shopping anymore on the weekends, but I understand that not everyone can go during the week. But if you can, try it and see the difference. During the week they never seems to run out of products because less people shop during the week.

Stores don't prepare for the heavy traffic on the weekends. I am guessing manager's think more people shop during the week. Doesn't make sense to not stock everything on a Friday since most people are off work on the weekends and will do the bulk of their family grocery shopping either Saturday or Sunday. My opinion is Walmart never has enough lanes open no matter when I go. I don't buy groceries there since there isn't a Walmart close to our house but I buy craft supplies and other items at Walmart. Always have to wait in long lines to checkout and it can be terribly frustrating.

Local store in our area is busiest all the time. But I not I but I think that every body never faces the problems such like you do. I think that the store there in your area got no or less competitors so thats why there are problems like that. And the other point is that there is difficult for them to arrange the items for a single day may be they plan the arrangements for a week or for the whole month. So you havta complain them for this problem.

Having worked for two supermarkets, as well as friends with someone who is a store manager of Walmart, I can shed some light on this. Walmart with 3 registers? The company is essentially having money problems...plus the lack of friendly, ready-to-work as well as the change in the worker mentality over the years* are the main reasons. Now with the country in a recession (or about to, depending on your audience!), more and more people are willing to work there because it's a job! As for supermarkets not having enough groceries, that's a double-edged sword. Considering the high cost of fuel plus the added expense of working on the weekends means your food prices will go through the roof! Many distribution centers for supermarkets are regional, and survival of the fittest reigns king! What I mean by that is, suppose you have a big beautiful new store doing $350k a week, and you've got a little convenient store in the heart of town doing $500k+, but it's old, small, etc. etc. etc. The trend in markets is to build those big pretty stores now and put everything else in it....without noticing they aren't always that convenient (you often have to drive to them) and the prices tend to be higher. So where do you think the distribution center is going to visit? The big store, because the delivery times are less restrictive! And the reason the grocery stores don't have enough check outs open? UNIONS! (IMHO) The cashiers may get a good hourly rate, but when you take out union dues (mandatory) and deductions, you're probably getting less than McDonalds! I could go on and on, but I think I'll be quiet now--this will be an interesting discussion!

We found that when we shopped at Safeways, it was the day that the old people got 10 percent off, that the store was short of supplied. For instance, they somehow got rid of the old cheese and just had the regular and mild cheese on the shelf, as if once you reached 60 or 65, you could not stomach old cheese. And much of the goods were short. But when we switched to another chain, on the weekends it never had enough cashiers and I have been to Walmart, although not for groceries - they do not have fresh produce up here, and I can say do not shop on Saturdays, it is crowded and there never is enough cashiers.

I stopped shopping at our Super Walmart, once gas prices started to rise. Super Walmart is about 10 miles one way and I got so tired of them being out of stuff. My brother-in-law worked at this location doing night stock work and he said the employees were not dependable so that is why a lot of stuff would not be stocked over night. I use to shop on Monday mornings and it was horrible. Now that we finally got our own grocery store, SuperFresh up and closed on us 8 years ago, so we just a Redners, which I love for the convenience. I will go to the smaller Walmart for the items that are cheaper if I am near it.

I usually go on sundays after church, I think by the end of the week stores anticipate less customers and therfore don't order as many things as they ought to. There have been sveral times they were out of the bread I like or cereal, and even milk sometimes.