The two stars are for one very unpleasant employee and the occasional expired bakery pastries (pre-packed plastic containers with yesterday's "sell by" date).
I shop here daily, mostly because of the convenient location, ease of quick in and out trips, and selection of harder-to-find, unique items. I never worry about spending 30 minutes navigating the store in search of that last minute item and then wasting another half hour in line behind a series of huge shopping carts with one lane open - nothing like that, ever, which is a huge plus for me and my busy lifestyle.
Customer service, however, could be better at the front end. While a coupe of the female checkers are always incredibly nice, the remaining staff is hit or miss. One male checker in particular (young, shorter guy with dark hair and roundish face), is consistently unfriendly. I thought at first it was just his personality, but noticed him chatting up a young female customer and her mother. He was all smiles, making conversation with both, with his eyes fixed on the young girl the entire time. This was strange to watch, and seemed very unprofessional given the context. The guy is always so unpleasant to me - and I'm certain that if the girl's mother had walked in alone he wouldn't have even acknowledged her. These weird staff/customer interactions and disparity between them are not something I expect from a high end market. Were it a fast food chain or mall booth I might be less surprised, but Draeger's? One time I walked in shortly before 10 PM with my young children and was asked to leave - through we desperately needed a single item and several minutes remained before "closing". Another time, I showed up to exchange not-so-fresh chicken purchased earlier that day and was asked to present the receipt (same guy, claiming to be manager on duty - he insisted I show my receipt even though I shop there at least once a day, often multiple times). I had the Draeger's meat packaging with date, price and weight sticker intact, still wrapped around the chicken, so it didn't occur to me that a receipt would be requested. That said, the chicken is usually very good and the guys behind that counter are all incredibly nice. I figured this "manager" guy was just clueless and generally unpleasant, but after witnessing a compete Jekyll and Hyde today I realize he is actually very unprofessional and has zero customer service skills. A person only motivated to be polite to girls in their teens or early twenties really shouldn't be working at a store frequented by mostly older people.
Other than the aforementioned issues, the store in general and food quality is not bad but not excellent either. The meat department is solid, produce has been good, but bakery, as already mentioned, is subpar. Not sure about the deli - never purchased anything from that department. read more