If you know VT, you may be surprised to find that a big-time grocery conglomerate like Shaws is…read moreeven "allowed" here. I know it's the second smallest state by population (did you know there are almost 4 times as many people in Orlando metro than all of the Green Mountain state?), but kind of to 'prove' my point, try guessing how many CVS, Walgreens and Costcos there are in the entire state? That'd be 10, 5, and 1. In their largest city (Burlington), they have a grand total of ONE each of the two major drug store chains... You can see, I'm sure, to set a world record for "The most useless/unrelated factoids in a Yelp review" - I'm proposing there should be a Yelpie for that!
Now, where was I? Oh yes - the question was "what's a 'major' like Shaw's doing in VT?" Turns out, even though they are now owned by Albertson's, Shaw's has deep New England roots. Along with Hannaford, they... Alright, enough with the trivia already. The store itself is what is of interest here. Well, it's almost like any old grocery store here in the Orlando area, just with higher prices, with produce, especially - sort of mid-way between a Publix regular price and Whole Foods or Fresh Market is a good comparison, except it's a Winn Dixie. Of course, that may be due to the fact that it's quite far from where the fresh stuff is grown, but still! I suffer a bit from sticker shock every time I shopped there. Bread was close to being as expensive as the "Udi" kind my wife favors. The one time I needed after-sun lotion, I was tempted to risk pain and melanoma than part with my precious dollars at those prices. This time around I got some of their 'gourmet' coffee - at $12.50 a lb - which turned out to be 'meh'.
Thankfully, Vermonters are friendly and eager to help, which eases the pain some. They do offer great variety, including wine and everything from seafood to prepared foods. You COULD find deals if you looked hard enough: cod at $9 a pound is not too bad perhaps, till you realize the cod is likely caught in its "backyard" to the east! One thing I've noticed is that Vermonters are more environmentally conscious - you are more likely to get, or be offered, paper grocery bags if you didn't bring your own. I also noticed that cheese and ice cream are by and large cheaper. For the former, an 8-oz. brick (when you buy 5 of the cheese along with a basket of other items in their mix-and-match deal) of delicious Vermont cheddar (different varieties) was a crazy $1.79! The ironic thing about ice cream was that, while all the OTHER brands were easily a dollar or two cheaper, regular price, compared to what you can find here in Orlando, Ben & Jerry's, made down the road from where I skied, was EXACTLY the same price.
Which reminds me - still got to do that B&J tour!
