i kind of want to hate SFW, but i can't. they are good when i'm in a pinch. a pinch for an ingredient, that is - NOT a pinch for time. the prices are very good and they have a lot of items that more mainstream america safeways, whole foods, and the like do not when it comes to my carib-blactina (that's caribbean-black-latina, FYI) palate/kitchen requirements. habanero (scotch bonnet) peppers and plenty other peppers/chiles [and hot sauces/salsas] of varying heat? check. cassava (yuca/manioc)? check. platanos (plantains)? check. aloe plant leaves? check. curry, jerk, sorrel? check, check, check! more goya products than you can shake a stick at [including ginger beer, malta - which i actually loathe but would be beheaded if i didn't have it when i entertain @ home, hearts of palm, bacalao (salted cod fish), guava jam and paste, sofrito, numerous variations of adobo seasoning, and every bean known to man]? oh hell yes. i can always find these things, and more when i stop by SFW. i really appreciate that. what i don't appreciate is the insane checkout waits. i have never, EVER gotten out of this [or any other] SFW quickly. no matter how many or few items i am buying, the wait is ALWAYS very long. STUPID long. and for no reason other than their cashiers are just mind-bogglingy slow! ugh! don't ever go on a weekend, and even if you go on a weekday, bring a book for your wait in line. i'm convinced the best way to shop @ a shoppers is to go in with 2 people and immediately park one person in line while the other collects what needs to be purchased. you might, maybe, wind up at the front of the line at the same time that you've checked off all the items on your list if you use this strategy. so...go for the goods, when your goods require sweet/spicy/special items beyond typical store wonder bread and kraft american cheese food product. stay [calm] for the lines and practice your ohm breathing/catch up on your reading in same. SFW is probably not the best grocery store for your weekly shopping, but it's definitely worth some repeat visits. read more

The woman working the self checkout lanes has the nastiest attitude I've ever seen in someone who provides customer service. I was there on December 20th to get breakfast. It was 7:30 am but she didn't greet me with "good morning". What I got from her was "That's not a doughnut, that's a cinnamon roll" as she snatched it off the counter and tossed it in a cart behind the register. Then she asked me if I still wanted it. I've seen bad attitudes before so I tried to leave before it could get any worse but my transaction wasn't complete, so she tried to start an argument over what she said. It was 7:30 in the morning. I had no intention of starting my day fighting with some random woman's demons but I would like to make this situation public so no one else has to go through the same thing. If you're going through the self checkout lanes at this particular Shoppers be ready for a fight. read more

Today I decided to grab a few groceries from here before work. The cashier was rude did not speak or greet me or acknowledge me at all. Her name was Wanda P. And not only was the customer service rude but the way she bagged some of my groceries. She put my bread in a bag with tomatoes and bacon. Who does anything like that? How is that sanitary? That was one bag, and the other bag there is bagels which are room temp might I add(not frozen) she bagged along with frozen TV dinners little Debbie cakes and jello! Not sure if she needs more training but this is not acceptable at all! I will not be returning to this location. read more

Shoppers Food Warehouse - Bread bagged in the same bag with my tomatoes and bacon - Grocery Near Me - Bowie, Maryland

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While I do like to grocery shop at Bowie's Shoppers (Vista Garden Center), it's very DISAPPOINTING that the store does not set out fresh produce (fruits and vegetables) on Wednesday as advertised on their website. And sometime the store does not even bring out the new produce (cucumber, red bell peppers, etc.). At least I do not see this before 10:00 a.m. Last Wednesday, most of the lettuces were either wilted or had a dark brownish color on the edges, and the cucumbers were TOO soft. Does Shoppers even care about the customers or do they just want to make a sale?!! read more

I like this Shoppers because of the selection of produce. In this area, we don't get too many grocery stores with such a variety of produce unless it is a Latin American market. The biggest problem with this store is the amount of time it can take to check out. NEVER go on a Sunday afternoon. I made the mistake of doing a weeks worth of shopping on a Sunday afternoon and spent an hour in line. Also, their self checkout kinda sucks. Especially the ones without the belt on it and with a "bag area" instead. Avoid the bag self checkout at all costs. It forces you to put things in the bags even if you are buying one item, and if you don't obey its command to place an item in a bag, it WILL malfunction. Leaving you without a receipt or with another half our wasted waiting for customer service. If you can go on a light day, it's fine. Way better than the Superfresh up the street. (Superfresh is definitely an oxymoron for that store, yuck!) read more

Now I go to Shoppers Food Warehouse where no one messes up my transaction then walks away; nobody helps me; and nobody knows where anything is.... ...but eventually, I find what I am shopping for, use the self-checkout to pay very little for my goods, and ease on down the road in no time at all. The store is clean. The produce is fresh. The displays are visually appealing. And the prices are right! Some kind of regional manager was in-store tonight handing out cookies to cranky kids. Neat. I'm a fan of Vista Gardens Shoppers Food Warehouse. read more

I normally have a good experience here everyone is always so helpful, I went here five mins before closing 11:00pm I walked in the door I only needed one item I was told to ask the short heavy set guy where it was and he was so rude saying we're closed and I informed him I needed one item and I still had time to get it, he seemed very upset and told me to leave the store I didn't even get his name, I spend a lot of money here because it's one of the two shoppers near my house, worst experience ever! read more

The front-end staff of this store are a fine example in ineptitude. I stopped in the other day on my way to work to grab: Oatmeal Coffee Creamer Hair Styling Product That's it. 30 minutes. 5 minutes to shop, 25 minutes standing in line. I am not exaggerating -- I kept track. There was not a single cashier working, all "check out" traffic was diverted to the 5 (+/- 1) self-checkout machines. I usually don't have any issue with these machines. I can check out at Home Depot 10 times faster than if I had to wait on the cashier. Not so at Shoppers. Every line was 3 people deep. There was a girl working the "auto checkout help desk" whose skills were amazing. She was able to lean against her podium AND ignore every single lane's red-flashing-"I need an employee to come do something" light. I think she was even chewing gum simultaneously. Another employee, possibly the front end manager (no one would make eye contact with the customers unless forced into it, so I couldn't see their name tags, FYI) again an example of fine customer service, tried to "fix" one woman's "coupon issues" for 15 minutes. This of course caused more delays. After starting at podium girl and manager/employee guy for the aforementioned 15 minutes, I was ready to explode. Still not another register open. Still 4 or 5 flashing red lights requesting attention. Why did I not just leave? Hungry, I guess. The low blood sugar is what probably caused to me to finally interject into the coupon debacle with, "hey buddy, what do you think about having a real person come up and open up a single register so that at least one of us could get out of here in the next half hour?" - not rude, just firm. He looked at me for an instant -- a brief instant. He walked up to the podium and looked away from the chaos that was occurring at the self-checkouts and called for a cashier. Brilliant idea, sir. It was time to move on. I looked at podium girl and waved my hands above my head in opposite directions to distract her from starting into space. I loudly said "how about you wake up and take half a step to your side and fix the register that's been flashing for the past 15 minutes?" to which she shrugged. Shrugged. Meanwhile, I notice that the guy working the service desk (looked like another manager) has been watching all this go on and hasn't taken a single customer through his register. He was just starting, arms crossed, once again staring into space. I had to wonder at this point if the store was actually run by a mob of zombies trying to take over Prince George's County one SFW at a time. Podium girl, at this point, turned and looked at the flashing light and said "oh, I didn't notice you were having trouble." It should be noted every single (SERIOUSLY, EVERY SINGLE) other self-checkout light was flashing red with people just complacently waiting for the staff to arise from their sleepwalking. EVERYONE JUST DEALT WITH THIS RIDICULOUSNESS! Sure, there was a "this is ridiculous" muttered under a few people's breath but that was it. SPEAK UP MARYLAND! Don't be afraid to expect at least DECENT customer service! I finally was able to get through and check out although the machines were totally wacked out. They couldn't figure out the correct weight of anything. Without even knowing how the machines work I'd be willing to wager it's the employees fault one way or another. There's a Superfresh down MLK a little further that isn't too bad. I've heard rumors of a Wegman's opening in Crofton.... I CAN'T WAIT! read more

.Back last month Shoppers ran a sale on 4 oz. lobster tail for $4.99 during the Valentine's holiday week. On February 15, the last day of the sale I went to make a purchase at the New Carrollton store. The time I went they had sold out. The fishmonger suggested that I go to customer service to make a request to get a "rain check", which I did. The young man at the counter told me this was his first time filling out the form and it was my first time requesting a "rain check". He started to fill out the form, but was unsure, so he asked the head cashier/supervisor, the correct way to fill out the form. After filling out the form he instructed me to keep the "rain check" and sales circular together just in case someone asked about the price and/or "rain check". On Wednesday, March 15, I went to the Shoppers located at 10501 MLK Hwy, Bowie, MD to redeem my "rain check'. I went to the cashier to pay for my items. The cashier being unclear how to ring the lobster tails up, he asked head cashier, on how to ring my sale up with the price reduction from $7.99 to $4.99. Head cashier took the "rain check" and started scrutinizing the form. He told me that the form date had been altered and he needed to bump it up to the manger. He didn't want this action of acceptance "to come back and bite him in the butt". The store manager on duty, came over to me after inspecting the form, told me also that the date had been altered. Neither manager nor head cashier asked to see the sales circular that I had in hand. I repeated to the manager, on how the customer svc person wrote out the form being that it was his first time. It finally hit me. The head cashier and manager were silently accusing me of altering the date on the form. I asked the manger, if he would make me a copy of the "rain check" and I would take the copy and speak with the original store manager about the filling out of the form. The manager refused and agreed to let me purchase the lobster tails for $4.99. Once, I got home I notified the store manager in New Carrollton, and told her what had transpired and how insinuating the head cashier and manager were toward me. She apologized and right away knew who had assisted me in customer svc. I told her he had very good customer svc skills and so very helpful. She was going to submit his name for an award, which he so rightful deserved. We ended our conversation where she took my name and contact numbers and was going to follow up with the Bowie manager. I would like to make two suggestions, since I know I must not have been the first person this has happened too and I am sure I will not be the last. This seems to be a big concern for this organization where customers constantly change the date on the form. Why not have a date and time stamp placed on the "rain check"? That way there will be no questioning the customer about the date being altered. The second suggestion, manager and head cashier need some more classroom training in customer service. They may have thought some things, but didn't need to voice it to me with other patrons looking on. Hard to believe this happened over a $12 difference. read more

I've been going here since they opened 12 years ago. I know many of the employees by name. Very friendly and the store is always clean and bright. Hate to see it go. read more

Had a run in with a nasty restroom today. No paper to be found. Alerted customer service before I grabbed merchandise off the shelf. Was able to use employees restroom, much neater. Thanks Ms. Rita and Mr. Harden. Lines weren't long, I'm happy... read more

horrible customer service. I will never go back here. Worker told me lines for the self checkout "don't matter." WTF she thinks people stand in line for?!?!? my new grocery store is Safeway in Fairwood. read more

The Shoppers on MLK in Bowie is always very clean, produce is fresh but omg the customer service sucks!! I went to buy cold medicine on a Saturday night. Of course the buzzer goes off alerting the cashiers that they need to check my age before I will be allowed to buy the meds. The cashiers at the customer service counter are walking around in a catatonic state like a zombie from dawn of the dead. Hello there is a reason why the light is flashing and the buzzer is buzzziiiinng! Finally I make eye contact with the security (I guess), who in turn looks at the cashier and I guess he sent her a subliminal message to assist me. I honestly believe that she was a mute. Maybe that's why she didn't respond to the light and buzzer. Sheeeesh read more

I kinda like this Shoppers because when I was working close by I could run over and grab a quick lunch. For the most part the salad bar was freshly stocked. There were a few times when food needed to be replenish but it took the staff to long to notice it and add food. The staff here is very nice. The upkeep of the store is very well done. I appreciate my shopping experience at this grocery store. read more

The donuts here are dreadful. They are so greasy and I actually liked shoppers donuts for their lack of grease. It was so messy and the bakery lacked variety. My siblings and I were highly disappointed. The wings as well are not good at all. The self checkouts are small and problematic. I will not be returning ever! read more

While they are not a 5 star Wegmans, this is my next go to store. Clean, well laid out produce, competitive prices, a really good International section, and from time to time they have store events for children. This is a solid store! read more

This Bowie location seems like a lot of other Shoppers. The people are pretty nice, the produce is good and fresh and the shelves seem to be well stocked when I've been. read more

Shoppers is great! Super low prices. Not the full selections like some of the other stores in the area, but what they do have is quality and great prices, and some are exotic fruits and veges. read more

The workers here are racist as discriminatory. As a long time resident of this community, this is my local grocery store. My sister younger sister and I went it to pick up a few things for my parents and to also get a couple of items from her WIC card. We had 3 separate transactions to do, but in order to use WIC, you have to go to a cashier (not self check out) so we paid for our wick items, told the cashier we were getting back in line, and walked around to get back in line. My sister didn't have her other card so she had to Cash App me. We got back into the same line we had just come from, but since we had already paid for our WIC items and the line was long, we went to self checkout. There was a small line, but the first register for 15 items or less was open. We went over there instead we began to put our unload items on the belt when this older black lady with a short hair cut comes over as just leans over our register, mind you going around the actual cashier, just to call the register we were just at, have a loud conversation, and then tell us we only paid for our WIC items. I was taken aback because when we walked in they had even sent the once chillin security guard to follow us around the freezer isle. I felt so insulated. Why else would we have gotten back in line? It's not like we were standing by the door waiting to run or something we had just gotten back in line. We literally had made a bend around the cash register we had come from back to near where you get in line for the registers and proceeded to find an emptier line once we had our payment situated. Too often the black community makes them and their establishments look like shit. Pathetic. The woman proceeded to repeat well the other lady at the register said you only paid for your WIC items. Okay, we understand that. She began looking at us with wide years like she had already determined we had been stealing when we hadn't done anything wrong. She made such a scene over a false accusation that I as a person with anxiety almost had an anxiety attack. The humiliation in a grocery store of all places. When we were leaving she stared so hard like she wanted me to turn around and do something. I felt so uncomfortable and now she had the rest of the store staring as well. I asked her are you finished checking out cart yet? And she said yes. Rude woman. These people are disrespectful and you should not bring your money or your time here. Just got to Giant, they have cheaper prices and aren't discriminatory because of color. Will be reporting to HR, as this is not the first time this has happened. read more

Although it is very convenient, the staff is often rude and they treat you as if they could care less about you making a purchase. Many great Companies have went out of business due to the lack of customer service and the convenience didn't matter. They need to revamp their front end staff and look for cashiers and Managers who actually want to take care of customers! read more

Worst management and ignorant employees!!! A cross eye cashier wants to flirt and talk to the bag boy the whole time and rang me up for 24 cat litters. After my card was in the reader, my four items I bought had a total over 200 dollars. With ignorance the cashier said that's how much the cat litter cost... I said no it's only 8 dollars a manager came over n didn't know what to do but shut the register down and ring me up on another register. I checked my bank statement and had the charge for 233.51 already processing I called and the bank rep said they needed to talk to the manager at shoppers to stop the transaction. The manger was very rude and denied speaking to the bank representative. I called customer service and complained and the only thing they can go is wait till Monday to have someone call me back regarding the issue. No apology. No refund. No compensation. Just a waste of time and being over charged. Please beware and stay far away from this ratchet establishment! They don't even deserve one star read more