So what's your favourite... Independent Grocer?

“Queuing theory”? I just thought it was a nice blend of common sense and good customer service.

I heard the Dickson woollies is the busiest in the southern hemisphere. Basically overly busy – awful.
Twice I have seen fights in the aisles cos there are so many people they can’t help ramming into each other. I thought it might improve when Gunghalin got their own supermarkets, but it didn’t.
Actually gungahlin isn’t bad – usually only one or two shoppers per aisle, so you can actually get to whatever you are looking for.

Agree with el that Coles at Curtin rates very low on the scale. Hughes IGA has a good checkout system going. Good implementation of Queuing Theory.

i remember being told that woolies dickson is the busiest store for its size in australia. still there is never enough staff on, its ridiculous

If you fancy running down geriatrics with your trolley – no better place than the Deakin IGA. It’s almost a funeral parlour.

My last intervention on this subject unless I get inspired. Le Coles du Hyperdome est le pits de supermarket existence. Great location. Lousy management, terrible staff.

memo to self: never go to Woollies Toowong!

Campbell Supermarket. Ainslie IGA. City Supabarn. Watson IGA. Hackett IGA. Anywhere but the worst asupermarket in the Inner North which is of course Woolies Dickson. I gladly fork out a couple of extra dollars per shopping trip to get a better range of the foods that I like. But to give Woolies Dickson its due, it attracts and supports the kind of people that wouldn’t find the other supermarkets enticing, and of course there’s the lovely yellow-arched fine cuisine emporium right next door for their limited taste buds to drool over.

You know on Sunday arvos they’re getting rid of the stock that’s been there all week.

Belco markets on Sunday arvos is definitely the way to go
takes an extra 20 minutes of walking up and down and finding which shops have what you want and you may have to go to 2, 3 or 4 but well worth it for price and quality

i liek the belco markets. excellent delis. i like to comparison check the fruit and veg before i buy, so wander through the fruit shops from one end to the other then purchase on the way back.

i like the sunday arvo specials as well.

i saw two junkies shooting up in the dickson woolies carpark.

right out in the open, sitting in the front seat of their mitsubishi colt, without a care in the world.

their kid sitting happily in the baby seat in the back.

Love Ainslie IGA….co-owner Manuel Xyrakis is a bloody champ!

Dickson Woolies isn’t as bad as the Woolies up in Toowong Brisbane. There’s near enough to full employment up in Brissy except the youth unemployment is up around 15% from memory. I think its because of a generation brought up on welfare these kids just don’t want to work and places like Toowong Woolies cant get any staff.

It never use to be like that. I remember when Woolies Dickson was smaller (the fruit and veg section + the frozens on that side weren’t there).

Then again, I gave up on it when I was harassed (from two exits) by druggos trying to bum a smoke and/or money.

Woollies Dickson has to be the worst run supermarket I have ever seen. They seem to send the Express lane staff on their meal breaks at the busiest times. The ferals just add to the sense of occassion. Then you have the horrid car park.

I gave up on Dickson Woollies when I went there and the Express Lane queue went the entire length of the shop and around the corner up into fruit and veg.

A couple of Woolies-related comments. I sometimes go the Kamabh one (unloved by Ingeegoodbee). Not big, and the carpark isn’t great (too many hoons from the Kambah Tavern, methinks) but the staff is friendly and they seem to know hat they’re doing.

The Erindale Woolies is bigger, and generally pretty well-stocked. Its highlight is the seafood, run by a man called John who seems to understand what people are looking for. (His guidance on the right fish for a Thai soup was excellent and quality/freshness are as good as you get in this town).

Amen on the Dickson Woolies! It’s my local, twice lately I’ve seen open rebellion (! shocking, I tells ya) in the checkout queue. Strangely, you ask for the manager and he’s always “just stepped out”. Right, to avoid the lynching.

One checkout person told me last week that it’s head office’s fault as they won’t let them employ more staff. So I dunno, write to head office, or set up a card table outside with a petition?

The farmers’ market at epic is also good, although not an independent grocer per se.

Oh, I just remembered Campbell supermarket. Dunno what brand it is, but they also get very worried if there are people waiting at the checkout. And their cooked chooks are nice.

I bet Qbn Coles is the worst on the PLANET for ridiculous waits, while the staff socialise and throw tim tams at each other. When you see a obstacle course of abandoned trolleys and baskets, you know they’ve had a great day.

That SupaBarn in Wanniassa is rather good! I only go to it occasionally, but it’s impressive.

Hackett IGA – similar to Ainslie and Watson, but on a smaller scale, and with much more parking.

Hughes local (I think it’s an IGA) supermarket is pretty good…lots of odd cooking items you’re not likely to find at a Woolies, and weird/cool European stuff too.

Worst: Coles Curtin. Not enough staff. Not even close to enough staff. Not worth the waste of 25 minutes to get through the checkout to save $1.50 on stuff that could be bought easier at Hughes (who call for extra register assistance if there’s more than 3 people waiting…)

Fyshwick Markets or Belco Markets kick arse over normal supermarkets, way better quality produce and heaps better prices.

Fyshwick markets for anything fresh and Wanniassa Supabarn for the rest (I actually drive the extra 5km to Wanniassa rather than use the Kambah Woolies just down the road – even if its just for a carton of milk … I’d rather spend the fuel that give those sh!tbags my business.

Standard of fruit & veg in Colesworth is often abominable. Especially in the morning when I go. And as I check out, there they are, stacking the shelves with ‘fresh’ produce…
-Get the stackers in there earlier, I say.

I loathe dickson woolies. Scungy buskers and beggars loitering around the entrance, then inside you have to jostle with the freaks you see riding bikes around town, yuppie hippies etc.

I liked IGA in Braddon a few years ago – haven’t lived near there for ages, so dunno what it’s like now.

“LOL at the fools who pay more for the same stuff I get at Woolies!!!!!”

Yeah but the quality of fruit and veges is crap compared to the markets and also the price of meat in Woolies and Coles isn’t as cheap as you might expect for the 3rd grade meat they dish out.

Personally I think the fools are those who experience the massive queues that seem to exist 24/7 at the dickson woolies and yet go back for more.

And I don’t support the way the Colesworth duopoly use their massive market power to screw over suppliers and competitors alike.

Big fan of the Civic IGA, largely for their large range of American chocolate. Yes, the actual chocolate is kinda shitty, but most of them have peanut butter in them. And as someone who used to balk at peanut butter as a kid, I have to say I’m getting very into it when wrapped in a chocolate shell…

LOL at the fools who pay more for the same stuff I get at Woolies!!!!!

Ainslie IGA has the best range of vegetarian foods that I’ve found in any supermarket in Canberra. Always well-stocked shelves. Staff who actually know where to find stuff when you need help.

Supabarn in the Canberra Centre have Clipper fair trade instant coffee – most places only stock fair trade or organic for plungers. And fair trade cocoa and hot choc mix. And good organic stuff (meats etc). And last time I needed them, they were one of the few supermarkets left that stocked paper nappy liners and snappis and PVC pilchers.

The Hub at Gungahlin is a real find – a large, well-stocked Asian supermarket with food from most countries in the region. And if they haven’t got something you want, they’ll order it for you.

Yarralumla IGA – the only supermart in the suburb.

definately cook shops, i’ve been sick of how busy jamison is lately what with the aldis just opening

Yup. It’s a Supabarn, not an IGA. Oops.

Wanniassa IGA. Big. Lots of choice. Fair to middling staff.
I have long thought that the smaller supermarkets would do better if they held onto the bread and butter (literally) lines and did some specialising into, say Indian, East Asian, Central European, African, Middle Eastern that would make them a place to go to other than in an emergency.

Mother Natures or the Fishwyck Markets, fresh food, better quality than the crap peddalled at Coles/Woolies and normally cheaper too. Plus you can get things like rabbit, duck, durians and other sometimes hard to find delicacies.

I like IGA’s, they are convenient.

Organic produce is a furphy.

Albertsons… whoops wrong country. they have a guarantee that if there’s 2 people in the checkout line, they’ll open another checkout, and they do. I use the self-checkout anyway, and there’s never a line for that.

That said, Mother Nature’s in Qbn has almost everything you’d want (barring dunny paper etc) and it’s pretty good.

ahh the ainslie IGA.

i think SGS is boycotting that store because of the change in black and gold labelling.

he ran an expose on this some time back…

Wanniassa Supabarn has a great range of Seth Efrikan condiments. It’s also spotless, has wide aisles, and is one of the few supermarkets left that lets you buy loose rocket and mesclun mix by the kilo rather than payinf $4 for a small prepacked bag.

Mother Nature in Tuggers Hyperdome is fantastic for cheap fruit and veg and continental goods.

I just heard about this mob today. Organic Express. I haven’t tried them yet, so I can’t make any judgement.

My understanding is that they have plans to stock a wide supermarket range of products, but at the moment they mostly just do fruit & veg.

Please comment if anyone has tried them or similiar (not woolies home shop).

Lyneham IGA for european groceries and Platypus Shops in Amaroo for convinience.

Definitely Ainslie IGA – the wine selection is excellent, the deli has all the necessities, and the range of breads is top notch (including the to-die-for Pane Italiano). Also, the grocery manager has been really good about ordering in things they don’t normally carry – really good service!

Cook shops. Good for all sorts of stuff, always open and friendly staff.

Jerrabomberra Woolies.

kaleen supabarn.

clean, easy to find things, good service.

nice range of european delicacies.

incl ritter sport chocolate…

great parking.

watson and ainslie IGAs.
Great deli sections, great wine range and always fully stocked shelves.