Aldi – S. Pennsylvania

11 08 2008
  • 655 S. Pennsylvania
  • Lansing, MI 48911
  • No Phone Number
  • Website
The Aldi store on South Pennsylvania in Lansing.

The Aldi store on South Pennsylvania in Lansing.

A few weeks ago, I decided to give Aldi a shot for the first time in many years.  I went to the store on Saginaw Highway (review HERE).  The only thing I picked up was a bag of frozen chicken.  We finally ran out of that chicken and I needed something for dinner, so I headed to the Aldi on S. Pennsylvania to pick up the same thing.  I said in my last review that chicken was a test.  It totally passed the test.  It was just as good as chicken we’ve gotten from somewhere else and it was much cheaper.

The Aldi on S. Pennsylvania is set up like all Aldi stores.  Since I was just going for chicken again, I didn’t grab a cart.  It took me a little while to find what I was looking for this time.  I went to the fresh meat case first hoping to find some ribs.  There wasn’t a whole lot left there.  Just a few pieces of chicken and some ground beef.  I didn’t find the ribs, so I went looking for the frozen chicken breasts.  I finally found the bag I was looking for after doing some digging in the freezer.  Someone had put some flavored frozen chicken breasts in the box for the regular ones. Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: , , , , ,
Categories : Grocery, Lansing, Michigan, Reviews

Target – Edgewood Blvd

1 08 2008
  • 500 E. Edgewood Blvd.
  • Lansing, MI 48911
  • (517) 882-9084
  • Website
The Target store on Edgewood Boulevard in South Lansing

The Target store on Edgewood Boulevard in South Lansing

Target?!  A grocery store?!  I know, I thought the same thing, but recently, I find myself drifting over towards the grocery section everytime I end up in Target.  Like Wal-Mart and K-Mart, Target has taken on the role of a hyper-market with their Super Target stores.  However, none in the Lansing area fall into this category.  They’re all just Target stores.

The grocery section isn’t very big and takes up just a few aisles in the store.  Being small, they don’t have a wide variety.  They carry all the staples and they carry brand names, but they don’t often offer more than one brand of the same product.  In reality, you could do all of your grocery shopping at a Target store.  It may not be the most cost effective, but you don’t have to deal with the mile long aisles of Meijer or Wal-Mart.  Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 5 Comments »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Chains, Grocery, Lansing, Reviews

Merindorf Meats & More – Mason

29 07 2008
  • 2289 W. Barnes Rd.
  • Mason, MI 48854
  • (517) 676-6039
  • Website
Merindorf Meats & More in Rural Mason

Merindorf Meats & More in Rural Mason

This is the store I keep hearing about.  We went looking for this shop one weekend, but somehow ended up at the store in Williamston (review HERE).  I needed some ground chicken for dinner tonight and since I have a hard time finding it at the mega marts anymore, I decided to hop in the truck and head to Mason. 

It’s a good thing we didn’t just “try to find it” last time.  Merindorf’s is located on Barnes Road which is outside of Mason about half a mile from US-127.  This building is much older looking than the Williamston shop.  The inside is a big difference too.  There’s not as much grocery, which is fine because when I go to Merindorf’s, I’m looking for meat.  Fresh meat wasn’t on my radar today.  I was in the market for some frozen stuff and Merindorf’s has it all.  Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 3 Comments »
Tags: , , ,
Categories : Grocery, Mason, Reviews

L & L Food Center – Saginaw Hwy.

24 07 2008
  • 3800 W. Saginaw Hwy
  • Lansing, MI 48917
  • (517) 321-4392
  • Website
L & L Food Center on West Saginaw Highway in Lansing.

L & L Food Center on West Saginaw Highway in Lansing.

When I visited the L & L Food Center in Holt a few weeks ago, the thing I noticed is that their meats are much cheaper than the other grocery stores.  After hitting the Farmer’s Market at the State Capitol, I needed to find some chicken to go with some of the things we bought.  We needed to go out near the Lansing Mall.  I rememered seeing an L & L on W. Saginaw, so that’s the one I hit up. 

The thing I noticed about this L & L is that it’s much brighter and much more inviting than the one in Holt.  The layout is pretty similar, but the aisle’s seemed much longer here.  Unlike the one in Holt, the frozen foods are at the end of the store instead of in the middle.  Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , ,
Categories : Grocery, Lansing, Reviews

Aldi – Saginaw Hwy.

24 07 2008
  • 5625 W. Saginaw Hwy.
  • Lansing, MI 48906
  • (636) 278-4700
  • Website
Aldis on Saginaw Highway

Aldi's on Saginaw Highway

It has been years since I’ve been to an Aldi.  We didn’t shop there much when I was growing up because there was kind of a stigma to shopping at Aldi’s.  On top of that, it’s kind of a pain in the butt.  They don’t have the conviences of a modern mega-mart, but that’s how they keep prices down.  The stigma is gone now and more and more people are taking advantage of Aldi’s low prices.

The one thing I always use to go to Aldi’s for was their animal crackers.  I know that sounds stupid, but when I was in high school, my distrcit swtiched to the Eight-Block schedule.  Instead of a regular school day with eight 40 minute periods, we had four 80 minute periods each day with an every other day schedule.  Because of the schedule, there was always one group that would have three morning classes before lunch which means we didn’t get to eat much before one o’clock.  The teachers would let us bring snacks in and Aldi’s animal crackers were a big hit or some reason. Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 7 Comments »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Chains, Grocery, Lansing, Reviews

Orignal Meijer Superstore to be Replaced…

4 07 2008

…with the first new Meijer in Grand Rapids city limits in over a decade.

The Grand Rapids Press reports Friday that the store is scheduled to be replaced. Grand Rapids-based Meijer plans to keep the supercenter open while it builds a new store next to the existing site, with the new store opening in 2010.

The building began as a 17,000-square-foot grocery store in 1958. It became the retail chain’s first supercenter in 1962, adding 75,000 square feet to house non-grocery items.

That’ll be a piece of history being torn down.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , ,
Categories : Food News, Grand Rapids, Grocery

Wal-Mart – Delta Township

3 07 2008
  • 409 N. Marketplace Blvd.Walmart Delta Township
  • Lansing, MI 48917
  • (517) 622-8036
  • Website

Wal-Mart is evil….or so I’m told.  I know the arguments.  My dad’s a union  guy and my girlfriend’s parents are both union workers.  Her mom is a union grocer.  We’ve done really good about not running to Wal-Mart every other day like we did when we lived near Peoria, IL.  The problem there was there were only two grocery stores in town.  Both were chains (the other store being Kroger) and Wal-Mart was within walking distance of our apartment, so we shopped there out of convience more than anything.  We would still make special trips to Schnuck’s (a St. Louis-based chain) for produce, but the majority of our shopping was done at Wal-Mart.

The closest Wal-Mart to us now is in the Delta Township and it’s about a 10 minute (give or take a few) drive.  We made Wal-Mart a weekly stop right before we go to Horrock’s (review HERE), but not for any reason you might suspect.   Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 6 Comments »
Tags: , , , , , ,
Categories : Grocery, Lansing, Reviews

Quality Dairy – Holt

1 07 2008
  • 2233 Cedar St.Quality Dairy
  • Holt, MI 48842
  • (517) 694-8653
  • Website

I got to admit.  I was shocked when I saw regular commentor Adam say Quality Dairy was on of the things he couldn’t live without.  Since moving here, I’ve drove by QD many times thinking they were just another 7-11.  When I asked why he couldn’t live with Quality Dairy, he replied the premium ice cream and baked goods baked fresh daily were the things he would miss the most. 

I had an ice cream craving and my excursion to L & L Food Center (review HERE) to get Moomer’s Ice Cream was a bust, so I went a little farther down Cedar to Quality Dairy.  My suspicion was correct.  Quality Dairy is a convience store very similar to 7-11.  They have booze.  They have pantry items.  Like 7-11, but different. 

Quality Dairy got it’s start in Lansing in 1936 as a place where people could buy milk.  At that point in time, milk was delivered in glass bottles.  Quality Dairy changed that delivery system by offering milk at small milk stores on a cash and carry basis.  Four years later, they expanded to ice cream which was the purpose of my visit. Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 6 Comments »
Tags: , , ,
Categories : Grocery, Holt, Ice Cream, Reviews

L & L Food Center – Holt

1 07 2008
  • 2380 Cedar St.L & L Food Center in Holt
  • Holt, MI 48842
  • (517) 694-5929
  • Website

L & L Food Center is uniquely Lansing.  Founded in 1931 by the Levandowski family, L & L Food Center has grown to eight Lansing area locations.  While I was at the Lansing City Market last week, I saw a booth for Moomers Ice Cream and a sign saying Moomers was sold at L & L.  I was sitting on the couch watching Family Guy (again) and wanted ice cream.  There’s an L & L just down the street so I thought I’d go check it out.

L & L isn’t a huge grocery store.  It’s sort of a hybrid between a local grocer and a chain supermarket.  The layout shares some design elements as the large stores, but I had a hard time finding what I was looking for.  However, that did give me a chance to check out other things in the store.  I sort of blew through the produce section and found my way to the meat section.  Most of their beef is cut by their own butcher department.  Their line of beef is packaged under the name of the founders and sold exclusively at L & L.  Besides a butcher shop, there’s also a line of smoked meats, hams, and sausaged packaged under the brand Levandowski Sausage Company.  They also carry the same line of chicken as the Kroger down the street, but the prices were much cheaper.  Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , ,
Categories : Grocery, Holt, Reviews

Meijer – Pennsylvania Ave.

29 06 2008
  • 6200 S. Pennsylvania Ave.Meijer Pennsylvania Ave
  • Lansing, MI 48911
  • (517) 393-5100
  • Website

This is the Meijer I usually shop at.  I don’t go here often, but when I need something besides grocery, this is usually it.  I don’t like going to this store because it’s really hard to get in and out of.  It’s situated between Pennsylvania and Cedar which is a wierd enough tract of land as it is, but add in a mega-mart and the roads just get goofy.  I’ve found it’s almost impossible to enter off Cedar Street because the ramps from the Interstate merge right in front of the entrance.  Your only choice really is to cross traffic on Pennsylvania.  Like most other Meijer stores, this place is HUGE and very hard to navigate.

We went to Meijer on this day for two reasons.  We had a hundred and five cans to return and we needed charcoal.  While I appreciate Michigan’s bottle bill for what it does for the environment, I loathe actually taking the bottles an cans back.  I always feel dirty brining garbage bags into a store, but I do like turning them back in at the store because it makes my shopping bill a little lower.  It sounds like I’m flip-flopping and I guess I sort of am.  There are things I like and things I don’t like, but I am glad Michigan does it.  Anyway, the bottle return is visible from the main entrance just past produce.  So we wheeled our way around the fruits to get back to the machines.  Read the rest of this entry »


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , ,
Categories : Grocery, Lansing, Reviews

« Previous Entries Next Entries »