got my second delivery today., which included a special holiday brioche available only through the 19th. the description said cranberries, golden raisins, toasted almonds, candied ginger — pretty sure i detected some hazelnuts, as well. more than worth $10.
order by 8:30am for next day delivery.
Stillman’s Quality Meats does delivery and is offering sausages, etc., at various area markets, including the “Bow Safe Market”. That sounds a bit staid. “Bow Danger” has a sexier sound.
Too soon?
A few places are on temporary hold through the end of the month.
MF Dulock plans on resuming operations on 4/30.
Clear Flour was more ambiguous, saying “maybe 2-3 weeks”.
Thanks for the information. It’s tough for these places.
Today was my every 2-week foray to Market Basket. The experience felt safer overall. The store was better stocked than I’ve seen since the beginning of March. Well-done, Market Basket.
On the negative side, shopping took longer—though my impression is that was mostly due to a few inexperienced and/or indecisive folks who lingered in the aisles and gummed up the works.
This shopping trip was my first since occupancy limits for supermarkets took effect last week. An employee stationed out front counted us shoppers as we entered and left the store. Grocery carts connected by barrier tape marked the space outside where you’d have to wait your turn to enter once the limit was reached. No wait for me today.
MB also implemented one-way aisles—which a few shoppers ignored—plus plexiglas partitions at the checkouts, and direction of shoppers to checkout lanes to avoid bottlenecks.
Paper goods had returned, although most were MB store brand. One per-type-of-item limits meant that you could, say, buy one 4-pack of toilet paper and one roll of paper towels. (I didn’t see multipacks of towels.)
Meat cases were more abundantly filled than I’ve seen in a little over a month.
Cleaning goods were also in the best shape yet. Apparently even sanitizing wipes had been available earlier, probably scooped up during senior shopping hours.
You could also find Gold Medal flour and even some pasta flour. Yay. No King Arthur flour, which is understandable. Yeast? Fuhgeddaboutit.
I only hope the much improved in-stock situation is the result of supply and demand rebalancing. But I worry that people may not be able to afford as much because they’re out of work or they’ve lost pay. So many households are hurting from this catastrophe.
which store did you go to?
Hi, @wonderwoman! I shifted my shopping to the Market Basket in Littleton (Mass.) last month because it’s the MB with the largest footprint in my area. My reasoning is that distancing can be easier in a larger space.
My normal Market Baskets are on the Chelmsford/Lowell line and in Westford, but both of them tend to be crowded (by my standards).
thanks. my market basket in somerville is crowded by any standards:), and i don’t have a car. the farmers markets have really stepped up, so i’ve been able to get most produce delivered. iggy’s delivery is great. everything else i need i’ve been able to get at the trader joe’s in arlington, where i have a lot of bus options.
I found the North Andover store similar this past Monday when I visited. I was glad to see the Plexiglas at the checkout and more staff with masks. Has anyone been to HMart Burlington lately?
Thanks
Aha, I hear you!
Myself I miss Trader Joe’s and Iggy’s In our lives, but as I‘m limiting where I go I’ll just have to keep missing their goods until circumstances improve.
I have tried them, as well as Blue Apron and a few others, only.when there was a promo and I used the ingredients AS ingredients for whatever I would normally make. Too pricy for me to rely upon. The most recent, and best, was RealEats. These are fully cooked, boil-in-bag meals packed as single servings. The beef and salmon portions were adequate, and VERY delicious, but the side portions were skimpy. These meals were under 400 calories apiece, so you can well imagine that I steamed some additional vegetables. The meals average $12 each. The brisket was as good as my best homemade - tender, moist, and well-flavored. The menu choices change weekly. If I could afford them, I’d be a regular subscriber.
I went yesterday morning, at about 8:15 AM. Pretty much deserted at that time (maybe another 10-15 shoppers in the store when I was there), shelves completely stocked, everyone wearing masks, free plastic gloves and sanitizer by the shopping carts outside.
My son and daughter-in-law just finished shopping at Wagon Wheel on Waltham St. in Lexington. It’s conveniently located off of Rte. 2 near the Waltham border. The farmstand closed for a week or so and converted this week to mostly an open-air market. It seems to be well-thought out and my kids were comfortable in the open air and happy with the offerings.
Staff were all wearing masks and gloves and keeping a good distance apart. There was a good selection of greens, herbs, aromatics, tomatoes, root veggies, etc. There were also some grocery items available such as Kitchen Basics stocks, pastas, condiments, etc. as well as breads, including baguettes, cookies and candies and miscellaneous other items. They also have a walk-up window where you can ask for any items that are inside, which includes cheeses and other refrigerated items. The deli counter is still operational and you can get Boar’s Head meats and cheeses sliced to order (as well as good old Land O’ Lakes American.) (The website says you can still get simple sandwiches, but I’m not sure if they are made to order.) They also grabbed some uncured hot dogs and some cryovaced Dom’s marinated steak tips, and didn’t have to go inside for any of these things. Everyone was very friendly and helpful and happy to grab stuff from inside. The garden supply store was also stocked and open-air and had a decent supply of potted herbs.
They will definitely do most of their shopping here and wanted to encourage people who are skittish about heading inside a regular supermarket to check it out.
Wagon Wheel looks great. It seems like a useful, smaller version of Idylwilde Farms (Acton)?
I daydream of when we can eventually get out to shop multiple stores again.
Definitely smaller than Idylwilde, and markedly less upscale. The quality is solid and in these times it seems like a good alternative to the grocery for those of us who don’t want to venture inside for whatever reason.
And, yes, I, too, long for the days when we can be carefree in our shopping/visiting again!
Awesome intel. I’ve never been so it seems like as good a time as any to check it out.
I just back from Whole Foods ARL. There was no line to get in, very few people in the store. Seemed well-stocked. Fish counter particularly looked great. Maybe I’m getting complacent, but I felt very much at ease. Everyone being respectful, nearly everyone with a mask. Nothing like the weird WF Medford experience I had last week with the strange and sad older man (which, of course, was no fault of the store).
Oh, good to know. ARL is pretty convenient for me and there are definitely things I can get there and not at Wagon Wheel. If you’re still comfortable at WF, though, you’d probably find more variety than you will at WW. It sounds like they are on top of their game. I went to Newton at the beginning of the quarantine (before social distancing) and they were out of sanitizing wipes for the carts, the lines seemed eternal, etc. I have to say, though, that the staff and other customers were awesome. I’m sure, just like the rest of us, that they are learning as this evolves. I’d be happy to head to ARL in a week or two if it doesn’t look too crazy.
Elmendorf in Cambridge has King Arthur flour, yeast, and lots of other baking supplies for curbside pick up. Check the web site because it’s a changing situation. Same for Clear Flour…although the bakery isn’t open, you can order KAF and yeast and other baking supplies, or at least you could the last time I checked the web site.
A few days ago, I read a NYC -centric article about individuals now being allowed to shop at a restaurant supply company, Baldor. It has a Boston location too, but I don’t know if IT shares the new policy. I don’t recall if anything was said about shopping in person. This piece detailed online ordering. There’s a $250 minimum. Most products are in large packs, like 5 or 10# of meat. But milk was by the gallon and there were other things that are sold in home-size amounts. They bill and deliver the entire order to one location, so the suggestion was that neighbors or relatives get together to amass an order, which one person will pay for with a credit card. S/he will take delivery. The rest of the group can come to pick up and pay for their share.
I believe that on another thread, it was mentioned that in NJ, you can now shop at Restaurant Depot without a business tax I.D.
That’s super interesting. I wonder if this will be the kind of disruption to the current business model that would continue long term.
On a similar note, I have a friend who has an in with Katsiroubas produce supply company and they are dropping produce boxes on her porch of 20# of produce (you don’t get to pick) for $25 apiece if she can pull together at least 4 orders. It’s very unofficial and I wasn’t able to find anything on their website about it, but I went in on her order last week and picked up a box which contained a nice mix of fruits and vegetables. I’d love to offer more info but I don’t have any! It’s all been very hush hush…
