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John Cletheroe's
USA and Canada Holiday Hints |
Supermarkets are usually very much less expensive sources for items such as soft drinks and snacks than vending machines in motels, convenience stores, or shops at petrol stations. However, for some items such as ice cream bars you can only obtain large quantities at most supermarkets.
A few supermarket chains operate throughout the USA and Canada, but most supermarket chains are regional.
Some independent supermarkets also offer excellent choice and value for money, although standard can vary. Sometimes an unpromising exterior hides a huge and excellent store inside.
In recent years several US and Canadian supermarket chains have introduced dual pricing. With dual pricing the prominently displayed price alongside items on the shelf only applies if you have the chain's loyalty card, otherwise a much higher and much less prominently displayed price applies. For visitors who don't have the chain's loyalty card and who don't want to go through the lengthy and tedious procedure of obtaining one, dual pricing is a very annoying deterrent to purchasing - something the relevant chains' marketing departments would do well to consider in my opinion. I must also question the legality in trading standards terms of the dual pricing system. Supermarket chains known to operate dual pricing include City Market (most of whose stores are in Colorado), Overwaitea (with stores in British Columbia only) and Safeway (who have stores throughout many parts of the USA). [UPDATE: In Britain the Somerfield supermarket chain started a very similar dual pricing scheme in February 2004.]
We have consistently found the Albertsons supermarket chain, which operates in many parts of the USA, to be excellent.
In previous years we have found the City Market supermarket chain, which operates mainly in Colorado, to be excellent. However, a visit to their store in Moab, Utah in the summer of 1999 was very disappointing, with dual pricing, high prices and extremely slow service.
In British Columbia the Overwaitea supermarket chain is generally recommended, except that they operate the dreaded dual-pricing system. The name comes from "over-weight tea", apparently. My thanks to John Bottomley who kindly emailed me to say that Overwaitea is pronounced "over-way-tee" with an even emphasis on each syllable. A few larger Overwaitea stores have petrol stations with low prices.
The SaveMart supermarket chain, which operates in parts of California, is highly recommended.
The huge discount department stores such as Wal-Mart also sell a wide range of non-perishable food items at very competitive prices. However, the food department probably accounts for less than 10% of the floor space in a Wal-Mart.
Crisps
Most supermarkets offer a bewilderingly huge range of crisps (called chips in the USA and Canada).
Extremely large packets of crisps are available and these usually offer the best value for money. Plastic spring clips, called Chip Clips, can be used to re-seal these bags and are widely available at supermarkets for very reasonable prices.
Many of the best known brands of potato crisps in the USA and Canada, such as Lays (also called Frito-Lay) tend to be considerably lighter and crisper than is the norm for crisps in Britain.
Besides all the different flavours of potato crisps, a huge range of nacho crisps are available. These are made from corn tortillas and so have the same basic taste as taco shells, although they tend to be a little thicker. Eric Vasbinder of Washington State kindly EMailed me to explain that the word "nachos" usually refers to corn crisps that are pre-coated in powdered cheddar cheese. The regular flavour corn crisps that just taste like corn are called "tortilla chips", "tortillas" or "corn chips", Eric says. Tortilla is also a general term for any corn or flour pancake.
Ice Cream
Most supermarkets tend to sell ice cream in large quantities. Similarly ice cream bars (choc ices), ice cream cones and ice lollies are usually sold in large packs. These large packs offer better value than purchasing items individually but are obviously not viable for visitors who are touring.
You can often find individual ice cream bars, ice cream cones and ice lollies on sale in a separate part of a supermarket.
Alternatively, most petrol stations (gas stations) and convenience stores offer these items individually and their prices usually seem fairly reasonable.
Some of the fast food chains offer large ice cream cones at very competitive prices. Most fast food chains also offer thick milk shakes which are effectively semi-molten ice cream.
Soft Drinks
It's a good idea to purchase six-packs of soft drink cans inexpensively in supermarkets or discount department shops such as Wal-Mart. Ice cubes are available, usually free of charge, in almost every motel. As always, supermarkets' own brands of soft drinks are very considerably less expensive than the television advertised brands.
Wal-Mart also offer a wide range of non-carbonated soft drinks sold in half-gallon plastic bottles. Besides being excellent value for money, many flavours of these drinks have the great advantage of still being thirst-quenching even when they are not cooled. We can particularly recommend the pink grapefruit (don't be put off by the rather peculiar colour, it tastes great). $1.78 (summer 2000).
Wal-Mart also have apple juice in half-gallon glass bottles. $1.43 (summer 2000).
On the subject of soft drinks, which due to the heat you're likely to consume a fair amount of, most of the US fast food chains will now give you one free refill which you are entirely at liberty to take out with you when you leave. Some fast food chains such as Taco Bell have self-service bars for the dispensing of soft drinks, so providing customers with the option of endless free refills. This development is now extending more and more widely, which many Burger King restaurants and some McDonald's now having it. One wonders why these chains then offer soft drinks in different sizes - I suppose it does limit how much you can take with you on your final fill-up before leaving. Most of the family steakhouse chains such as the Golden Corral give endless free refills of soft drinks, but because these are served in their own plastic "glasses" you can't take a drink with you when you leave. Don't be afraid of making the most of these free refills - everyone else does.
Convenience stores such as 7-Eleven sell soft drinks, often at quite reasonable prices. 7-Eleven feature a huge size of soft drink, called a "Big Gulp"! Convenience stores are often less expensive sources of petrol, but for most grocery items they are much more expensive than supermarkets.
Many cars have devices for holding soft drink cans and the waxed paper soft drink cups used by fast food restaurants. These devices tend to be ingenious bits of machinery which unfold and fold away as required, often from the central front bench seat folding seat arm, which also provides a place for storing audio cassettes, etc. You may find a drink can holder in the glovebox, boot or spare wheel compartment of a new car and wonder what it is.
Very large plastic drink cups supplied by fast food restaurants almost always have a smaller radius at the bottom. This is to allow them to fit into drink holders in cars.
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Most recently modified 2-Mar-04