Anyone know when it's opening? I live in the area and it will be very handy for me. I hate trying to get downtown at 5pm.
Carwash is open, used it last night.
Carwash is open, used it last night.
Ames Somerset Fareway?
- Thread starter JP4CY
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I live in the area myself. I seen where the car wash was going so I drove up by there. While in there I drove over to Fareway and looked in the window to see how they were doing. It looks like they are getting things done. I would guess they would be opening some time in April. It would be pretty handy to go there. Wife doesn't like Cub Foods, so we go to HyVee most of the time.
I am excited for that fareway to open. Going to be handy because i have an apartment up in somerset, so it will be handy to get up there
- Mar 27, 2006
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I don't know. Fareway is fine. It has good prices on some things, and a good meat department, but other than that, there is nothing to write home about. We do the majority of our shopping at the Fareway in Nevada, because it is convenient. However, if there was a HyVee in town, I don't think I would set foot in Fareway again, save to buy meat. HyVee has so much more selection and so much more variety. The fruit and vegetable departments are not even comparable. HyVee Bakery is great. Frozen Foods are head and shoulders better. The list goes on and on. Yes, it might cost a little more, but I would choose HyVee every time if there were one closer to me.
What do other people think?
I think it depends on the Fareway branch you're going to. We lived in Sioux City for a while just about a mile from a newer Fareway and did the majority of our grocery shopping there. They had most of the variety we wanted. We would occasionally go to Hy-Vee if they had something we wanted that Fareway didn't have.
In Ames, the downtown Fareway is old, small, and has very little selection. We go there if we only need a few essentials, but for larger trips we go to Wal-Mart. I used to practically boycott Wal-Mart, but they really do have lower prices than Hy-Vee and right now that's what we need. It's Fareway prices with Hy-Vee selection. We do still go to Hy-Vee for meat and produce, though.
We also usually do our grocery shopping on Sundays, so Fareway isn't an option when we do that.
I will be interested to see if the Somerset Fareway is comparable to the newer one in Sioux City that we used to go to.
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- Mar 27, 2006
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Don't get me wrong, for the essentials, Fareway is fine. But, if you want more than that you might be left hanging. As far as cold beer goes, don't count on it. I don't know about all Fareways, but not a lot of them have cold beer.
Fareway is my grocer of choice, but I don't go downtown to get groceries because it's too far away.
Fairway is also much cheaper than Hy-vee, Hy-vee is probably the most expensive in town. Aldi > Fairway > Wal-mart/Cub > Hy-vee as far as price from what I've seen.
I'm curious to see it since it's a slightly new direction for Fareway. It's the most expensive store they've ever put up from my understanding.
Here in Marion, Fareway also matches Hy-Vee sale prices. I'm not talking about a "price-match policy" where you have to talk to a manager to get the difference either. I mean if Hy-Vee has generic orange juice on sale, Fareway will have their generic OJ on sale for the same price.
- Mar 27, 2006
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I'm not sure that's what he means by "expensive." I think he is talking about the cost of the building and maybe some of the stuff inside, rather than the cost of the goods that they sell.
Exactly. The building itself needed to be a bit more extravagant than Fareway generally bothers with because of the requirements of the location. Can't say anything about the prices of the merchandise.
I can answer some of the questions asked here:
1. They will have cold beer. Fareway has recently changed their policy. Even downtown Ames now has cold beer.
2. More $$ to build store. Yes, they had lots more cost over the typical Fareway building because of the City's building and landscaping requirements. It isn't in Somerset, so not quite as restrictive, but it was close. (in my opinion it also looks better than most Fareway stores)
3. Price of Goods. The price for a generic OJ in any Ames store is the same price of that generic OJ in Algona or Osceola or Nevada. All Fareway prices are the same.
1. They will have cold beer. Fareway has recently changed their policy. Even downtown Ames now has cold beer.
2. More $$ to build store. Yes, they had lots more cost over the typical Fareway building because of the City's building and landscaping requirements. It isn't in Somerset, so not quite as restrictive, but it was close. (in my opinion it also looks better than most Fareway stores)
3. Price of Goods. The price for a generic OJ in any Ames store is the same price of that generic OJ in Algona or Osceola or Nevada. All Fareway prices are the same.
I used to work at Hy-Vee and I did some secret price comparisons and here is what I can tell you.
Fareway is the cheapest espically if you go with their generics.
With that being said, if you compare like brands and just stay in the aisles there is very little difference between the stores. Places like Hy-Vee only make about 1% on the items in the aisle and they make the bulk of their profits in non-foods and things like produce, deli, seafood, meat, etc.
Wal-Mart on the other hand is tricky. On some items they are extremely cheap while other items are very expensive. Target is the most expensive out of anyone.
I would go and buy $300 worth of grocieres to check prices and there would usually be less than a $5 difference in all the stores if you bought brand name stuff. Wal-Mart was the one excpetion. Sometimes they would be $20 cheaper and other times they would be more expensive based on what you bought. They have a lot of "loss leaders" where they have a crazy price but will then make it back up somewhere else.
As far as meat, the whole Fareway thing is completely over blown. Fareway and Hy-Vee use the exact same grade of meat and get it from the same vendor (PDI). Hy-Vee will also do custom slicing if you ask.
If I was going to give some tips on saving money here is what I would tell you.
#1 Go to the store you like the best no matter what the price is.
#2 USE COUPONS. This is a no-brainer and it doesn't matter which cheap store you go to the deals you get with coupons kills all other savings. If you want to be unethical you can even throw in a few coupons on products you didn't even purchase. If you have a big order a lot of times the person doesn't even check.
#3 Stay away from those outer departments if you really want to save money.
#4 When the stores have sales, stock up/freeze.
#5 At least with Hy-Vee prices are different from store to store but not by a huge amount overall.
Fareway is the cheapest espically if you go with their generics.
With that being said, if you compare like brands and just stay in the aisles there is very little difference between the stores. Places like Hy-Vee only make about 1% on the items in the aisle and they make the bulk of their profits in non-foods and things like produce, deli, seafood, meat, etc.
Wal-Mart on the other hand is tricky. On some items they are extremely cheap while other items are very expensive. Target is the most expensive out of anyone.
I would go and buy $300 worth of grocieres to check prices and there would usually be less than a $5 difference in all the stores if you bought brand name stuff. Wal-Mart was the one excpetion. Sometimes they would be $20 cheaper and other times they would be more expensive based on what you bought. They have a lot of "loss leaders" where they have a crazy price but will then make it back up somewhere else.
As far as meat, the whole Fareway thing is completely over blown. Fareway and Hy-Vee use the exact same grade of meat and get it from the same vendor (PDI). Hy-Vee will also do custom slicing if you ask.
If I was going to give some tips on saving money here is what I would tell you.
#1 Go to the store you like the best no matter what the price is.
#2 USE COUPONS. This is a no-brainer and it doesn't matter which cheap store you go to the deals you get with coupons kills all other savings. If you want to be unethical you can even throw in a few coupons on products you didn't even purchase. If you have a big order a lot of times the person doesn't even check.
#3 Stay away from those outer departments if you really want to save money.
#4 When the stores have sales, stock up/freeze.
#5 At least with Hy-Vee prices are different from store to store but not by a huge amount overall.
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My Uncle is a HyVee meat manager and I still go to Fareway for meat. Great prices, selection and quality. Just sucks they aren't open on Sunday. Bet they lose a lot of business that way.
We'll use that Fareway since it is close for small trips when we need a few specific things. Or, when I need to buy ribs or other meats for the smoker. Otherwise, we love HyVee. Great deli, produce, food court, selection, nice meat counter. I'm hoping that the Fareway cuts out our trips to Cub...other than the late night beer runs!
I think it depends on the store and what time you go. Hy-Vee will have actual meat cutters on hand until about 3pm and then after that they clean things up and usually have a rookie on hand. I think Fareway is more likely to have their experienced meat cutters there until close. Fareway definitely has more of that small store feel which is nice when it comes to the meat department. Some of the old small Hy-Vee's are that way but they are few and far between.
The guys that I worked with at Hy-Vee had been there when they used to bring in the whole cow and hang it on the hook. Those days are over and everything is done at the processing for a lot cheaper. Both Fareway and Hy-Vee still cut meat but now it's just little sections. It really is an art and those meat-cutters know a lot.
