Today, three days before Christmas, the South Loop location had no cranberries or ginger.

Dave148 wrote:In contrast....the Mariano's Northbrook store on Skokie Blvd seems to be prospering.

I go to Mariano’s less often than In the past, but I agree that the Northbrook store is always crowded when I am there.

Mariano's parent, Microsoft create futuristic grocery store. Amazon, take note.
The supermarket chain and technology giant are using the cloud to make it faster to navigate the grocery aisles and pick up online orders.

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/retail/ ... -take-note

I’m not sure I like the “ change prices on the fly” idea.

lougord99 wrote:I’m not sure I like the “ change prices on the fly” idea.

As opposed to having personnel make manual changes.

spinynorman99 wrote:

lougord99 wrote:I’m not sure I like the “ change prices on the fly” idea.

As opposed to having personnel make manual changes.

A few months ago, I was at Fresh Farms on Touhy. It was early in the morning. One of the guys was changing the sign for bananas. The new sign was $.05 higher per pound than the old sign. A little old lady buying bananas went ballistic at the guy.

I was at the Northfield store a week ago at 4:30. There was not one single person working in produce the whole hour I was there. It seems like the quality of their produce had decreased too. The store was not very busy for that time of day either. Business picked up by the time I left the store at 5:30. I only went in the store because I was driving right past there. The only things that I got were a package of chicken sausage that they had on sale for $3.99, some skippy peanut butter, some dental floss, two loaves of B1G1F Brownberry bread, a quart of yogurt on sale, and some holiday ziplock bags they had on clearance. They have this buy 5 get $5 off thing going on most weeks. I got three skippy and two dental floss to take advantage of it. I only paid $.99 fir each of the jars of skippy. I was going to buy Simply Potatoes that was on the $5 off 5, and I could not find it.


Mariano's has better sales since Kroger took it over, but the quality of the stores has deteriorated.

Hi- I ran across this on mashupmom's Facebook page, where I also post a lot. Mariano's has 15.4 pound bags of Kingsford charcoal on sale for $3.99 while supplies last. I know there are some people here that BBQ all year round and so might be interested. I also know that some BBQ aficionados here won't touch Kingsford, but I thought some people her might be interested. They also have some other bags of Kingsford 60% off also while supplies last.

lougord99 wrote: I’m not sure I like the “change prices on the fly” idea.

The price will magically increase at checkout when it detects that YOU have not given it an E-Mail address {which it will sell to other vendors}.

I subscribe to Nutrition Action Newsletter, which I love. I used to subscribe, and let it drop, and then last year they tried to entice me to subscribe by offering a two year subscription for $16. The only thing I don't like about them is that I now get all kinds of invites to subscribe to other newsletters such as the Mayo Clinic and Harvard's Health newsletter.

Yes I do get emails from Mariano's about sales or special events, but as far as I know I do not get spam from other businesses that have purchased mailing lists from Mariano's. It is the same with Jewel.

Hi,

Recently, they are playing games with the Friday Sampler.

When you click to get the coupon, it is discounted and not free. I click on the coupon anyway. At checkout, the item is reduced price and not free. I ask why wasn't this Friday Sampler free? The checker then inquires if I really obtained the coupon. I affirmed I did and it is adjusted to free.

I don't especially like this dance. Probably more people don't notice or choose to suck it up. If they want to call it Friday Sampler, I will continue to ask, "Why isn't it free?"

Annoying for both sides of the transaction, I'm sure.

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

Recently, they are playing games with the Friday Sampler.

When you click to get the coupon, it is discounted and not free. I click on the coupon anyway. At checkout, the item is reduced price and not free. I ask why wasn't this Friday Sampler free? The checker then inquires if I really obtained the coupon. I affirmed I did and it is adjusted to free.

I don't especially like this dance. Probably more people don't notice or choose to suck it up. If they want to call it Friday Sampler, I will continue to ask, "Why isn't it free?"

Annoying for both sides of the transaction, I'm sure.

Regards,
Cathy2

Looking at my receipt from yesterday for the Bai Bubbles I see a charge for $1.25, followed by a Perks Savings of -$0.54 and then a line that says "Econ FFD Bai Bbl" for -$1.25. If I'm reading that correctly they paid me 54 cents to take the free item. Mariano's periodically send me paper coupons for items we've purchased in the past, one thing the cashiers do tend to do is "forget" to scan those coupons until after the POS starts processing my credit card for payment and it's too late to make any changes. If you're using paper coupons I recommend not putting in your card until after everything has been scanned.

You are not reading that correctly. Mariano’s now puts this ridiculous line item ‘Perks and Savings’ and some dollar amount. That line is not a discount off your bill but a discount off some mythical regular price.

Coogles wrote:Looking at my receipt from yesterday for the Bai Bubbles I see a charge for $1.25, followed by a Perks Savings of -$0.54 and then a line that says "Econ FFD Bai Bbl" for -$1.25. If I'm reading that correctly they paid me 54 cents to take the free item.

The -$0.54 ($1.79 reg price) is the sale price savings when you scan your Marianos card. They have been doing this for a while now in that you will not get the sale price unless scanning your rewards card. The -$1.25 off (remaining balance of the free item) is just the FREE item you added to your rewards accounts regardless of price.

And the FREE discount shows up in the final price when your about to enter your method of payment. Prior to that it shows the price before the 'free' discount.

Hi,

All this reminds me of a class on how to solve a Rubik's cube I took earlier this week. I almost got to level one and left with my brain (or maybe my ego?) aching.

Deciphering a Mariano's receipt has the same affect on me.

Regards,
Cathy2

chgoeditor wrote:For as long as we loved Mariano's, I'm now starting to loathe it. The one on Broadway in Lakeview is the most convenient but I now avoid it at all costs. The Lawrence one is passable, but still drives me nuts. For such a large store, I'm amazed at how often we leave with things still on our shopping list because they're not in stock/not carried. Last week it was tamarind paste and cilantro.

...Jewel may be my new primary shopping destination.

Mariano's of late has made me re-appreciate Jewel. Some perfectly ordinary packaged foods (varieties of cereal, brands of coffee) are not at Mariano's, but readily available at Jewel. Jewel is a like an old friend who stayed loyal to you even when you foolishly started hanging out with the new kid. And was waiting for you when you came back.

On the subject of Mariano's locations that don't seem to be doing much business, the one at New City seemed emptier than it ought to have been the last time we were in there a while ago. It was far from a peak time (Saturday evening) but even after adjusting for that it was weird. At times I felt like we were the only people in the store.

riddlemay wrote:

chgoeditor wrote:
On the subject of Mariano's locations that don't seem to be doing much business, the one at New City seemed emptier than it ought to have been the last time we were in there a while ago. It was far from a peak time (Saturday evening) but even after adjusting for that it was weird. At times I felt like we were the only people in the store.

That has to be a tough location. Whole Foods is very close, is like a playground for Lincoln Parker DINKs, and since Amazon took over prices have moderated and the special discounts can be great. Their staff knows the difference between a cubumber and a kumquat, and if you can't find something there's always someone to help you, including going to the back room to check if they have something that's not on display. I'm a big fan of their 365 line. A big bonus is that the produce isn't DOA and attractively laid out - both things I can't say about Mariano's. In the other direction the big new Jewel at Division/Clark is open. I haven't been there, but like other posters I find myself drawn back to Jewel as an old friend I'd neglected.

polster wrote:

Coogles wrote:Looking at my receipt from yesterday for the Bai Bubbles I see a charge for $1.25, followed by a Perks Savings of -$0.54 and then a line that says "Econ FFD Bai Bbl" for -$1.25. If I'm reading that correctly they paid me 54 cents to take the free item.

The -$0.54 ($1.79 reg price) is the sale price savings when you scan your Marianos card. They have been doing this for a while now in that you will not get the sale price unless scanning your rewards card. The -$1.25 off (remaining balance of the free item) is just the FREE item you added to your rewards accounts regardless of price.

And the FREE discount shows up in the final price when your about to enter your method of payment. Prior to that it shows the price before the 'free' discount.

On the bright side at least it looks like I got the free item for free last week!

I've also been finding myself going to Jewel instead Mariano's more and more as the latter stops carrying the national brand items we like and replacing them with Kroger store brands, so far I haven't found a single "Simple Truth Organic" branded item that's in any way comparable to it's name brand equivalent.

chicagojim wrote:

riddlemay wrote:

chgoeditor wrote:
On the subject of Mariano's locations that don't seem to be doing much business, the one at New City seemed emptier than it ought to have been the last time we were in there a while ago. It was far from a peak time (Saturday evening) but even after adjusting for that it was weird. At times I felt like we were the only people in the store.

That has to be a tough location. Whole Foods is very close, is like a playground for Lincoln Parker DINKs, and since Amazon took over prices have moderated and the special discounts can be great.

It may be a tough location, only because Mariano's is a poor grocery store. There are plenty of people who have issues with WF and never shop there.

Coogles wrote:I've also been finding myself going to Jewel instead Mariano's more and more as the latter stops carrying the national brand items we like and replacing them with Kroger store brands, so far I haven't found a single "Simple Truth Organic" branded item that's in any way comparable to it's name brand equivalent.

The more I read this thread,the more I'm reminded of the similarities to the demise of Dominicks

Artie wrote:

Coogles wrote:I've also been finding myself going to Jewel instead Mariano's more and more as the latter stops carrying the national brand items we like and replacing them with Kroger store brands, so far I haven't found a single "Simple Truth Organic" branded item that's in any way comparable to it's name brand equivalent.

The more I read this thread,the more I'm reminded of the similarities to the demise of Dominicks

Bob Mariano was the CEO of both when they were sold, though my understanding is that he was opposed to the sale of Dominick's to Safeway.

If you cannot outright avoid shopping there, best to taste test a few morsels when shopping the bulk bins at Mariano's. When buying raw pistachios recently, I failed to do this and paid the price. Once I got home, I discovered a wide range of freshness levels in the bag I'd scooped out; everything from fresh to rancid-tasting. I get the feeling that somewhere in the supply chain, new inventory is simply being added to older inventory, rendering the entire stock questionable. It was pistachio roulette and I decided to throw away my entire purchase, rather than risk ruining the batch of what I was making.

I've never encountered this issue at Fresh Farms, where the raw nuts are sold in prepackaged containers, and always taste fresh.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:If you cannot outright avoid shopping there, best to taste test a few morsels when shopping the bulk bins at Mariano's. When buying raw pistachios recently, I failed to do this and paid the price. Once I got home, I discovered a wide range of freshness levels in the bag I'd scooped out; everything from fresh to rancid-tasting. I get the feeling that somewhere in the supply chain, new inventory is simply being added to older inventory, rendering the entire stock questionable. It was pistachio roulette and I decided to throw away my entire purchase, rather than risk ruining the batch of what I was making.

I've never encountered this issue at Fresh Farms, where the raw nuts are sold in prepackaged containers, and always taste fresh.

=R=

It probably wouldn't make much of a point, but did you consider returning them?

chicagojim wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:If you cannot outright avoid shopping there, best to taste test a few morsels when shopping the bulk bins at Mariano's. When buying raw pistachios recently, I failed to do this and paid the price. Once I got home, I discovered a wide range of freshness levels in the bag I'd scooped out; everything from fresh to rancid-tasting. I get the feeling that somewhere in the supply chain, new inventory is simply being added to older inventory, rendering the entire stock questionable. It was pistachio roulette and I decided to throw away my entire purchase, rather than risk ruining the batch of what I was making.

I've never encountered this issue at Fresh Farms, where the raw nuts are sold in prepackaged containers, and always taste fresh.

=R=

It probably wouldn't make much of a point, but did you consider returning them?

I did -- and still may --- but I haven't yet. I'm guessing they'd be amenable, so maybe I should.

=R=

I never buy anything from those bulk bins, unless the same product isn't available already packaged.

I have always been concerned that they will never let it completely run out prior to refilling. Solera may work for some wines, but not for perishables like nuts and grains. Also concerned about the amount of air that the contents are in contact with in those bins.

In Ron's situation, getting a refund is a hassle and it could have prevented you from making your recipe. It's a hassle for you that could have been avoided. Loved the pistachio roulette comment

Al Ehrhardt wrote:I never buy anything from those bulk bins, unless the same product isn't available already packaged.

I have always been concerned that they will never let it completely run out prior to refilling. Solera may work for some wines, but not for perishables like nuts and grains. Also concerned about the amount of air that the contents are in contact with in those bins.

In Ron's situation, getting a refund is a hassle and it could have prevented you from making your recipe. It's a hassle for you that could have been avoided. Loved the pistachio roulette comment

I don't typically shop at Mariano's but I needed raw pistachios and Whole Foods (at least the one nearest my house) no longer carries them. That was the only item I bought and since I don't normally shop there, returning them will require a dedicated trip. Maybe I should leave them (and the receipt, if I can find it) in my car, so that next time I'm driving by I can stop in and attempt to obtain a refund. In the end, I should have just gone to Trader Joe's. Their nut game is strong.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:I did [consider returning the pistachios to Mariano's] -- and still may --- but I haven't yet. I'm guessing they'd be amenable, so maybe I should.

A tangent--more of an opportunity to say something nice about Jewel than anything else--but I've been amazed at their amenability to accepting returns from mrs. riddlemay. Things where I said, "You can't return an item for a reason like that," and was proved wrong. Good old Jewel.

ronnie_suburban wrote:I don't typically shop at Mariano's but I needed raw pistachios and Whole Foods (at least the one nearest my house) no longer carries them. That was the only item I bought and since I don't normally shop there, returning them will require a dedicated trip. Maybe I should leave them (and the receipt, if I can find it) in my car, so that next time I'm driving by I can stop in and attempt to obtain a refund. In the end, I should have just gone to Trader Joe's. Their nut game is strong.
=R=

We also try to avoid Mariano's, and shop more frequently at Whole Foods (amongst others), but WF's has those same bulk bins and I don't trust theirs, either.

Regarding TJ's nut game being strong, it sure is. We eat a lot of different nuts and TJ's is our main source for nuts. Great variety, nice prices, and good turnover.

I get emails from Mariano's, and I just got one this week telling me that instead of getting a five cent refund for bringing your own bag, they are going to credit you in fuel rewards. I never use their fuel rewards because I probably spend only $25 a month at Mariano's. I mostly go to the one in Northbrook, and don't you have to spend $100 a month to get any fuel rewards. They claim that this is a better deal for customers, but only if you spend enough there to get fuel rewards. The most I am going to be out is ten cents a month though, and so it is not a big deal for me.

BTW- I was down in New Orleans for jazz fest, and I just flew back Tuesday morning. I have a Sister that lives there, and so I get to stay with her for free. One day while we were in her car, she mentioned that Mariano's had such a nice hot and salad bar. I took her in the Skokie store a few years ago. I then proceeded to tell her about how much it has gone down hill since Kroger took them over, and it wasn't nearly as nice.

She shops a lot at Rouse's a local chain, and she also hits the farmer's market and occasionally goes to WF. I had lots of Louisiana strawberries she picked up at the farmer's market the day I flew down there, and we had $5.99 a pound gulf coast shrimp she picked up at Rouse's twice while I was done there. The second batch of shrimp was huge. Hope this helps, Nancy

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Al Ehrhardt wrote:I never buy anything from those bulk bins, unless the same product isn't available already packaged.

I have always been concerned that they will never let it completely run out prior to refilling. Solera may work for some wines, but not for perishables like nuts and grains. Also concerned about the amount of air that the contents are in contact with in those bins.

In Ron's situation, getting a refund is a hassle and it could have prevented you from making your recipe. It's a hassle for you that could have been avoided. Loved the pistachio roulette comment

I don't typically shop at Mariano's but I needed raw pistachios and Whole Foods (at least the one nearest my house) no longer carries them. That was the only item I bought and since I don't normally shop there, returning them will require a dedicated trip. Maybe I should leave them (and the receipt, if I can find it) in my car, so that next time I'm driving by I can stop in and attempt to obtain a refund. In the end, I should have just gone to Trader Joe's. Their nut game is strong.

=R=