Curious has to what the bells and whistles are at the White Marsh Giant?

Exactly. It's a shame that the management there is so oblivious to it.

Better known as penny wise, pound foolish. I refuse to shop there unless desparate because of the long lines. Catch-22, they don't staff properly because they don't have business and because they don't staff properly I don't shop there.

Honeygo Weis is great.

It just sucks for me, their everything bagels are so damn yummy. :/

The Perring Parkway Safeway has self checkout. I am not sure why PH does not. I have decided not to shop there (even for a Starbucks run...) until they get self checkout. If they are not going to staff the registers, they need an alternative. I plan my shopping as if the Safeway does not exist.

I just go to the Bel Air/Joppa for the SBs. They screw it up way less often.

Except dont go on Saturday mornings. It's impossibly busy on Saturday mornings, we just brew our own then.

Other Tim, I often wonder where all the long line comments come from regarding Safeway. I shop there all the time with no problem. I don't believe their prices to be high or the store to be dirty. I have also never had a problem with empty shelves or sale items, the old Superfresh was notorious for that.

I will say though I am glad to see a store opening up as it will provide jobs for local residents, however no grocery store has ever lasted in that shopping center. Perhaps Giant will be one that sticks.

When do YOU go shopping?

Although I agree with most of your opinion William, there is literally always a long line when I go. Typically weekends, but weeknights too. I must just have the worst luck.

You must've meant to say Wegman's :)

It's also ironic because the Weis chain is one of the 10 worst in the nation.
The local one here, seems to be an exception to this claim, however.

Wow, worst in the nation huh. I'm surprised, the one on SCD is well run. I know one of the managers there, Rodney (black guy, almost always talking with someone), very, very nice guy and knows what he's doing. That Weis is well run and well maintained and the employees are (mostly) a joy to be around. Great food store especially when I drive my shopping cart 20mph through the store ramming into other carts.

lol Joke from another thread, sorry, I had to.

Not worst, 7th worst. I JUST saw a top 10 list. Worst was Parthmark out of NY, and I know this to be true, having lived up there.

Food Lion was on the list, A&P (owns Super Fresh) as well. again, no real surprises.

We got luck with our Weis stores locally here, is all I can say.

make sure you use the turn signal on the carts Mike. Don't make me petition David for speed bumps in the freezer aisle!!!

Nooooo, not the freezer isles! How am I supposed to run into the tower of balls (that sounded SO wrong, but you know what thing I'm talking about) and watch them roll all over the place! Oh alright, I'll use turn signals, but I won't stop standing on the back bar of the cart and riding it like a skateboard. No compromising that!! Except when Maria is working at the flower section, then I'll drive normally. hehehe She's a sweet lady.

Yeah, it does sound like we got lucky and I'm glad. Weis has totally dominated the food market chain in Perry Hall and probably beyond as well.

As for Wegmans, I'm not sure if you were being sarcastic or not, but I meant Weis. It's next to where the soda machines are and where the bags of mulch are just before the flower shelves. It's built into the wall. Reverse osmosis filtering and just about everything else. I'm telling you, that water is 10x better than any bottled water I've ever had and it's CHEAP and you can go anytime to fill it up. I'm a big water drinker and have been looking for a source of fluoride free water for a long time. I apparently didn't notice it for years, but a woman at GNC told me about it, so now I use the water there exclusively. Even my cat drinks the hell out of it (for a cat anyway, they dont have much of a thirst drive but she loves that water too..more than tap thats for sure), it's great water. lol

have you been to Wegman's yet? If not, check it out sometime. Its ridiculous and their variety kills all the local markets here.

The drawback of course is you need to plan near 2 hours to shop there including travel. This is why we probably shop there every 3-4 weeks, and not weekly.

It's never going to happen. Honestly, the one I would expect if any would be Whole Foods but I'd doubt it. Trader Joe's and Wegman's would both be cannibalizing themselves to a degree.

Wow, Andy - what an original thought! Trader Joes! Whole Foods! Such an original and new idea - never been said here before!!!!

Yes, they are in business to throw away money, so I am sure they totally ignored those marketing reports that told them what a profitable market Perry Hall would be.

Dunno, but in a random somewhat related note, there's a frozen yogurt place where the old fat ass haunt cinnabon use to be, and that froyo is actually quite good. I recommend it for those of you looking to stay in shape, or get there.

Giant has been around much longer than Weis in this area, so I would say they have a pretty good hand hold in the area. The one at Perring Parkway closed because they lost their lease, but White Marsh and on Belair Road by the Beltway seem to always be busy.
I believe Safeway and Giant had club cards before Weis. I know Safeway was the first in this area to offer gas discounts for shopping with them. If any copying going on, it's being done by Weis.
Super Fresh was just plain bad and needed to close.
I have had too many bad experiences with Weis in the past with freezer burned product and spoiled meat, so now, to me, they are just a big 7-11. I use them for quick items like bread and milk. Plus, they are the villian in the Berg's closing. (sarcasm)
Grocery stores are a lot like restaurants. People have their favorites, and nothing in going to change their opinion. I'm sticking with Shoppers for now, but will probably go to Giant often.

hopefully it never will? I'd rather see a nice kids area there instead of another outlet for drug use.

At least the Walgreens has put up numerous trees and focused on curb appeal - you got to give them credit for that.

Any new construction in Baltimore County must submit a landscaping plan listing all planned trees and bushes, and it must be approved by Baltimore County. Something the county does right. What they do not do is future follow up. Too many businesses let their landscaping grow wild.

OT - I wasn't aware of that - Thanks - It appears that may be an issue for future review.

Mike... You obviously have a vested interest in Weis and Sheetz, and I respect that. 1) We only drive when absolutely necessary and combine trips, so have fun with that. 2) I expect gas prices to rise, so have fun with that. 3) I do almost everything to be environmentally friendly, so have fun with that. 4) Giant will have JOBS for people - so make sure you show up at the grand opening and tell all of the employees you can't wait until Giant closes and they lose their jobs.

Show me where I said I "can't wait until Giant closes so people lose their jobs." People will college degrees can't even get and hold jobs these days. Maybe if we stopped outsourcing all of our jobs, we'd have more jobs for people. I don't have a "vested interest" in Weis or Sheetz, all I'm saying is that the Perry Hall Weis does business better than all the others and that's why they have the monopoly in the area. That's just the obvious facts. Sheetz having lower gas prices than most places (in my experiences both in MD and in PA) is also a fact, so there's no vested interest. That's just how it is. You want more jobs? Stop sending them all overseas and get the economy fixed so there are more jobs for people. It's not my fault when places of business close down because their competition is better.

You said, "Giant won't last just like none of the others did", so I guess you should tell the Giant employees to enjoy their paycheck for now because it won't last. From what you are saying in this post, I feel the same as you. I shop almost completely local to support local businesses. Do I sometimes pay more - yes - but I would rather the businesses stay open. I am not financially rich by any means.

When I was much younger, we used to shop at Giant, we actually tried many places, but were never really completely satisfied. Weis was the one that stuck and apparently, many others feel that way too. People want the best available and people also shouldn't settle for anything less. Everyone is losing jobs these days, the demand for jobs far outweighs the demand. One of the biggest problems, IMO, are superstores like Walmart and BJ's which help to eliminate local businesses. EVERYONE should be thinking "enjoy your paycheck while it lasts" because that's how the world is right now. I'm not saying it's right because quite frankly, its BS, but that's how it is. What do you expect from a country that is bankrupt and continues to print money which devalues our currency. Companies want cheap labor which is where outsourcing comes into play. As far as there being no jobs, there are bigger fish to fry than grocery stores that can't hold their own because they can't compete with competitors. I would rather businesses stay open too, but if you don't do good business and you don't do enough to keep up with your competitors, that business will fail and that's what is happening in these kinds of situations. People will go to the best service and places with the best prices. I am not financially rich either, btw.

Err, I meant the demand for jobs far outweighs the SUPPLY. Oopsie.

Big Oil will never, ever allow it.

When Obama tries to invoke change, Conservatives and those in Congress bought and paid for by 'Big Oil' scream bloody murder at all of the wasted money. Which is partially accurate.

The Republicans would rather gut our own country via both oil drilling and natural gas mining. Although they have a point with natural gas. The problem is its just not safe to do. If these folks would spend some money improving out natural gas minining techniques, we could actually see this being a valid source of energy.Something that could act almost as a 'bridge' between ever declining oil supplies (much less the reliance on the Middle East for it) and a more fully renewable energy society.

I prefer the bus or Metro or Light Rail.

Well, buses get around 6mpg, so I don't know if that's doing all that much to save fuel and oil. Depends how many people are riding, depends how far they are going (if they could walk, ride a bike etc.). Even those, I would say "arrogant" Prius owners who say they are saving the environment and laugh at others using conventional fuel based cars, you do know that all Prius cars are made in Japan, right? How do you think they get to the US? The boats that bring them here burn up more gas and do more polluting than a million cars do, so before you even drive your Prius for the first time, just remember that. You may even out by the end of the life of the car, though. Kind of off topic, but some Prius owners just think they are so superior because they save the environment. They are millions of gallons of fuel in the hole before they even drive it off the lot. Also, bikes are impractical for long rides that would take 20 minutes by car. Short distances, I'd rather walk personally.

Well, two hours is a long walk, but it's also a longer workout. I walk regularly between 60-90 minutes a day just looping around the side streets off seven courts all over the place and there's a TON of hills which makes it that much more intense. I never got much into biking, don't know why, maybe I just don't feel like "driving" anything at the time.