Based on what we did last week. Cost U Less will be a good bet. It's like a costco or sam's club.
Jay

alot of the roadside stands are good for produce as well, it's fairly easy to tell the difference between stuff grown here and the stuff from the warehouses

mfinn, My opinions, suggestions: Produce- I would stay with the local stands or a more local Market.
Canned Goods- Cost-u-less or larger Grocery Store like Pueblos (?spelling) or the Food Center
out East towards Red Hook.
Dairy Products- Any of the above ( Canned Goods)
Bakery Items- I'm certain there are others but the Marina market in Red Hook is, in one word
Awesome.
Liquor- Beer and wine are about the same most places I have been. Booze on the other hand can be a bit of a challenge if you really want to price shop. It's cheap every where but cheaper still in some places. For instance last Feb we found Kahlua $3 a bottle cheaper at the Marina Market than the Food Center and $2 cheaper than K-Mart. It's really not worth running around to save a few bucks unless you nee copious quantities. I mean $3.99 for a quart of Cruzan light rum. Why waste the gas or time going place to place.

Much depends on where you are staying for convenience reasons. We stay out towards Red Hook and have not found a better place to go for all our needs than the Marina Market. They have consistently great Bakery , Meats and Fish , and a very good selection of beer, wine and booze. Prices are "reasonable" and shockingly close to home prices on some things like fresh meat.

Where is Cost u Less? Does it require membership? Does it have anything other than shelf-stable items?

Thanks!

It is about halfway between downtown and Red Hook. No membership required. They have some produce and meat and a large frozen foods section. They also have booze 🙂
Here is the web page.

http://www.costuless.com/stores.php?l=2&subsection=St.+Thomas&id=17

Jay

Thanks for the helpful info.!

We are actually staying over on St. John for four days prior to shopping. We plan to take the ferry to pick up our rental car that day and then go grocery/liquor shopping for the group before we meet them at the airport.

We plan to go to the KMart to pick up a few items and then to Cost-U-Less. Is there a produce stand or market close to either?

Thanks again.

Bring your own shopping bags at Cost U Less/ or use there empty box cartons that are available.

CostULess has a relatively new produce department (in the last year) which is suprisingly very large and very good.

There is no membership fee to shop there. You can sign up for a card which you present at the register that, according to how much you spend on an accumulative basis, will garner you "reward dollars" which are mailed to you every so often. Where a tourist is concerned this of course wouldn't probably be a viable option. For us residents it works out nicely, particularly since CULess prices are, for the most part, very competitive.

They have an extensive liquor and wine selection, an array of fresh meat, frozen meats and vac-pac offerings, a very good produce department as mentioned - and a plethora of everything else from TVs to home audio systems to office supplies to garden supplies and Lord knows what else! I enjoy shopping there MUCH more than I enjoy shopping at KMart but I HAVE to go to KMart for certain things...

You do have to bring your own bags, although they do sometimes have a cart at the exit with regular plastic bags contained therein for the taking. There is a big "empty box" enclosed area adjacent to the registers where they dump the empty cases so you can forage through there to find what you buy will fit into what. Hey, it may be a bit tacky to some but at least it's SOME semblance of recycling!

They also sell big Hot/Cold Thermal bags which work very well. I have two of the large ones which I use all the time and swear by them for transportation of frozen items.

I would suggest just wandering through the aisles. I don't always have the time to do the basic "wander" because I have my basic list and my cart simply tears up and down the various aisles to find what I need but I always DO, when passing through the frozen food section, look for that bright green sticker which advertises a majorly reduced item, I have got some awesome deals via those green stickers!

Cheers, and hope this helps!

would suggest just wandering through the aisles. I don't always have the time to do the basic "wander" because I have my basic list and my cart simply tears up and down the various aisles to find what I need but I always DO, when passing through the frozen food section, look for that bright green sticker which advertises a majorly reduced item, I have got some awesome deals via those green stickers!

STT...what do the green stickers mean. Why are they reduced????

The sale items are usually overstocks, to-be-discontinued products, or those within a month or so of their legal "sell by" dates.

One word of caution no matter where you shop down there be sure to check the sell by date. We often see items for sale that are PAST the sell by date.

beachboy: You say that you "often see items for sale that are PAST the sell by date."

Pray tell in what stores?

If you see items for sale in any markets here which have an expired sell-by date then you should first locate the store manager to alert them and, as a last resort, call the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs immediately.

With all due respect, I don't know that any supermarket manager here or any small business grocery store owner would knowingly sell any product beyond it's "sell-by" date because the fines involved are enormous under Federal guidelines.

Cheers!

if you are doing grocery shopping, PLAZA EXTRA (located by Kmart in Tutu Mall) has everything under one roof. Its not organized in the best way, some items will be in multiple isles, but they pretty much have everything, from fruits and produce to cans to liquor to meat and etc. CostULess is good for bulk shopping for eggs, packaged food, napkins, and liquor prices are very competitive.
hope this helps

Seems to me that buying for 16 people is a trip to cost-u-less. They a nice produce area and to die for rotisserie chicken.

Enjoy Your Stay!
Peggy

Thanks again. I was wondering if anyone knows if Dazzlers or the AH Riise stores at Havensight have better prices on liquor than Cost-U-Less. I am purchasing quite a bit of beer and liquor (rum, whiskey, tequila) for our group. Do any of those stores offer a discount?

Thanks!

STT Resident

I agree it has gotten better regarding the sell by date, but I still check everything and occasionally find things for sale that are past the sell by date. I usually shop at several stores and always check. I don;t know that it is done deliberately, but it is a good idea to always check the date.

mfinn: I doubt you would find big savings or discounts at either AH Riise or Dazzlers as compared to those you'd find in the larger stores. What you are more likely to find at either on a cost-effective basis compared to stateside prices are the more obscure wines and liqueurs.

I hop and shop a lot between Cost U Less and Plaza Xtra. That's what we do here! CULess I think will fill your needs on a one-stop basis. If your tastes are geared towards an ethnic variety then Plaza Xtra can fill your needs. I'd go between the two to stock up if I were you!

beachboy: According to the local media, The Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs (DLCA) was out in force yesterday doing "swoops" on selected supermarkets (Pueblo, Plaza Xtra and Food Center) checking for general infractions including out-dated shelf items. It'll be interesting to see what they come up with.

mfnn, I don't know how far away from a store you will be staying but it really may not be worth stocking up to much as beer prices are pretty much the same everywhere and you can buy it cold or keep it cold and ice is an issue. You can save some $ on booze if you buy several bottles or more but again the only real savings is the lack of need to run to the store. As long as the stores are open you can buy beer/boooze/wine or whatever whenever.

Today's Daily News Reports everything ok with the food stores, no citations issued, no items found past sell date.