Community Corner
Laurel's Cheapest Groceries
With so many grocery stores spread out in Laurel, have you ever wondered which gives you the best deal? Don't worry, Laurel Patch has done all the legwork for you.
Laurel has five medium-sized supermarkets that sell traditional groceries. Several of these grocers offer more specialty foods than others. While each carries everyday staples such as eggs, milk, sugar, cereal and coffee, it’s a challenge to compare many items because of weekly sales and in-store specials that vary week to week, store to store. We did not include large tier grocery stores such as Giant and Safeway.
Patch compared prices of some food items at Weis, Shoppers Food Warehouse, Bottom Dollar, Super Grand Mart and Panam Supermarket. We also listed a few of their exceptionally-priced items if offered. The results may surprise you.
A brief overview of each store precedes price savings and comparisons:
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Shoppers Food Warehouse
3441 Fort Meade Rd
Find out what's happening in Laurelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Laurel, MD 20724
301-206-3490
6 a.m. to Midnight
Shoppers Food Warehouse has two locations in Laurel. Patch visited the Maryland City store. This facility is immaculate and orderly with regular and sale prices prominently displayed on the shelves, end caps and store entrance. Many of the great deals hit you the moment you enter the store because of their location and bright yellow tags. The customer service center is also near the entryway for customer convenience.
They have a salad bar offering a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. It’s located in the produce department which is extremely clean and brightly lit. The bar is constantly wiped and replenished by store staff. They offer a full-service seafood department, floral section and M&T banking.
Shoppers had the best deal on name brand water - 54 oz Deer Park Water at $1 each. Weis’ price was $1.15 a jug. Bottom Dollar did not sell that size but offered Deer Park 24 pack at $4.97. Super Grand had a good deal on Planter’s peanut oil at $4.59 for 24 oz while Shoppers sold it for $4.99 for the same size.
Post Raisin Bran – Natural Advantage $3.39
Folgers Coffee – House, Silk, Black $9.99
Fresh chicken drumsticks $ .99 lb
Planters Peanut Oil $4.99
Weis Markets
3331 Corridor Marketplace
Laurel, MD 20724
301-483-8030
Daily 6 a.m. - 11 p.m.
Weis, which will celebrate 100 years in business in 2012, has three stores in Laurel. Patch visited the Corridor Marketplace location. The deals are great and plenty. They have a pharmacy, bakery, and deli along with standard grocery department offerings.
The store is airy and clean with wide aisles for convenient shopping. Weis offers online coupons which can be printed out for use in their stores.
Weis’ customer service department is in the front of the store
Post Raisin Bran – Natural Advantage $3.39
Folgers Coffee – House, Silk, Black $11.49
Fresh chicken drumsticks $ .99 lb
Planters Peanut Oil $4.99
Bottom Dollar
410 Sandy Springs Rd
Laurel, MD 20707
301-362-9581
Daily 7 a.m. – 10 p.m.
There are two Bottom Dollar stores in Laurel. Patch visited Sandy Springs Road location. This is a basic market with primarily self-serve items. They use many private brands for their store items, such as Hannaford, Smart Options and Healthy Accents. On their website they say these brands are offered at everyday low prices. You be the judge as you compare the items listed below with other store offerings. Many of this store’s specials are in large cardboard bins in different parts of the store.
Hannaford Tuna – 58 cents each
Super Grand Mart
13600 Laurel-Bowie Road
Laurel, MD 20708
301362-5572
Daily 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.
This is the only Super Grand in Laurel and part of the Grand Mart chain based in Virginia. The store has an open-air set up around the store offering fish, vegetables and fruits. This store offers Latin American and Asian specialties such as pomelos, lemongrass and Asian pears. Customer service amenities is not their high point. They don’t have any answering mechanism before or after store hours for customers unfamiliar with the hours. They do offer some national brand items but many are ethnic oriented. The store manages give the best deal on chicken out of all stores surveyed on our liust.
Special chicken drumsticks $.69 lb
Coffee Folgers $11.99
Planters Peanut Oil – $4.59
Post Raisin Bran – does not sell Natural Advantage
Chicken Drumsticks $1.19 lb
Thighs - $1.09 lb.99
PANAM
111 Bowie Road
Laurel, MD 20707
301-317-4700
Daily 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.
PANAM offers traditional American products but a quick survey of the shelves show large inventories of Hispanic food products. PANAM sells standard brand-name products such as mustard, spices, ketchup, mayonnaise. The store sells a lot of Goya canned items but has a staffed meat department.
Many of the items are not marked making it difficult to do a price comparison or listing. Though technically an ethnic food store, PANAM offers an array of meats at low prices. For example, shoppers can purchase a pound of fresh tilapia for less than $4.75 and two pounds of shrimp for under $12 dollars. Though the packages of chicken and beef don't indicate if they're hormone free, shoppers can walk away with packs of chicken breast and steak strips for as low at $6.
