April 2023 by Nicole H.
I wish I didn't have to write this review but every time I try and support this local grocery store it ends up poorly. I've gotten to driving a half hour each way to Knoxville because it just seems to get worse over time. Staff aren't attentive, produce selection is horrible (today I wasn't able to get half of the produce I needed because what was on the shelves were disgusting looking - bruises, moldy, old, soft, damaged, etc.) Prices are much higher than Walmart, Kroger in Knoxville, IGA and definitely much higher than Aldi. Deli is really slow most of the time too. Today, like nearly always, the checkout was disappointing. Today was exceptionally bad though; bagger was incredibly inattentive. The cashier wasn't terribly friendly, but the bagger was not paying attention to anything, had really red eyes, and he couldn't focus. He was mindlessly putting things in bags that should never be put together... Raw meat with fresh fruits, bread with heavy items, 6 heavy jars in one bag, frozen with pharmacy, overstuffed bags, ripping bags and more. Not only was the bagger's attention non existent, when we tried to ask him to bag things more thoughtfully he got upset and we ended up bagging much of our own groceries. About 6 staff members just stood by laughing and talking, not helping guests either. Why so many people doing nothing? I get it that it's hard to find quality people, but lack of training and lack of care for customers shouldn't be tolerated. These are basic components of the most simple guest service in retail. I wish it would get better. Produce that isn't bad, slow deli and routinely bad check-out experiences make it almost impossible for me to support this local business. I'll have to keep driving into Knoxville. Only thing good about this location is the pharmacy. They've been helpful and they're kind and friendly most of the time. That's why it's 2 stars instead of 1. Pharmacy is good.