Will your NC grocery store do that for you? Use these insider tips at the supermarket
North Carolina shoppers have access to more than a dozen major grocery stores.
Each of them is unique. Browse the aisles of Trader Joe’s and Aldi, and find countless private-label products and takes on name-brand goods. Taste wine at Wegmans, or sip on a craft brew at Lowes Foods.
(Wegmans is expected to open its first Charlotte-area store next year, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.)
But there’s more to the stores than meets the eye. Several grocers offer special services across meat, produce and bakery departments. Shoppers just need to know to ask for them.
The News & Observer checked in with four popular grocery stores in the area to learn some tricks to try the next time you make a grocery run.
Did we miss something? Email ask@newsobserver.com with your go-to grocery store tips and tricks.
Tips to use at the grocery store bakery
- At Publix, Wegmans and Food Lion, ask a store employee to slice bread from the bakery. At Publix, customers can choose a regular or thin slice.
- Lowes Foods sells bread by the half-loaf and can slice bread at the shopper’s desired thickness.
- Kids 12 years and younger can get a free chocolate chip or sugar cookie at Publix. At Lowes Foods, kids can sample icing.
Tips to use at the meat and seafood departments
- Publix will steam and season fish on site. Wegmans will cut and clean whole fish, and Lowes Foods steams seafood in store.
- Want meat in smaller pieces? Publix will break down rotisserie chickens into halves or quarters. Lowes Foods, Publix and Wegmans offer custom cuts, so if there are larger roasts, those can be broken down, too.
- If a shopper wants meat from the case processed, including by grinding or tenderizing, Publix can accommodate those requests.
- Food Lion cuts popular beef selections including New York strips, tenderloins and ribeyes to order, based on a customer’s choice of thickness and size.
- At Lowes Foods, customers can reserve cuts of dry-aged Certified Angus beef.
Tips to use in the produce section
- Ask an employee at Publix to cut large fruits and vegetables, like watermelon, cantaloupe or hard squash.
- Just need a couple of bananas? Don’t want a whole vine of tomatoes? At Publix, shoppers can break off the amount they want. If a customer needs a smaller portion of a product sold in a package, Publix will break packages as needed.
- At Lowes Foods, customers can snip their own herbs off a plant to get what they need. Store employees also can slice, dice, mince or cube fruits and vegetables to order.
- Kids can get a free piece of fruit when they visit Lowes Foods.
Inspired by a story from The Miami Herald in Florida.
This story was originally published January 24, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Will your NC grocery store do that for you? Use these insider tips at the supermarket."
