Thrifty Foods

I don’t like store bought cookies. I pine for home-​made. However, you will notice a dynamic if you sit in the parking lot here. People will come out carrying only a small brown paper package. It’s the oatmeal raisin cookies. They are better than Grandma’s. Seriously. Only try them if you are comfortable picking up an elicit habit.
So, I mostly get my groceries delivered from here. It means I can shop at 2 in the morning in my pyjamas or as I sip a G&T on a hot summer afternoon. There is a very small delivery charge and the service is incredible. I often end up saving money because the ‘personal shoppers’ look for ways to save and will call if substitutions are required.
The prices are higher than bulk or wholesale stores. The quality is also much better. The weekly flyer is online and there are frequent «$ 1 Sales». They also give Air Miles.

It was a sad day when they closed the Thrifty’s in New West in favour of the overpriced Save-​Not-​Foods as we now have to drive out to Coquitlam to get the best meat, dairy, bakery and produce in the lower mainland. It is just a bonus that everyone is really friendly and seem to love their jobs.

I love going to this grocery store for multiple reasons. They have a wide variety of fresh organic fruit, vegetables, meats and dairy. I love that. And the staff are always really helpful. I find that its not overly busy with shoppers either so there aren’t usually long lineups. When my son was first born, I used to order my groceries online cause I was just too tired to get out of the house. I highly recommend this store.

In keeping with Thrifty Foods tradition of great food, and friendly awesome staff — this Coquitlam store is definitely a cut above a few other grocery stores I have ventured into in my years of BC necessity shopping. It is in keeping with what I now call «The Thrifty Foods Experience Extraordinaire» (please note, you must say it with a wonderful French accent).
I recently reviewed the PoMo store with the same rating, because of my love for this chain. The Coquitlam store does not disappoint. It’s quaint, clean, and focuses on service excellence. I have thrown away all my other grocery cards and have devoted myself fully completely to the Thrifty experience… It doesn’t get any better than this.

I love this place for all it’s organic and healthy options. It keeps me coming back because it offers good products at fair prices.
Never have I seen a bag of jumbo organic carrots (from California too) for only $ 2!!!
For Coquitlam this is about as good as it get — grocery store-​wise.
Good luck with parking though, it’s like navigating through hell.

When you live in the area you will find there is no single grocery store for all your needs but Thrifty Foods does do a pretty good job. All you have to do is unlock the secrets of their parking lot, yes it’s a bit of a maze there.
Their produce is excellent, always trying to promote local growers whenever possible, and their meat and cheese selection holds up very well.
However I feel their bakery has something to be desired. If you want some decent baked goods then head to Inno Bakery just behind Safeway on Austin, failing that Superstore has decent bakery, better than Thrifty Foods.

Let’s just say, I love grocery shopping.
I love to roam isles, I like to touch things (ok that sounds bad, but it’s not!), and I like to price check — with the internal price checker in my head.
Grocers have come a long way from 10 – 20 years ago and these places are so clean, modern, open, and I want to buy everything! I love Thrifty too and the Coquit location is a little smaller but I just love all the variety of «stuff.»

M&M’s was closed, so went in here for the first time to get some steaks for a BBQ with the bf and a friend. Ended up annoying the shit out of them by walking around the produce section wide-​eyed for about 10 minutes.
Red currants? FRESH habeneros? Gooseberries? My god… is that a cactus leaf? Christ on wheels — WHY haven’t I come here before?
We finally got steaks from the butcher counter — their prepackaged meat department is pretty lacking. But oooh, marinated cuts of meat at a grocery store? And a not-​completely-​nasty-​looking seafood counter? Impressed Meter slowly rising…
Girl at checkout counter was friendly and funny and cute. I think my friend liked her. Made joke about how cactus leaf looks more like a weapon.
Overall, must say I am pretty impressed. Not too sure about their prices, but would return here for the produce section alone.

I wish there was a three and a half star option — I’m between thinking this place is a-​okay or being a big fan and adding it onto my regular grocery roster.
Thrifty Foods has a good selection for the health oriented, and an good organic selection. I was also over the moon about finding Island Foods Ice Cream half off (all healthy food and no junk food make Jenni crave ice cream).
What I didn’t like is it lacked the wheat and gluten free selection which other grocers in the area-​ish offer. It was the first time I found this one loaf of millet bread in particular. I did find splet flour, unfortunately it was more than at Choices, and there were no rice, potato or chick pea flour like I was hoping for when I went — there was potato pancake mix.
The service was good, and the store is really clean, I just didn’t fall in love.

I’ve always loved going to Thrifty Foods when I’m on the Island, and I’ve always wondered why they don’t open more locations in the Lower Mainland. Maybe there’s too much competition here already? Anyway, even though a rep from Thrifty Foods once almost made me cry (he yelled at me because he thought I was cutting in a line) at a particularly emotional Eat! Vancouver show, I still think of them as a foodie’s kind of grocery store.
The Coquitlam store is perched on a mountainside, and it’s quite compact, but you’re lulled in gently through produce and flowers and deli, followed by an intoxicating bakery (smart, how they’ve put the cakes up front, and then the less glamorous bread), and a well-​stocked seafood and meat department. Live lobster! They have all your normal grocery store stuff, plus a small natural health section and pharmacy. Prices are pretty competitive with the big boys. And I’m a sucker for this part — they carry a nice range of your eco-​friendly/​organic products — Burt’s Bees, Seventh Generation, Method, etc.
The piece de resistance was getting a cash-​back gift card with purchase, $ 10 for every $ 50 I spent, no point card sign-​up required. That almost completely makes up for the time their guy yelled at me.