Fresh Thyme Farmers Market

Received the flyer on Sunday, went to the store and was informed in the fine print on the last page at the bottom that the specials are not good until Wednesday. returned on Thursday of that week to shop and get the special, they were sold out. Special was for Salmon, they had it but would not sell what they had at the special price, You have to wait for inferior product to get the price. It was only the second day of a week long sale. I would not shop here.

Fresh thyme is a alright place to shop if you want healthy food without spending the Whole foods money. It’s waaaay to small, my husband and I wake up at the butt crack of dawn on Sunday’s to get in before it gets too crowded. I usually just come in for bulk stuff like nuts, seeds and oats but, you can luck up and find some really good deals on produce. Ugh! I just wish this place was in a better location with a bigger parking lot.

Tips and tricks:
— Avoid on Saturdays unless you want to wait in line.
— Make a list before you go (I focus my list on bulk bins, produce, cheese, and meat — those are the areas that this store SHINES)
— Look at their specials. No really LOOK AT THEM. They post flyers online for the current week and next week. Wednesdays you can cash in on both ads. Their prices are FANTASTIC for sales and mediocre normally.
— Buy gummy bears. These are the holy grail of gummy bears — they are in the bulk bins and are worth a trip.
— Coffee beans are a great buy! You can grind in store.
— The house made sausages are out of this world (spicy parm chicken and chicago hot pork are my favs) — normally priced 3.99 a pound, but frequently on sale for 2.99 a lb (either price is cheaper than jimmy dean or any other brand).
— Their carts are small — if you have a baby in a carseat, the carts are not big enough to prop the seat on the front like normal grocery carts. They have an underground parking garage that is fantastic — escalators and an elevator option.
Buy what’s on sale — if you do, Fresh Thyme is the place to go. I stock up on pantry staples (canned goods, cereal, broth, butter etc) elsewhere. If you mostly buy dairy, produce, and meat — this is your store.

Great store! Huge selection of organic and natural products at low prices! I’m excited for the one in Apple Valley to open

Better than nothing I suppose, but this place is caught between a whole foods and a co op. Less selection, owned brands, creativity than whole foods, with less homegrown, specialty diet products than a coop. It’s as if a couple of grocery execs said «hey, let’s cash in on the fresh craze, and put farmers market in the name…» Oh wait, that’s actually what happened.

While I probably should wait before writing this review — I feel compelled to point out that I went to this store three times within a couple weeks of their grand opening. I was impressed with inventory and prices. However, I stopped in last evening and was very disappointed with how drastically the prices had escalated. Last trip I was sure the salad far was $ 4.49 a lbs. — Last night it was $ 6.49! They were nearly out of organic eggs and what was there was over $ 6.00 a dozen. My enthusiasm has been curbed. While I thought they might be become my destination grocery store — I might as well go to Whole Foods where high prices are expected… my expectation were raised and drastically deflated.

I can’t say we were impressed. The store is cramped in areas and some of the product placement causes a lot of congestion. Especially in the deli and bakery area. Their weekly sale prices can be VERY good. Be sure to check the produce though. We found fresh and spoiled mixed together in a few different items. As one of the other reviewers mention, checkout can be a pain. That hopefully could be growing pains. The have a very good assortment of bulk items, and a good gluten free selection. We’ll wait a few weeks and try it again.

They have a nice selection, but once you go to check out it is the worst. You have to get in line down an aisle. You can’t see the other checkouts to see if they have a line. The lines move very slowly.

Mixed feelings on Fresh Thyme Farmers Market because it’s a hit or miss with the deals. For example on the great deals I’ve got:
$ 2.99/LB Deli thick cut bacon
$ 7.99 for a HUGE bottle of Virgin Olive Oil
$ 0.99-$ 1.99 Double Crusted French Bread (THE BEST GROCERY STORE FRENCH BREAD)
What’s cool is that they freshly squeeze and bottle beet, carrot, lemon and orange juice at the store! A little pricey but its so good!
Cons are probably pricey items that you could get way cheaper at CUB or Trader Joes
Probably not a store that I would fully grocery shop at and also THEY DO NOT HAVE AN EXPRESS LANE! It’s so chaotic at checkout! The store is a little cramped.

The produce looked fairly bright, and there was a nice selection of nuts, grains/​oats, and other bag-​your-​own options.
However, the prices aren’t great (e.g., $ 5.29 for a box of cereal that costs $ 3.99 at Trader Joe’s), half the checkout lanes were closed (4:30 p.m. on a Monday) so the lines were extending through the grocery aisles, and I came home to find both my cartons of eggs expired yesterday.
I’m a little bummed, as I had higher expectations based on some initial reviews I’d heard of Fresh Thyme. With that said, this will likely be both my first and last trip. So, hey, points for convenience!

I really wanted to love this as it was advertised as a hybrid between Trader Joe’s and a Farmer’s Market which is a fantastic idea. I really didn’t love it however. It looks like a corporate-​Disney World idea of a farmer’s market. Produce not so fresh nor local for that matter and lots of prepared foods in the deli. Decorations second rate. Definitely not like Whole Foods. Oh well~~

I’ve been to Fresh Thyme in other states, so I feel I already have a good feel for what the store offers. It is sort of a blend of Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, in a good way. We stopped by the grand opening because we were already in the neighborhood… and I think the store maybe wasn’t ready for MN. We love grand openings here! Some of the staff was already pretty tired by noon and even snapping at customers about fire codes and where carts should be. I thought it was funny that large amounts of Papa Johns was being delivered. The bakery looks awesome, their bulk section is solid and has some specialty items (different flavored yogurt pretzels!) and the produce section is large… but there shouldn’t be moldy strawberries on day one.
Park underground. There’s one of those cool cart escalators.