Bi-Lo

Perhaps one of the most disgusting grocery establishments on Earth.
I don’t even know where to begin with this place, so I’ll just start with the physical store itself: antiquated. The checkout lines are oddly constructed– no conveyor belts for you to unload your cart. Rather, you just push your cart up to the cashier and he/​she unloads it for you. Not so bad, right? Well, if you’re one of the few customers shopping at this store who only has a basket rather than a wheeled shopping cart, it can be a challenge. And, let’s be honest, it’s not like the person in front of you is in any hurry. Fort Oglethorpe may be ground zero for two things: extreme couponing and sugary-​soda sales. Inevitably, the person with the cart in front of you partakes in both activities and generally requires a fork lift to unload his/​her shopping cart. Meanwhile, you and that basket are getting a P90X-​worthy bicep workout.
Next is the employees themselves. There are generally three categories of employees at this location: 1. The high-​school student — naïve, flighty, and distracted. 2. The career Bi-​Lo employee, complete with the most ardent sense of company loyalty. 3. The retiree, complete with confusion and all the dirty looks you could possibly imagine when purchasing a bottle of wine or a case of beer at any time, ever.
Finally, a word about the «produce» department. (I use quotations marks because it’s all a masquerade). Compared to the size of other departments in the store, it’s one of the smaller. Of what’s there, it’s difficult to find fruit/​vegetables that don’t look rotten or are free of significant blemishes. Case in point: went to Bi-​Lo last night (Monday) to buy bananas and the only options were about ten single bananas left lying around because they were overly-​ripe or had a pierced peel. I tried to find naval oranges instead, and it took way too long to find ones that weren’t covered in brown spots and shriveled. Almost every single vegetable or piece of fruit I’ve ever eaten from this place tastes like a foot. The oranges I selected last night are a perfect example. I just consumed them for breakfast and they were tough and absolutely flavorless. No wonder there’s a local obesity problem. If THIS is how people think produce tastes, I’d opt for boxed, canned, processed meals any day of the weak.
Try again, Bi-​Lo.