Pick’n Save

Went shopping here tonight and bought some chocolate covered strawberries (yum). I was excited to get home and eat them. They were on my mind all the way home. The excitement lasted until I noticed the chocolate on one of them was «sinking» in and wasn’t as hard as on the others. I went to take the chocolate off and it practically fell off the strawberry. That’s when I noticed the strawberry was old /​rotten. Very disappointed

The bakery department is AMAZING, the staff at the check out are always super friendly and nice. The Deli /​hot food section /​produce is a different story. The employees in those sections are quite rude and seem to hate their job. Otherwise the store is really nice.

I will never shop at any Roundy’s store Pick n Save, Copps due to the experience at this store. The corporation really needs customer service skills taught to their employees. On a Saturday night it took over 35 minutes to check out with one cashier on duty and over 25 people in line. The manager walked away and did not open another check out line. An employee standing around when asked if she could open another check out stated she was not on the clock. I called corporate and filed a complaint, Karen the store director returned my call. Karen was very condescending and rude, like this would never happen at her store.

Great store. Great employees. Full shelves. Sometimes very crowded.

I don’t shop here a lot but there a few things I like the place. One thing I don’t like is lack of cashiers per the ratio of people in the store, getting out of the store takes a while and that mostly keeps me away.
When I can’t get over to my favorite bakery this is where I go. As far as store fresh bread goes they have a nice variety. I like the individual fresh rolls because some times I need only a couple like when I get fresh sausage from bunzels or I just want to make a couple sandwiches.
The offer a variety of warm deli food that is loose or pre packaged so you can grab a warm meal and hurry up to that slow check out.
They also have a hot soup bar with at least 6 different offerings that change. The quality is better than can but not as good as my home made. A few times a year I grab a soup for lunch on cold winter days.
The meat and sea food section has just about everything you could ever come in for. You can get everything from hamburger to quail.
The variety is great and I grabbed more than a couple items and for some reason I got right out of there via the express lane.

My usual grocery store. Standard offerings. Reasonable prices. Large store. The produce is decent. The bakery and deli have plenty of variety. The location is very convenient. Ample parking in the plaza.
There are other Pick N Saves in the surrounding area. Some are better, some are worse.

The lesser of two evils… The other being the piggly wiggly across the street. For the most part they have a better selection of some things… Except for frozen seafood. I wish there was more space in the aisles so I didn’t have to stand behind people to wait to get what I need. I don’t enjoy prolonging this mundane, yet essential, errand.
My husband loves the cookies for $ 3.50 there, and I love the decent display of Eli’s cheesecake.

They never keep the shelves stocked with their sale items. Been disappointed/​frustrated many times. They seem to drop products too often. We find something we like and then they discontinue carrying it. We need another major chain in the area so there is some competition.

Ick.
I have shopped here on occasion, only due to the close proximity of my work. Since I have a half hour for lunch, I tend to run in, grab the items I need, and run out with enough time.
So why the one star? First things first, the layout of this store is one of the weirdest layouts I’ve ever seen. There is no rhyme or reason to the way it’s planned out.
Secondly, the lines tend to be quite long — way longer than necessary. For example, one day I was standing in the self checkout line, and noticed a single cashier, (more on her below) working at one of the lines. What struck me most was that she wasn’t waving anyone over to her open line. Quite the opposite. In fact, she was trying to make herself as unnoticeable and invisible as possible.
Which brings me to number three: There is a younger cashier with multicolored hair and several piercings (who I will not name), and she is quite possibly the surliest cashier I think I’ve ever encountered in my entire life. I have never encountered such a wet noodle before. No ‘Hello,” no «thank you,» nothing. Not one word was uttered to me. Nothing, except the grimace upon my arrival and the roll of her eyes (apparently some BIG drama there) when I hurried into her lane — so I could get the hell out of there. It was so obvious that I was putting her out by making her do her job. Ever see the South Park with the goth kids? Kind of like that. I realize this sounds harsh. Maybe she is painfully shy. A simple smile or a «Hi» would have done wonders. But from my perspective (and the perspective of several co-​workers) this isn’t the first time to encounter a bitter, surly employee here.
Fourth: the quality of the deli sandwiches (something I pick up when I’m in a hurry and didn’t pack a lunch) is SERIOUSLY lacking. I am worried I am going to get dysentery from these often bad tasting, frequently warm sandwiches. The poor excuse of a cooler used to store these is pathetic. Last Friday was the last straw. The lunch meat was slimy, the lettuce smelled funky, and I didn’t even want to chance it. I threw it away — I’m not taking any risks with my health.
Seriously, Pick N Save: what does it say about a store when you think it’s «unfortunate» that you have to come here? This store has the surliest, snarkiest employees and the shoddiest produce. It’s embarrassing, and I’m truly embarrassed for the GOOD employees that work here, that actually do go out of their way to help people. They are few and far between, but there are a few and they don’t deserve to be lumped in with these, well… lumps.
I might continue to run here on my lunch hour, but it’ll only be for people watching (Stallis!), or boxed items that I know they can’t screw up with a crappy refrigeration unit. Seriously PNS, get it together. There are tons of other (better) grocery stores to shop. I plan on going across the street to shop at Piggly Wiggly until things change.

I avoid this store at almost all costs these days. I will gladly drive to Greenfield and visit Sendiks, downtown for Whole Foods or any Trader Joes before I will do any substantial grocery shopping here. NEVER buy meat here — it smells funny in that department. Its a desperate «i forgot one ingredient» kind of place at best. Feels like land of the zombies when shopping there. I think that Roundys has left this location to die. I wish they would renovate and remodel and restaff. Until then, prepackaged emergency items only.

Sad to think I actually used to like this store. But now Pick N Save has been relegated to getting the couple things that ran out at the other stores I shop, and of course stocking up every couple months on the Wednesday double coupon day. And I step into this location even less now, since I’m better served at the recently updated Coldspring location.
As far as the parking/​location complaints on this store, I think some people are making mountains out of molehills. Sure this is right on Hwy. 100. Sure this is a huge strip mall that Pick shares with Kohl’s, Menard’s and a Marshall’s Home Goods store. But if you can’t manage to get through the lot on on to the highway within a minute or two, you have no business driving in any city.
As far as complaints on which market Pick is trying to appeal to, I totally understand. A few years back, it seemed as if Pick was trying to shed its discount roots by introducing new features like organic foods, salad bars, sushi bars, extended bakeries and deli’s with ready made hot meals and fancy cupcakes as well as new walk in liquor department fridges with a meager selection of craft beers. This seemed to be the first location to try all of this in the area, and now it appears to be in limbo. Now Pick is in a place were they try to introduce new services; most recently take-​and-​bake pizzas, and meanwhile neglect the grocery part of the grocery store.
The produce is in bad shape. Most items are over ripe, except the bananas, and sometimes they run out. Sale items are out of stock all the time. As far as regular priced items, they keep going up in price.
Pick N Saves are going the way of the dinosaur, hopefully they put this outdated one out of its misery first.

This place is so very sad. If I want fresh dairy, fruits and veggies, I will go to Trader Joe’s. If I want dry goods, I go to Sam’s Club.
Why was I here? I wanted spiral mac ‘n cheese.
Guilty.

This store is a second-​generation Pick N Save. It started out a block south, where Home Depot is now, many years ago, back when Pick was a warehouse format grocery store, with shelves lined with boxes of goods slashed open, electronic scanners were new, and they actually handed out grease crayons so that you could scribble the price on each item because you didn’t trust the scanners.
The jump to second-​generation eliminated the remaining remnants of the warehouse format, thankfully, but reduced some of the «discount grocer» value as well. This location is simply a bit tired, and it feels like it. It’s been in service for many years (guessing at least 20) with occasional remodels and touchups, as Pick has tried to reimage itself into a more modern grocer. Unfortunately, it’s in a poor location, situated next to a Kohl’s and a Menard’s in a very busy parking lot that requires you to negotiate Hwy 100. Inside, the layout is a bit puzzling and confusing, due to the way it was converted from a Zayre’s years ago.
I’m hard-​pressed to figure out what Pick does well. For quick trips to the store, I much prefer a smaller store like Sentry, and for major shopping, Sendik’s offers a better variety of items. Aldi’s cleaning up as the «discount» grocer. Pick and Jewel seemed to be trying to play the middle ground, with Jewel ultimately leaving the local market, but all that really says to me is that there’s less demand than there used to be for this sort of grocery store.
With the economic downturn, Aldi’s probably going to continue to mop up with the cost-​conscious consumers, and Sentry and Sendik’s will continue to serve their niches. I suspect Pick’s market share will fall.