Martin’s

Went here last week to get my Boar’s Head deli meat and the meat cutting lady must have been having a nasty case of PMS or something. She was pleasantly rude to me, but only after I ordered 2 different meats, shaved. She made some snide comment (in a nice voice) about me wanting my ham shaved. As she was shaving the ham, I asked if she could do the turkey the same way and she never acknowledged me, never looked up, and didn’t even ask me how I wanted the turkey cut so she must have heard me. She must not realize what being in customer service really means.

My last visit to Martin’s Food Market in Petersburg, Virginia went horribly. I am not a Martin’s shopper, but thought I would try it once more to test the waters. I have never been pleased with the Petersburg store at all. They promote that the quality of their products are superior to other grocery store and ensure low prices. This is not my experience when visiting Martin’s.
When I go grocery shopping, I expect quality and good customer service such as the clerks patiently explaining and advising, checking stock, helping to find products, having product knowledge and providing unexpected product quality. If you expect this level of service, Martin’s is not the place to go. Why would I pay more money for bad service.
In June, I visited the Petersburg store. I wanted to prepare a salad from the salad bar. When I approached the bar, I noticed other customers standing around and talking about the bar. I waited my turn. When I got closer to the bar, I noticed that no lettuce was on the bar. A customer ahead of me asked the bar attendant could she put some lettuce out and she replied, «No.» I didn’t understand her explanation but I did look up at the closing time posted above the bar. It is a grocery store, how could they be out of lettuce?
I left the bar with my cart. I asked a cashier to page the manager. The manager came over within minutes at which time I explained my situation. I explained that the posted time on the salad bar was 45 minutes away; however, when the bar attendant had been asked to refresh the bar with lettuce, she declined and kept stocking other items. I explained that five customers were in front of me and none could fix a salad because there was no lettuce. The manager said that she would take care it. That this was not Martin’s practice and apologized for my inconvenience. I waited nearby while the manager approached the attendant and they began to talk. The manager came back to me and stated that the attendant would add lettuce to the bar. While I waited another 7 minutes and still no lettuce, I noticed that the attendant continued to stock the bar with other items. The manager approached me again and said it would be another few minutes and asked for my patience. As I continued to wait, the attendant and manager had words. The conversation ended as the bar attendant slammed the bar door. Five minutes later, the bar attendant came back with a bowl of iceberg lettuce. No one asked if I wanted spinach, romaine, or mixed greens. I had one choice — iceberg lettuce. Initially, I began fixing my salad with the iceberg lettuce, but then discovered most of the salad fixings such as the peas and the pico de gallo were frozen. I left the store without getting a salad.
I was in the store for 30 minutes and still no salad. I don’t recommend anyone to even experience one day in this horrible grocery store.

I can’t say anything bad about this place. Shoppers have a choice between this grocery store and WalMart just down the street and I pick Martin without question!

Nice, clean place with a very good selection of fruits and vegetables, but most of the vegetables seem to be grown in greenhouses. Seafood and butcher are on the small side with limited choices, but what they have is fresh and high quality (a selection of exotic meats would be a welcome addition). Their bakery needs to put out fresh bread more often (and on weekends would be nice) but offers plenty of alternatives to Roman Meal. The organic section has good variety and is well stocked. Their beer and wine area is surprisingly varied and moderately priced.
I strongly dislike the fact that they insist on taking my food out to my Jeep for me. I am quite capable of pushing my own cart and loading my own groceries and don’t need some 90 lb. high school girl doing it for me. It is an affront to my sense of independence and self-​reliance. They should ask rather than doing it automatically.
No review of the deli, because I only go here to get food for me to cook.

I was so excited when I learned that Martins was buying Ukrops instead of Ukrops withering and dying or some trashy chain like Food Lion buying it. I fell in love with Martins when I was a student at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, and I am happy that I have the same deals and amenities Martins has + the fresh food Ukrops was built on.
This store has also been spiffied up since Martins took over. When it was a Ukrops there was parts of the store that was aging terribly like the deli section.