Hannaford Food and Drug

Used to go to this Hannaford regularly (and the one in East Hampstead) before Market Basket opened in Epping. But still go here periodically for things MB doesn’t carry. I like several of the Nature’s Place products, particularly the organic milk, organic beans, oat nut bread, some of the marinades and a roasted red pepper spread, among other things. Sadly they no longer have the NP cooked shrimp that does not have sodium tripolyphosphate. They have a good organic/​natural products department as well. And they carry Nellie’s Nest cage free eggs from NH.
It is slightly more expensive than MB. Though some things are on par. Really depends what you’re looking for week to week. It’s an older store too. Hasn’t benefited from the same update the East Hampstead store got earlier this year. It is generally clean (though milk racks could be wiped out a bit more often) and always well stocked.
But the layout is pure evil… Walk in the doors and you have to turn right (unless you cut through a checkout aisle or come in on the pharmacy side of the building), go behind the florist/​water section past a gauntlet of stock outs and directly in to the bakery. Which then leads to the prepared foods/​cheeses, and I get weak. When will I learn not to shop when I’m hungry?! I can’t seem to keep away from the Lobster Mac & Cheese or the Wild Alaska Salmon with bruschetta, snow peas and rice pilaf. Haven’t dared try any of the other meals, lest I get more addictions!
Sanity returns when you finally get to the produce area and wend your way through the rest of the store. Wish they did have more baggy stands in the meat department. Really not fond of going to far end of meat aisle, find something I want and then have to walk half a mile back to find a bag to hold a package of chicken, etc. Dilemma, leave your buggy where it is, in people’s way, or wheel the whole thing back, going against flow of traffic. Yes, I could pick a few bags in advance, but I hate wasting if I don’t use them. That’s just my quirk about hygiene. I don’t want to use a bag someone else has handled. The weird thing is the one stand they have tends to be moved around. You go mental trying to play Where’s Waldo figuring out where it is. Sometimes a second one will be found, but usually it’s just the one.
On this visit it wasn’t too busy. I think things have gone back to normal since Market Basket stores are up and running again. Hannaford was certainly benefitting from a surge in business for those six weeks. But I offloaded in a check out lane with a cheerful cashier in training. She was actually going quicker than another regular cashier. I didn’t mind being a guinea pig as I’ve worked in retail and know how challenging that can be. Everyone should experience being on the other side of the cash register for a day.

This is a pretty small grocery store compared to the other ones in the area. It’s always well stocked and clean, however, there’s really nothing special about it. Prices are usually decent, but the selection is average. I only ever run in if I need to pick up one or two things; the convenience factor isn’t enough to entice me to shop there weekly.

My local grocery store and pharmacy. Because of the location it is the store I frequent the most for grocery shopping. They sell Raymond recycle trash bags mandated by the local Town of Raymond Eco-​NAZIs and also sell postage stamps at the checkout. The postage stamps are a convenient option but I cannot think of a single grocery item that this store offers that is unique or memorable. Even Market Basket which is not know for its variety has several itmes I can find only there.

Hannaford has the best combination of selection and price. However, they need to keep their stock updated. Every Sunday in September I’ve looked for cans of pumpkin to start my fall baking projects and it always says coming soon in the empty spot. Stop and Shop stocks this year round. Their craft beer selection is pretty good but could use a few more to compete with the Market Basket in Epping.

New Hampshire has slim pickens in terms of quality/​well priced grocery stores. Hannaford is basically at the average level in terms of quality/​price/​selection for me.
I can never find decent produce here. Limes are in stock sporadically, which sucks for me because I use about 5 – 6 limes a week (Ive cut down). Fresh basil? Forget it. You have to buy the little package of organic for $ 4 for a ¼ of a bunch. Or they will sell you the actual basil plant that dies in 4 days. Im Italian and from NY — if you dont got fresh basil by the bunch, in my eyes youre dead.
Skirt Steak. People look at me as if I had 305 head when I ask for it. The butcher really didnt understand either. They have Tripe, but no skirt steak. Go figure.
Otherwise, they have a good selection of food. Their prices are a bit high though. Spending $ 100 is super easy here and will last a family of 4 about a week. Thankfully Ive taken on the job of cutting coupons and going to certain store for certain things.

My Favorite all around grocery store in the area.
Very Clean and well organized.
The Produce is always fresh and for a small store they have a great fish selection. if it wasn’t for Yankee Market at the foot of the hill I would frequent their butcher shop more.
They also have a great offering of organic produce and cleaning supplies

This place is SOOO much better than it used to be. Yrs ago it was shop n stop, then slowly morphed into hannaford. the last time i was there was at some holiday when i was visiting my parents, and wow did it change. it’s so modern looking now, very cute, with a bigger variety of food. i dont really know about the prices cuz i dont think i paid for anything. they used to be high because there was no competition, but with the walmart opened up in epping or whatever, the prices probably went down. oh and you can buy wine and beer there too.

I’ve been quite pleased with this grocery store, it’s clean, well stocked and organized. The prices are higher than the Superwalmart down the highway, but it’s the biggest grocery store in the area (to my knowledge). If you go during peak hours you may have to wait to check out or get food from the deli. But overall a good grocery store.