Hannaford Supermarkets

Update/​upgrade to four stars.
I’m still not totally enamored of the grocery scene in the CRUST, and haven’t found the perfect grocery store. But this particular Hannaford’s has earned an upgrade as a go-​to default following continued improvements after its recent renovation. I detailed some of them in my earlier review, but here’s why I’ve upgraded them and put them ahead of most of the neighboring stores in the rotation:
— extra easy shopping: big checkout line spaces, quick efficient checkout and bagging, wide aisles (well-​lit with high ceilings), and moderately knowledgeable employees in the food specialty departments who actually seem to give a damn about the food.
— improving natural/​organic choices. They’re still short in meat, extra dairy choices beyond a brand or two for most items (they cannot seem to keep organic nonfat non-​Greek yogurt in regular rotation), and a lot of minor processed items, but the list seems to grow every time I go in there and while I’m far from happy about the limited range of produce items in the area in general, they’re doing the best job this side of Fresh Choice for keeping organic produce in stock.
— they’ve added a (tiny) bulk food section, which is the right direction to head.
I’m a hard case for the most part but i give them the fourth star as a differentiator, especially now with the loathsome local Walmart ‘neighborhood’ store open to pull the local curve down.

Hannaford is my regular full price grocery store. I buy most of my staples at the area no frill, put your quarter in the cart stores, but I but I tend to buy my meats and specialty items here. The prices are more reasonable than PC, and the stores on average are clean and well stocked.
My only issue with this last trip is the bagging. Items were placed in such random bags, hotdogs in with the toilet paper, milk kefir with the shampoo. The cold items were scattered about throughout the dry goods and it seemed like everything was tossed in bags with no thought of keeping the shape of the bag. Luckily nothing was squished or bruised but spending a lot of money on food that is ruined by careless bagging can mean a no return.

I love this grocery store. You can recycle your bottles right at the front entrance. The store manager actually helped walk us around the store to find just the right item. And, the signs for what is in each aisle are easily visible from many aisles away — obviating the need to have to walk the whole length of the store to read each aisle signs individually.
Thanks, Hannaford.