Our town is getting one. The ads look promising. Lots of produce!
Hate the location they are putting it - in one of the most congested crossroads of the city - ugh - hate driving up there!!!
We have no Trader Joes, we are getting our first Whole Foods (not certain our city can support a WF…) and we have one Fresh Market (not a favorite of mine ) - my D tells me Fresh Thyme is maybe a TJ/WF blend??? More TJ’s than WF…
Opinions??? Pros/Cons?
I’ve never heard of them but it sounds great!
We have fresh thyme in our backyard; does that count? 
We have them. We also have TJs and Whole Foods, as well as local chains (Caputo’s, Mariano’s), Jewel, and Ultra.
WF is too expensive for most things; all I buy there are certain gluten-free foods for my D that I can’t find elsewhere, but otherwise, I don’t buy there.
Honestly FT is just another store in the rotation. It’s more like our local chains than it is like a TJ - as TJ specializes in their own, quirky brands. FT is nice, but no nicer / different from lots of other stores. Jewel is most “mainstream big chain” and Ultra is more discount / bare bones (though not to Aldi level).
Since we don’t have TJ’s and WF is on the horizon but not here, I thought this might be a good option outside of the big box arena. But for me to drive to that crowded area of town (did I say I hate it?!) it will have to really be worth my while!
I know if I have to go to TJ’s and their crazy parking lot, I go during the last half hour before they close. Not crowded and they’re actually restocking.
We have all 3 within a few miles of each other. FT is around the corner from my neighborhood. I’ve been once and never returned. Not enough dry products. The fruit is ok…but I went once to get fresh basil and they didn’t have any??? I ran across the street and bought some at Kroger. I suppose it’s worth going once to see if it fits your needs, it didn’t mine.
Dry products? Like canned and boxed things???
We just got one very recently a few miles away. They are wonderful for fresh produce but I think their non-produce food is overpriced. Mr R shops there for fruit and veggies but shops at Meijer’s (big box store) for the rest of our food.
I would agree that the non-produce food is overpriced. I scan the FT ads for what produce is on sale and get that. We also have another chain, Pete’s Fresh Market, that I assume is also a local chain.
Chicago used to be mostly Jewel and Dominick’s - Dominick’s was bought by Safeway and imploded, so all these little chains popped up. Well, I guess they are all local chains. For all I know some big conglomerate owns them!
Did some Google fu and there’s some Meijer $ behind Fresh Thyme.
Yes, I saw that about Meijer. And a good bit of what I buy is fresh produce, dairy, meat anyway so sounds good - except the fact (again) that it is in a really inconvenient location - I’ll probably mostly stop by if I’m in the area for work purposes.
@Pizzagirl , Chicago has one of my favorites: Treasure Island! But I don’t know how many locations they have…
Consolation, they have about 8 or so (I may be off by a few) and they are all in what I would call yuppie-type areas in the city with lots of affluent young people - Lincoln Park, etc. --except for one in Wilmette (which would qualify as affluent suburbia). I’ve personally never shopped at a Treasure Island.
In suburban Chicago I visited a Fresh Times once and was not impressed with either variety or price. Pete’s has been on the southwest side of the city for a long time and is now expanding. There is one a few years old near me and I love their produce and deli. Best prices around for those items. Ultra prices have jumped terribly in the last year and the store near me is turning into a dump.
It’s been an explosion in my area (western suburbs). In the last 4 years, Mariano’s, Caputo’s, Pete’s Fresh Market, Fresh Thyme and another I forgot - Standard Market - all opening within 2-3 miles of me. My TJoes is within walking distance. And lots more Whole Foods openings.
I agree Ultra is a dump but to me if I’m buying packaged things like salad dressing or salsa where it’s all the same brand names, I’d rather pay less at Ultra.
We got to tour the new Mariano’s in Westmont Illinois while visiting DS recently and OMG. Wine bar, gelato bar, oyster bar, coffee bar, can’t remember other bars . They’ll grill your steaks, let you mix your own granola, and much much more. Here in San Diego we get as much produce as possible from the stellar farmers markets but even the regular grocery stores have above average produce.
Ha, that’s my neck of the woods!
I’m so jealous of you all! It’s about a 20 minute drive to a grocery store here in any direction and that gets me to the same chain store (HEB) no matter which direction. I live between a big city and a small town. I had business in the small town today so I shopped there only to find out they consider Phyllo Dough a seasonal product and it isn’t currently ‘in season’ but they couldn’t tell me when Phyllo Dough season is, only that they carry it ‘seasonally’ and I should just use “puff pastry” instead. I would love a Fresh Thyme or World Market within a 30 minute drive! HEB bought a 40 acre piece of land just around the corner from us and I would love, love, love for them to build a Central Market there but for now they say the have no plans to develop it.