Sunday 10 March 2013

Supermarkets: Colruyt and Delhaize

These are two Belgian supermarkets and both of them are quite close to my place, so I've already been to both. Here's my review on them:
  • Colruyt: this is a big supermarket where everything is pilled up in the shelves without any particular harmony or appeal. Things are disposed in big quantities and you can get discounts if you buy more than one item of each thing. The cold products area is this division where you enter and it's colder than the rest, where the products are also pilled up in shelves. You have lots of diversity of products and I can highlight the major selection of beers and chips, which were the ones I found more different from the Portuguese supermarkets. You only have the option of taking a big shopping cart with you, that sometimes is difficult to ride along the big corridors full of products and people. The prices are quite cheap, but you have to look for the products of their own brand - Everyday - which are considerably cheaper than the rest and are usually "hidden" in the lower or upper shelves. They have a butchery section where you can buy fresh meet, but I haven't seen a similar one for fish. You should bring your own plastic bags or something to carry your shopping, as they don't have them there. At the checkout machines, the employee scans the products directly from your cart and then you move ahead to another machine in order to pay, so the queues move really fast. Just a negative remark for the fact that they don't accept VISA cards, so I always have to take money with me (and on the first time, as I didn't know that, I had to leave my stuff with the cashier and look for an ATM, which are not so easily found in the streets as they are in Portugal, but, luckily, there's a bank's branch close by).
  • Delhaize: This one looks more like the supermarkets I was used to. Everything is organized and ordered in the shelves, the things come in small quantities, you have all the decoration and advertisements typical of a supermarket, food to taste, etc. You have big shopping carts and also those small baskets of plastic when you just want to carry some stuff. The prices seem also nice and they also have their own brand (look for the lion symbol), which is cheaper.
On both websites you can use the "store locator" application and find if there's a store near you. Unfortunately, none of mine are open on Sunday.

Finally, beware of supermarkets which are called like "Shop 'n' go" and "Express", as those usualy are located in the most crowded places (like in the touristic center and Schuman), often open on Sunday, but their prices are way more expensive than in the ones I have mentioned. Try to do your shopping after work or on Saturday and take a big backpack or a carrier with you in order to buy things for the whole week and only go to those other supermarkets in case you need something urgent. This way you can save a lot of money!

1 comment:

  1. I think still most students or short term trainees goes to Aldi or Lidl for daily products :-) it's just cheaper. For vegetables and fruits I would advise one of weekend markets - the prices are lower and quality is the same as in the supermarkets

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