There are few quicker ways to get to know someone than asking them where they do their grocery shopping. Anyone who answers PCC or Met Market is admitting they belong to a certain socioeconomic class; Fred Meyer shoppers were probably born in Seattle; if you say Whole Foods, you’re boring — sorry, I don’t make the rules.
For me, there’s only one answer: Town & Country. This chain began in the 1950s on Bainbridge Island, co-founded by a family of Japanese American strawberry farmers who were forcibly removed from their homes and incarcerated during World War II. Their neighbors kept their farm safe until they returned home.
It’s admittedly more expensive than QFC or Safeway, especially when it comes to meat, and its produce, while excellent, probably doesn't boast the variety you can find at large PCCs. But it has incredible deals thanks to its “Big Board” system, which discounts a rotating selection of cheeses, meats, fruit, and other items, sometimes by 50% or more. To pick just one example, I can’t afford to buy ground beef and pork from T&C regularly, but they go on sale often enough that I can grab a few 1-pound bricks and stash them in my freezer for when I need them.
The frequent sales make T&C feel more like a “market” than other stores — you can stop in and see what’s on sale, which typically shifts along with the seasons. I buy squash in the winter, tomatoes in the summer, whole chickens when the price drops, and fancy Prairie Breeze cheese when it’s discounted too heavily for me to walk by it. Take-and-bake pizza is on sale Fridays, soup on Wednesdays, and so on.
There’s a certain joy in walking into a store not knowing what you’re going to walk out with and letting chance guide your dinner plans, and Town & Country gives me that joy on a regular basis.
