I Can't Even Believe It's This Hard to Find a Good Grocery Store

I hate grocery shopping. Basically, I've felt this way since leaving my hometown, where most things just made more sense. But I've never hated it more than I do since moving to the St. Louis area. This past summer I wrote about the trouble we were having finding a store that had nice produce and carried the other essentials we need. 

We thought we had discovered a store that was clean, had most of what we needed and was close to our house. Unfortunately, it appears we caught the store on a rare good week when we first visited. Since then we have learned that the produce isn't good, the shelves are usually understocked and, worst of all, the store reeks of either rotting fish or spoiled food almost all the time. It was especially bad this past week -  I could hardly stand to be in there. The other customers didn't seem to care -  I can't for the life of me figure out why.

At this point, I've given up completely on the stores in our area. We have found a nicer store in a ritzy part of town and have since learned that this is where the owner of the chain shops so we are quite optimistic we'll be able to get most of our needs addressed at this location. It's a good 20 minute drive from our house but the store is clean, so far the produce has been good, the lighting is good (for a grocery store), and I have yet to leave this location feeling angry and frustrated by the experience. I will travel for better food and a better experience, but I'm quite annoyed that I have to.

What I wouldn't give for the consistency, quality and customer service I became accustomed to back in good old Rochester, Minnesota. I can't even believe it's this hard to find a good grocery store around here.