Hugo’s buys land in south Grand Forks
June 9, 2011 at 12:49 pm in Grand Forks Herald
Official: No definitive plans yet for future storeThe two adjoining parcels of undeveloped land are just east of South Washington Street and south of 47th Avenue South. Doug Driscoll, director of operations for Grand Forks-based Hugo’s, said the company’s plans for the land and when the future grocery store will be built will depend upon how fast the population grows in the area. Continue Reading
Great, another Hugo’s. We need Cub, Hornbachers, or Rainbow foods, or something else up here for competition. Having lived in other parts of the US, walking into Hugo’s is like going back two decades. The stores are unkept, have horrible layouts, bakeries, and the prices are unreasonable. Don’t even bother asking the staff anything; they don’t care. Until competition comes to Grand Forks (SuperOne doesn’t count- just go in there to see for yourself), Hugo’s will continue to monopolize this town with their un-supermarkets.
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I too am amazed that people shop at Hugo’s. Once in awhile (maybe every 3 months) I end up in a Hugo’s grabbing a small something or another, and glancing around at prices in the store I just shake my head and think “who pays that much for that!?!?” Sam’s Club for fruit/veggies/meat and Target for all the rest is what we do for grocery shopping in GF. Love the Sam’s Club fruit, always the best tasting and you can often get several different fruits for around $1/pound or less.
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I have shopped at Hugo’s for years. Most of the stores I have been in are clean and the prices aren’t that much different than Satanmart’s (er, Walmart). At least when you shop local your money doesn’t go to Bentonville, Ark or Minneapolis,MN (Target). Obviously they must be running a successful small business if they’re able to expand–(and provide those local J-O-B-S).
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yes, you are free to shop local at Hugo’s. Just as am I free to state that in my opinion I am going to go where I can get the most fresh fruit and veggies for my children at the best prices. I have compared prices between Target/Sam’s and Hugo’s many times, and trust me, on all the items that we are buying, they are not even close. I choose to shop where I can have more money left at the end of the month to put into my children’s college fund and my retirement fund. I try to support local businesses, but only if they can compete adequately, I will not work extra years of my life or have my kids take on extra college debt just so that I can say I shopped locally and made those local business owners wealthier.
Also, as far as jobs, all the businesses in town are employing local people, regardless of whether it’s a home town business or a chain.
And, I never once “ripped” on Hugo’s … all I said was (and I quote)… “I just shake my head and think “who pays that much for that!?!?†“
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It really takes a special kind of self-loathing to rip on your local businesses for being too mediocre while dancing in the streets when you find out that IHOP and Olive Garden are coming to town! Trust me, the national chains aren’t any better than Hugo’s, folks. Ever been to a Winn-Dixie, Sweetbay or Food Lion? I’d take Hugo’s over any one of those down here in Tampa. Also, the one up in EGF is actually pretty good, to be honest.
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Are you suggesting accurate criticism of a place shouldn’t happen and that place should get a pass just because it’s local?
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No, I’m not saying that. I’m saying that I believe the criticism is especially pointed because of the business being local. It’s self-loathing to intentionally downgrade what one already has for the sake of gaining favor from outside sources, even when the outside source is absolutely no better. More often than not, all I see on these boards is locals tearing the city to shreds because they perceive things are so much better in other places. Some things ARE better, without a doubt, that’s why I moved to FL to begin with. But, when you’re talking things as benign as supermarkets, chain restaurants and even libraries, GF is doing just fine.
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Well yeah, you picked the worst chains. But some chains are great like Safeway, Wegmans, Hannaford, and Trade Joes.
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But Paul..This is a home grow Company.. Its where we live..
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Mr. Clow really couldn’t have said it better. The above posters are ripping on a local chain that far exceeds national ones that fall far, far, below the service a local place like Hugo’s provides. Not to be cliche’ but the phrase “the grass is always greener on the other side” comes to mind here.
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I’m glad to see a local business doing well. But, if I have to endure another stupid radio commercial, I’m going to pull my ears off my head. They annoy me so much, I refuse to step foot in there on purpose.
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Sure, not all national chains are good. Some are, some aren’t. I’ve seen many local chains that are amazing. Hugo’s isn’t one of them! I’d love to support local businesses if they cared about customers and delivered a better overall product. I’d even pay more but, Hugo’s is not the type of place I’m willing to pay more to shop at. I’d love to see Hugo’s improve, or another local chain to pop up but, it’s not going to happen unless a competitor comes to town and forces them to improve.
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I shop in the north end store almost every Monday, and get all my fruit there. I’ve never ended up with a bag of beat up apples or dried up oranges, (like I have at one of the big box stores). The employees are great, and the deli is better than the big box boys on the southend. I think they do a pretty good job working with what they have there, which is limited realestate and a structure from what, the 60′s or 70′s? Anyway, I don’t see much to gain in ripping on them for narrow aisles or higher prices on some items, just go shop at one of the other stores. Good for their management for keeping an eye to future growth with some long term planning.
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Perhaps the Herald could do something constructive for a change and send a reporter to do some comparative shopping around GF.
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Eight Herald reporters disliked my suggestion.
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When I moved back to Grand Forks from Chicago, I was stunned to see how bad Hugo’s actually was. It compared in no way to the Dominick’s (Safeway) that I had in my relatively low-income Chicago neighborhood, and was in no way comparable to “better” chains like Wegmans, Trader Joes, etc. So I ended up doing most of my shopping at SuperOne and Target which I think have better product lines and prices. To be fair though, Hugo’s has improved, but it’s only because Wal-Mart and Target have forced it to.
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It’s not fair to compare Hugo’s to places like Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods or even Fresh Market. They are a whole other level that won’t be found in North Dakota any time soon. That’s like comparing Zimmerman’s Furniture to IKEA or Neiman Marcus, man.
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But Safeway is comparable.
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I have shopped at the 17th Ave. S. Hugo’s ever since Leever’s closed. I was prepared to dislike them, but my attitude changed in a short time. This is because you don’t have to walk the length of a football field if you forgot something at the other end of the store, the lighting is good, and most of all, the people. It doesn’t matter if you ask the service counter people or the baggers, they all can direct you unhesitatingly to the aisle you need, and will probably walk with you there to make sure you find what you’re looking for. They will special order things for you that you can’t find, and the clerks don’t make you feel as if you are an assembly-line product and rush you through the checkout before you can sneeze. The staff look you in the eye when they talk to you. Yeah, it is kinda like going back a couple decades, but ya know, I like being treated with good customer service like that. I’ve been to Target (bad lighting, absence of employees when you need help) and Walmart, and Hugo’s isn’t bad at all compared to them. As far as prices, how much are you gonna spend in gas driving extra miles just to save 10 cents? I have had no trouble with bad fruit or veg or anything.
I’ve been to Cub and Rainbow in the Cities, and they are good, and I think Hugo’s compares extremely favorably to them.
I also agree that I would rather see profits stay right here in ND than be accumulated by some unknown corporation in another state.
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Our son as food allergies, and the folks at both the EGF and 32nd Ave Hugo’s have been terrific in getting in additional foods that he can eat. I do shop Target or Walmart for health items as their prices are cheaper, but for most food items we have found Hugo’s prices to be comparable and the level of customer service excellent.
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Interesting all the dislikes of people critical of Hugo’s. Good thing the subject of Home of Economy didn’t come up.
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You are all rediculous
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