Grocery Shopping Week 4: Capital City Grocery

Update: Capital City Grocery closed on 11/22/2008

Capital City Grocery Scores:
Neither the Better World Shopper nor Co-op America's Responsible Shopper rate this store, but since it is locally owned, I'm sure it would receive an A from both groups.

Distance from my apartment: 4.6 miles (12 minutes)

I recently stumbled across a website called the Eat Well Guide, which helps you locate local grocery stores, farmers markets, and CSAs that sell organic produce and local dairy and meat. This led me to Capital City Grocery, which is a locally owned grocery store located inside the Raleigh beltline.

If you're not from Raleigh, this week's shopping trip isn't going to mean much to you, so I recommend looking up your own area on the Eat Well Guide and checking out a similar grocery store in your area.

I really, really, really wanted to like Capital City Grocery. They are locally owned, which is a plus, and they are conceivably within bike-riding distance from my apartment, if I ever get my bike trailer. Sadly, I left the store disappointed. If you scroll to the bottom of this post and check out my grocery total, you'll see why.

It's no wonder that small, locally-owned grocery stores go out of business when Walmart moves in! Frankly, I don't know anyone who can afford these prices. (And in the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that I didn't buy all the items on this list. About halfway through the store, I recognized that there was no way I could afford to shop here, and I started writing down prices instead of actually buying them.)

If you're from the Raleigh area and think you can afford to shop at Capital City Grocery, I highly recommend it. They have amazing customer service. A super nice lady rang me up and another super nice lady bagged my groceries (in my cloth bags without rolling her eyes or "helpfully" putting my produce in plastic bags) and then the first nice lady saw me struggling in the parking lot with three kids and two bags of groceries and came out of the store to help me. Awesome! And did I mention that they're locally owned?

I really, really, really wish I could shop at Capital City Grocery...

My grocery list:

Veggie "turkey" slices (couldn't find tofu0
organic cheddar cheese (four 8 oz. packages)
organic frozen juice (2)
organic butter
organic milk
applesauce
organic baby food (7 jars)
organic baby cereal (2 boxes)
cereal (2 boxes)
organic yogurt
avocado
carrots
bananas
mushrooms

Total: $87.60