Stop&Shop

Today was a quick visit and it was my first time at this location. Went to bottle deposit, some cans and bottles weren’t accepted although the same brand were accepted by the machine. After waiting inside at Specialized Services for over 20 minutes, I was able to turn in those particular bottles/​cans along with my deposit slips for redemption.
Then I had a particular item to purchase afterwards, which I found relatively easily. I found the price of the item to be on par or a little above average. But being in the store and the convenience of not having to drive elsewhere convinced me to purchase it there. The checkout girl was nice and speedy.
Would I return? Sure, why not!

Review of Stop & Shop (S & S) Reviewers:
I can’t believe some people criticized their parking lot and lack of cart-​return stations.
For the former subject of criticism, being a new resident to Brookhaven. I’d have to say that the entire driving and parking service within the South Port Shopping Center is [expletive], riddled with potholes and with barely distinguishable (at best) roadway and parking lot markings.
For the latter, stop being so lazy. Every time I have been to this Stop & Shop, I see one-​to-​two staff members outside attempting to return the scattered-​about carts. They could either be on «break» or they could be collecting carts that lazy [expletive in the plural form] refuse to return. When they’re busy, the cart returners are doing their best to collect and return the carts that lazy [expletive in the plural form] refuse to bring back or decide to return the cart to the position they found it in, thus leaving it in front of their parked car. (I know because I encountered two on disparate weekend occasions while driving – attempting to find a space and attempting to leave.)
Review of S & S:
*The Negative*
In fairness, approximately 30% of the time, I had difficulties finding a cart or basket. The carts would not be in the designated location (s) just outside of the store nor inside the store, and baskets would be absent from the store’s entrance. (So, upon entry, I either had to «aid,» per se, my fellow man with a «Here, I’ll take that [cart] from you.» to an individual on a cart-​return trek or, «interfere» with an «Excuse me. I just need a basket.» to an individual in line.)
The lines are long if you go midday or on the weekend. If you go on a Sunday just before kick-​off (1:00pm), you’ll find yourself in line purgatory for quite some bit. However, close to closing (10:00pm — 11:00pm), the store and parking lot are deserted. (Finding what you need might prove difficult though. Like, the best lettuce or bags of salad will obviously be gone.)
If you go late, they close the entrance and use the exit as both an exit and entrance, thus proving an inconvenience (getting a cart, getting through the check-​out line obstacles, etc.).
**The Positive**
They receive their produce shipments everyday but Wednesday (I believe – it could be Thursday). I asked a bakery staff member or manager; and he referred me to the produce manager because the condition, while better than that found in the Sam’s Club off Horse Block Rd, of the lettuce and bagged salads was pretty poor (sweating and browning). In short, they’re honest. If you have a question, just ask.
The cashiers are competent and courteous. The only downside could be that you have to help out with the bagging of YOUR OWN groceries. Because I don’t want to hang out and I could impose my organizational structure in the bagging process, I do not mind.
(Note: The quality of the bags is [expletive]. For example, 2 two-​liter sodas require a minimum of two bags. The bag situation could be the result of store avarice or government preservation. [I see a government-​imposed combination of the two in the form of a plastic bag tax coming. Montgomery County, where I’m from, imposed a bag tax about two years back.])
***Conclusion***
Store-​wise (and, now, as a calorie counter), I prefer Pathmark.
They have a wider offering selection (e.g., low-​calorie bread, flat or tortilla wraps, deli meats, salad dressings, protein shakes, etc.). And thanks to the size of their venue (being in place of a K-​Mart, I presume), you don’t have to worry about other shoppers getting in your way: lines blocking your travels (like in S & S at noon on Sunday) or little kids running about the store unattended, as you try to squeeze through their closely situated isles or product stands (in the middle of the somewhat larger perimeter spaces, if you will).
(Note: To prove my point further about S & S and its size, my girlfriend and I passed a woman fraught with misery shopping near the checkout lines. My girlfriend felt compelled to sympathize with «Aw,» while I, on the other hand, could easily remain indifferent because the tearful woman was able to speedily pass her filled cart by me and my girlfriend without producing a draft.)
However, S & S suffices.

I am not really a regular at Stop&Shop but when I go to shop, I expect the people to be kind and courteous. The service was excellent except one of the employees who was a blonde female. I forgot to catch her name but she was absolutely horrible and offered no help whatsoever. She seemed to have «more important things to do «as she was texting away. I enjoy Stop&Shop but hopefully they fix this problem.

This place is filthy. The parking lot has no place to return your cart. It is always incredibly crowded and it is hilariously understaffed. Lines are often very long and you usually have to bag your own groceries. I was there once and they were totally out of plastic bags! It’s the kind of place you go and feel like you’re going to get the stomach virus because everything is so dirty. Aisles are disorganized. Most of the meat is so far from fresh that its expiration date is within a day or two. Most of the good sale items are sold out. Prices are pretty bad compared to other stores– and some items are priced egregiously. I dread walking into the store because I have to brace myself for a nerve racking experience. It’s like you are shopping in an inner city ghetto. A cashier checking me out once called her own store disgusting (unprompted). They don’t care and they don’t have to care because they don’t have enough competition nearby except for pathmark (super ghetto), King kullen (worst prices anywhere) and walbaums (meh). Demand for groceries is so high in this community people would keep just about any nasty store in business.

First off i’ll say that this store is always is very clean. They have done alot of improvments over the past year in the produce section & the deli area. Nice selection of Organic products when you first walk in the store if your into that. Now for the complaints. First off management needs to do something about their «cart boys». Half the time there are no carts in front of the store and the cart boys are all bs’ing with one another while smoking a cigarette, or just wandering around the parking lot like fools with not a care in the world. Now for the older man that managent lets stand in front of the inside of the store yelling weird things for hours on end… why in god’s name is this allowed to happen inside a store. It’s obvious the guy has mental issues beyond his control but why do store patrons have to listen to his nonsense, he kind of strikes me as someone who might go postal at any minute. Get him out of there he’s scary !!! Now for the people in the deli dept… just keep quiet and do your jobs… it’s not social hour. If you spent less time yapping the day away you might get some work done. There is no reason why there should be 15+ ppl waiting for cold cuts with 5 ppl working behind the deli counter. Now if I go there and there is a long wait I just go to Handy Pantry, they sell boars head and if you go there in the afternoon after the lunch rush you will be in and out within 5 minutes.

Staff here is pretty friendly and they have self-​scanguns at the entrance to complement the good # of self-​checkout kiosks. While the gun was buggy, the self-​checkout line moves quickly and the staff is efficient when assisting to keep the line moving (customers can be snappy and they handle it well).

I have been shopping here for many years, practically since it opened, and since they’ve started the USCAN system everything has just gone downhill. I personally like the concept of the system but not when you get randomly audited and the people don’t even have the decency to put the things back into your bags, especially reusable bags, they’re nasty and try to overcharge you for items you did. They treat you like criminals with this system. I’ve began to shop in PathMark and i intend to stay there, stop and shop is just going down hill.