Vashon Thriftway

Brought 8 piece fried chicken in their deli at 6pm for dinner. Was totally inedible! So disgustingly dry and old inside! I tried 2 other pieces and it was the same. Needless to say I threw the whole box out. I wish I was able to return it but I’m not going back out on a rainy night and live on the other side of the island. Disappointed with the quality of the food in the deli of this otherwise great grocery store.

Our expectations were low for a place called Thriftway, and wow, were we surprised. They had absolutely everything we needed, including gluten free. And socks!

Excellent selection, including deli and cheese, along with some impressive beer and wine options. The staff were also outgoing and friendly.
What more can you ask for from an island supermarket?

There are two «grocery stores» on the island… This is the one I most frequent, if for no other reason than it’s bright, well lit, staffed with friendly folks, and has a plethora of fresh and exceptional food products to choose from. Their deli is especially delightful, we often stop there for dinner meals, or something to take with us for a picnic at the beach. Great meat department, produce, dairy and pretty much anything else you’d ever want, or need, including toys/​games for the kids!
Yes, you can go to the other store on the island for cheaper prices. Or even go off island if need be (Costco, Target, Trader Joes), but then you’ll be paying for the gas, the ferry ride back, AND have to leave the island for several hours. No thanks! I’ll stick to our local shops as much as possible.
Oh, and there’s an espresso bar and ice cream (Snoqualmie brand) shop in the front lobby too. Another big win for mama and her cubs.

This is an upscale grocery store on Vashon Island. The store is pretty large and has a very nice variety of products. They have delicious looking artisan products in the bakery as well as gluten free options. They have a station where you can have a burrito custom made or get cooked meat. There is an olive bar and lots of goodies in bulk. You can buy soaps and detergents in bulk too. Higher end brands and ingredients, at the price you would expect. Friendly staff and the employees were EVERYWHERE. If you need help finding something, there’s always someone handy to ask. My cashier was enthusiastic and upbeat. I enjoyed shopping here.

Excellent selection, excellent staff. Great organic produce and speciality ingredients like galangal and pasture-​raised milk. People complain that prices are high, but they gotta get it all on the island, and that costs money. I don’t think the prices are all that high. Everyone who works there (with maybe two notable exceptions) is warm and helpful. It’s my store. Love it.
Oh and awesome made to order burritos in the deli! Get the chipotle sauce! And a bag of homemade potato chips!

This place has a pretty good beer selection. I was able to find a bottle of Stone 12^th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout here when the specialty shops (and QFC) in Seattle ran out. I don’t know who manages the beer/​wine selection… but it’s obvious someone knows what they’re doing.

no salad bar. deli tabbouleh is made with couscous. pre-​packaged salads are manipulatively mostly greens. i have bought bad seafood twice. soups are very predictable with no rotation. things get packed up at 8 and store closes at 9.
great assortment of bulk foods which have an above-​average turnover on the island. things can be bought in bulk with a discount. everyone is really friendly. very alluring lunch/​dinner specials. a lot of local/​regional products, included bread and cheeses. yankee candle section.

There aren’t but two real grocery stores on Vashon and Thriftway is by far the best choice. Great selection of baked goods, bulk foods, meats and produce. The staff is friendly and seem to enjoy their jobs. The folks who live here already know this so for any visitors who might need to grab something at the store on the way to the beach or a party you should come here.

When you think of a grocery store you don’t often think of a business that also supports it’s local community. Sure they allow posters to be put up in their windows and girl scouts to peddle their cookies outside their doors but do you really see any true hints of community involvement?
Here you do. When Washington State privatized the liquor industry Thriftway made the community oriented decision to not sell Liquor and left the sales to the already operating Liquor store on island allowing that business to stay open with no competition. They also sell many local and on island made products from all natural goat milk soaps to tofu. I applaud such actions.
I would also like to point out their huge bulk food section, their produce section which is painstakingly labeled with where the produce has been shipped in from, an AMAZING DELI with daily lunch and dinner specials and friendly cashiers who remember their customers by name.

For a grocery store on Vashon Island, Vashon Thriftway is quite comprehensive. Like many other businesses on the island, they seem to offer more than just one thing. Here you will groceries, but also a deli, coffee stand and products like rain boots.
Though the island is only accessible by water, the prices are comparable with what you would find in Seattle. The store is similar to the Town & Country Market on Bainbridge Island in what is offered.
Stepped into the store to pick a cold drink as I was attending the Vashon Strawberry Festival this weekend which is full of overpriced fair food. It was quite busy with shoppers as it seems to be the preferred grocery store on the island over the IGA down the street.
Vashon Thriftway is a good supermarket that suits the needs of island residents and visitors alike.

This is simply a fantastic supermarket. If you live on Vashon, I’m sure you know all about it. If you’re visiting, then this is where you can get just about everything you could imagine from staples to organic and gourmet everything.
While it can get busy during rush hours, it’s still a very friendly and easy going market.
I tried their salmon mozzarella burgers the other day and they were great. Never seen these anywhere else. Bake them in foil and it will cook to perfection just as the mozzarella in the salmon starts to bubble.

this review is for their deli, the best place on the island to get an affordable burger. and their espresso bar also has an ice cream stand– for the days when zuzu’s either isn’t open or the owner is being a touch passive aggressive.
But back to the burgers– they’re huge, juicy and cheaper than anything you could get from the hardware store or red bicycle.

Great selection for a little market. Definitely cater to the Vashon crowd with organic, local, vegan, free trade, etc. But all yummy to the tummy. Just a little pricy.

Love this place.
I can’t rightly say how much. Now the hordes of people during the after school/​work and week end hours could work on their manners.
Also our car has gotten most of it’s dings from this parking lot. Because of… those people.
But is there any other place on Vashon I can get Israeli couscous? I don’t think so.
Is there any other place I can get a sandwich platter (if I call a day ahead) and a swarm of balloons? No, there is not. Do they know this and hold it over your head as though your needs are in their complete control like a bunch of smug jerks?
No, they care about customer service and they deliver.

This place really bends over backwards for customers and it is a huge social hub. If say a moody young woman was stomping around trying to find some milk– she would hate this place.
And I would want to body slam– I mean SHE should want to body slam all the yuppies milling around aimlessly like goldfish looking to start an epically long conversation over the produce when. All.I.Want.Is.Some.Organic.Milk.
It is packed for a reason– it is a marvelous place. I just have places to be and people who care about me, so I get really testy if I’m hindered dramatically. I still can’t give the store itself a bad review.

I can speak first hand about how Thriftway bends over backwards to take care of the customers even when the customers can be rude and pretentious (trust me, I’ve seen plenty of it here). Department managers will order special items that they make no margin on to please a single customer. The organic and health food selection is incredible and mixed right in with your every day items. Also, having a courtesy clerk bag your groceries and walk you to your car is standard instead of making you feel like you are bothering them. Granted, much of this is because it’s a small community.
While Thriftway probably isn’t the cheapest grocery store on the planet, it is still affordable. And you don’t really live on Vashon Island and expect a cheap local store. To live on Vashon requires a large chunk of income before food.
Department wise, the perishable foods departments are all amazing and I can tell you they are competitively priced with comparable stores on the mainland. There are tons of options for milk, eggs, salsa, cheese, frozen foods, etc. And the manager of these departments is a great guy who will do whatever he can to get you what you need.
The meat and fish department is also great. They always have the freshest, highest quality stuff. And the guys that run the department are awesome too.
Basically, you can’t go wrong at this store. I remember when it was a small, old looking operation and since then there have been several expansions and remodels and now it is a first class store that could rival just about anybody. I honest to God wish I had this store in my neighborhood in San Francisco. Our Safeways suck.

Every time I travel, I am reminded of how expensive Theftway is. I can find most of what I want, but the trade-​off is $ 8 a dozen eggs and $ 17 a pound beef. It used to be said that the reason the prices are so high is the added cost of shipping groceries to Vashon. That does not explain, however, why the tofu made on Vashon costs more at Theftway than in Seattle. Also, Theftway management makes a concerted and enthusiastic effort to undercut other small businesses on Vashon. After the Indian restaurant opened with a lunch time buffet, they added Indian food to the deli at Theftway. I personally witnessed the owner taking notes at a newly-​opened kitchenware store. He then stocked all the same wares she did and undercut her prices. He denies that he does this, but all the evidence is to the contrary. They like to hold themselves up as a bastion of the community, but they really just take too much of our money and run the little guy out of town.
They do treat their employees well, I’ll give them that.

Excellent local fish and seafood, helpful staff who will point at great Vashon beaches (and draw a helpful map to get there), organic & island produce, this is a perfect stop for anyone passing through Vashon Island. We loved it! This is the type of family-​owned, well-​run store that all communities need. The farmers’ market across the street is also worth a visit!

This Thriftway is probably one of the greatest grocery stores I’ve ever been to. Every time I walk in, I silently ooh and ahh to myself over how amazingly fantastic it is. And it’s just a grocery store, for goodness sakes.
The employees are super friendly and will always let you know what produce tastes best, what the current sales are, and offer up advise on any product.
The produce is fresh, their organic section is huge, their bakery is filled with all kinds of delicious goodies, and their aisle of bulk foods is the greatest thing I have ever seen in my life.
I highly recommend this store — it is fantastic.