LA Mart International Food — Local services in Alexandria

I went here almost a month ago. The first thing that hit me was the strong fish smell. The entire smells like fish to the point that the plastic bag my groceries were put in had to be discarde because I could still smell that fishy small. Granted I have a highly sensitive nose but I didn't buy fish, don't usually buy fresh fish so that strong smell made me wonder if they are preserving the catch properly. This store is pretty much a Latino store with a few Indian/Pakistani items. Even among the other Asian items they had, I was not able to find what I was looking for. Definitely nothing available in the Middle Eastern/Moroccan cuisine. I asked a worker did they have naraja aria because I wanted to make mojo. He kinda just pointed to where the oranges were and said that they have it; after looking, it's obvious they didn't have it. They also were out of culantro which made me a little disappointed but given the presumed clientele, I guess a lot of us are making sofritos! I found Korean radishes which I needed. I practically injured my foot on a tray of sodas sitting in front of the doors near the first row of the frozen section. I greeted the cashier, who was friendly, in English and I asked her about the sodas and tried to explain having the extra sodas out there with no sign is a safety hazard and could cause liability for the store. I could tell that she was not understanding what I was saying because she was nodding but there was no reaction. I switched to Spanish (I'm rusty but communicated mostly what was important) and told her again and then she and the other cashier started looking for another worker to handle it. It was only her and maybe 2 other cashiers working. It did make me a little concerned that I was not being understood in English; I'm a native speaker with no other accent and if there was a life/death emergency I wonder would the cashier be able to understand and respond in a timely manner. Her customer service was great and if I did not really look at her eyes while speaking, I would assume she understood me based on her body language. It's just a thought that maybe the store would work with their employees better to ensure that if the cashiers aren't understanding English well that they call a manager who comes promptly to immediately attend to the concern until they become competent language-wise. I didn't have time to talk to the manager...

My advice is to shop with care. The store has a good selection of international items you cannot find in standard supermarkets or farmer's markets, however, they seem not to rotate their food items. (1) SHOPPING: I spent more time than needed to shop here because I had to pay attention not to pick an expired item. It seems the store keeps expired items on their shelves. You know how you go to a regular super market and they discount near-expired food items? They seem not do that in this store so pay attention to expiry dates on your purchases. Even items in the frozen foods section have icing as you walk down the aisle. (2) SERVICE: The folks stocking the shelves were courteous. Those at the front desk and cashier had a sense of uncaring and looked past me. Had I not already shopped I would have left the store on the spot but several ingredients were needed. So I went to pay for my items, and the cashier slung my items to the bagger and the bagger stuffed my food in my reusable bags like she was stuffing laundry bags. Just to treat them the way they treated me, I held up their line and took my time to repack my grocery bags. People pay for food from their store and that money pays their salaries -- you'd think they'd have a better level of care. It was my first time shopping this store, and it will be...

New to the area and happy to see the options and variety of groceries they have. And the fresh fruits are just a perfect plus. Felt at home.

7.23.24 this is an update of my experience today. So yes I am taking off 2 stars. And mind you that I have been coming here now for a good 4 month as my main place to grocery shop. Today they only have 3 register open and I end up in one not paying attention that it says only 10 or less items. The cashier girl see me with my cart mind you I probably had 20items. And she rudely start yelling towards pointing at the sign that I need to go to a different register and I explain it to her that they all have long line and you only have 3 register open and she reply’s ok but you need to go find another. So I move forward she proceed to rudely ask me if I didn’t hear her or if I couldn’t read. I said well scan what you can . She scans 10 items and looks at me and say your total is $51… and refused to scan the rest of my items. so I left the remaining items on there for her. She was aggressively scanning and being rude to even the customers that were after me. Mind you I am 8month pregnant and was standing in that line for a good 20 min before my turn. We are not coming here to beg for things but rather to exchange our money for your goods. CUSTOMER SERVICE SHOULD ALWAYS BE...