Market Basket — Local services in Ashland

First of all, I do not understand why the store has a 4.4 rating when it should be a five star rating. My wife and I moved into Ashland back in October 2023 and we heard a lot of good things about the store from different people, so we decided to check it out. Now my wife and I went to the Bellingham store and we didn’t like it too much because the crew was very unfriendly. Well we came to Ashland and we fell in love with the store. I’m a strong believer in the manager, set the tone For whatever business they are managing. Well meeting Mike who is the manager at Market Basket is fantastic. He has is very awesome. As Billy Crystal said back in the 80s, and he is simply marvelous. He is also a very friendly guy. He has an awesome crew. They’re all very friendly they go out of their way to help you out whenever they can. I am a US Army veteran who did 20 years and I’m retired. I also have PTSD from serving in the Middle East. I don’t regret what I did do or do I regret having PTSD it goes with the territory, but what I like about this whole store is the friendliness that we receive when we walk into the store together go shopping there is not one person in the head that we don’t dislike and also every time I see Mike I say hello to him and he won’t say all right back to me. It doesn’t make a difference how busy he is he’s always saying hello Plus I see how he interacts with all his workers. He’s very friendly to his people not only that, but he’s also extremely friendly with all his customers. But I also like about it is the food is reasonably priced we always go in and get good deals. I even like it better than Trader Joe’s and so does my wife. I’ve had people in that store say thank you for serving and that means a lot also even some of the customers that go in there early in the morning, I told one of them one day I have PTSD and they gave me my space that I needed. are used to hear stories that the store was always dirty. Well that’s not true. It’s a very clean store also with Joe Biden and the Democrats causing all our prices to go up. I think Market Basket does a good deal and taking care of me in the needs of its customers and keeping the prices at a reasonable price! My wife and I truly love the store. We going first thing in the morning and we love it. I highly recommend the store to anyone else looking and if you don’t like crabs like I don’t think of first thing in the morning all my friends tell me it’s a great store, and I can see that they are much better than Trader Joe’s also much better than Stop & Shop. Much better than Shaws and they’re not stuck up and snooty like Trader Joe’s Shaws and also Stop & Shop and also they are very veteran friendly, so why not go there at least we know we’re gonna get good food for a good price and we’re gonna be treated with respect when it doesn’t go there’s a fool not to...

This place tends to get a bad wrap sometimes from the uninformed so let's set the record straight. The most common complaint I hear is "it's dirty". Don't mistake an old building for filthiness, with the amount of foot traffic this place gets they're constantly cleaning it all day. Every time I'm in there someone is sweeping or organizing. One other common argument is "it's not as fresh". To this one I have to counter, with the amount of stuff they sell every day they have no other option but to keep refreshing the stock throughout the day. More people shop here than other places. This means that they're selling more items which means they are receiving more shipments of products than other stores and throwing more stock and therefore their produce is actually more fresh than everywhere else I have experienced. Of course, when I ask these people if they've actually been there they usually say "no".

Now, for my actual review. The store has the same and as many products as you would have at any conventional grocery store except they're very inexpensive here in comparison to other stores. For the price I pay for three bags of groceries elsewhere I literally walk away with a heaping carriage full here. They offer generic products as well which are usually cheaper and actually taste exactly the same, which isn't usually the case other places. As stated, the meat and produce are very fresh, arguably the freshest. You will find all your common fruit and vegetables plus a plethora of other fruits and vegetables from around the world. The baked goods section is very large and in my opinion above the quality of other grocery stores, as well as being inexpensive. There is a large frozen goods section, large dairy section, deli and seafood. The store also offers an international foods aisle with other items you may not find elsewhere without going to specialty stores. In other words, it has everything else your grocery store has but more and it's cheaper. Despite the store being very busy, I have never had to wait in line longer than five minutes to check out. The cashiers are used to the flow of traffic and therefore are very skilled and quick. The staff in general is very helpful all around. The bottom line is there isn't an excuse...

Good store - great prices - but agree with others who have stated that the stocking can be inconsistent. They should do better with this since they have the ability to do so.

I always bought CENTO crushed tomatoes there. Suddenly, gone. They still have CENTO pureed tomatoes, but the crushed tomatoes have been gone for about a year. I have to go down the street to Shaws to buy them - so they are still available, but for some reason MB suddenly stopped stocking them. Wasn't for lack of demand, because they were always being bought, sold out and restocked.

I also wish they would expand into the vacant space next door formerly used by CVS. It would free up a lot of needed space as this store is smaller than most with narrower isles.

The isles often have stocking pallets in them blocking access to products on the shelves. Annoying and a sign of poor management expectations. If a pallet is out on the floor - it should be tended to and the product should be offloaded onto the shelves immediately - not left there for hours.

The staff is generally very nice and they are helpful if you ask - even if they don't speak English. They will get you the help you need. I do agree with another reviewer here who complained about some of the baggers speaking inappropriately. I'm not Hispanic or Brazilian, but I speak Spanish and I know some Brazilian slang. I've heard baggers speaking to the cashiers saying very inappropriate things, using foul language and derogatory slurs - probably thinking that I would not understand them. That is a clear sign that better training and higher expectations are needed from the management at this...