Family Fare Supermarket — Local services in Gaines Charter Township

This is one of the nicest Family Fare locations I've been to. Of course there are pros and cons.

I think this store is generally pretty clean.

I love their bottle return area. The machines always work well and I like the plastic/aluminum bottle return where you just dump all of them in and it sorts automatically.

I'm not fan of the courtesy counter. There is usually one person on duty and a long line. It would be nice if they had a 2nd in command jump in when they see the line getting long. Nobody wants to wait 10 or 15 minutes to cash in a couple bottle receipts when the person in front of them is getting money orders, buying lottery tickets, and 10 other things.

I'm also not an advocate for the self check out lanes. That's fine to have the option for the people that want to go that route, but I still like that human contact and like to have an actual person ring up my order. I usually find they only have 1 line open with a real person running it.

As for the YES card, again not a fan. Just like I'm not a fan of the Meijer Mperk card. If you are a store and have a sale then just apply it to whoever buys it. Why do we need to go through the huge song and dance of showing our card or clipping cyber coupons? Waste of time for many who are super busy with other things.

I do notice that a lot of their groceries are a bit higher in price compared to Meijer, but I also understand that they aren't as huge so have to make up their bottom line somewhere. But, I like to come here on occasion because I don't always enjoy touring through Meijer to pick up a couple of items...or there are days I just don't want to deal with all the noise and rudeness I find at Meijer.

Now, as for the people who work here they are always pleasant and helpful.

Overall this is a good grocery store and I know...

I'm giving the donuts a 3. And the cakes also. The cheddar cheese bread is really good as is the ciabatta. I like a cream filled long john. Bought one and noticed there was a discernible break in the flow of cream. Hmm. Just 2 blobs. Must have had a harried worker because the glaze on the top was severely lacking as well. Bought from different store, same thing. Maybe a trend. 3rd store, same thing just better glaze on top. But 2 worthless blobs of cream. It is apparent that is the directive from the filling police at the corporate level. Which us too bad. Profits up, quality down. Then, you move to the frosting quality and it's just not there either. Everyone knows what good buttercream tastes like and this is the overly processed heavier stuff that brings very little flavor to the party. Again, it reeks of someone selecting budget over quality. But isn't that what grocery stores do? If you want great bakery products you find a neighborhood bakery and you can't compare the two. The grocery stores know the local bakery is better and that's that. I dont know why they don't try harder. It's not just Family Fare. Meijer is awful and nobody should be touching anything at Walmart. The Arnies stuff is good, but again, they're a bakery (Someone at Family Fare ought to grab some Arnies cupcakes off of the shelf and see what a quality buttercream should taste and feel like). Those donuts though. They taste great. Just, literally, unfullfilling. Why would...

Organized, clean, well-stocked, except whatever the week's free item is. I can never seem to find it or it's almost always out. And I can't usually find a worker to help me. The problem with bigger stores such as Meijer or Target or bigger grocery stores that are chains is they only have one checkout lane with an actual cashier. The rest are self checkout. Some of us cannot stand self checkout or cannot do self checkout. I am one that cannot use self-checkout. So I have to wait in the one lane that has an actual cashier. This is hard during busy times. Family Fare is also more expensive than other grocery stores. However they have a much better selection and better quality food when it comes to items such as fresh produce and bakery items. I just special ordered a birthday cake for someone and they did a fantastic job with it. Not only that it was cheaper than Meijer. (People Rave about Meijer and how it's cheaper but I cannot stand to go in that Zoo.) This Family Fare is located on Kalamazoo near 60th Street...