Ted’s IGA Supermarket — Local services in Hebron

I grew up a few states away from Connecticut in a sprawling suburban area--bustling shopping malls, oversized plazas, and the early days of the modern ultra-supermarket chains. A few smaller grocers clung to life as long as they could before inevitably being forced to sell out to these growing chains, and I spent the remainder of my childhood and most of my adult years without a nearby local grocery option.

Fortunately, the cultural climate of Connecticut has allowed a vestige of those mom-and-pop operations to linger to this day and, in the case of Ted's and a few other IGA-branded stores in the region, to thrive.

When I first set foot in Ted's a couple years ago, before even moving to Connecticut, I was immediately transported back to my childhood grocery store. Don't let the label of supermarket fool you--Ted's has only good things in common with national supermarket chains. It has a focus on local produce and protein with great selections of fresh fruits, veggies, meat, and seafood, all at reasonable prices and far better quality than your big or giant chain stores.

Is Ted's a one-stop shop for all your household needs? Certainly not. But such stores didn't exist back in the day, and we're a lot worse off for it now that they're everywhere. It used to be--or so my elders tell me from their porches--that you would go to the local grocer for your groceries and then the appropriate other local store for your other needs. Ted's does not try to stock 45 shades of pink lipstick; the national supermarket a few miles up the road does. Does that make the other place better? Depends on how much lipstick you consume, I suppose.

I'm not going to blame you if you take your shopping to a single big-box store. I get it. Time. Money. Excessive options. When you need to buy bananas, printer ink, and ammo all in one trip, Ted's will sell you lovely bananas, and then you'll go somewhere else. But if you settle into the routine of taking all your shopping to one place, you'll keep doing it when you don't need to, and every single one of those trips will be a chore. Ted's is pleasant. It's convenient, but not at the cost of value.

Where does Ted's really excel? Service. I've had friendly chats with more great folks who work at Ted's in a year than I did the previous 20 years at big box stores. Need a cut of meat that isn't on the shelf? The butcher is right there, usually keeping the shelves well stocked all day long. Want a custom sandwich or deli cut or recommendation for a deli side dish? There's always at least a couple folks eager to help behind the counter. Ready to check out? No self checkouts here; an actual real human will unload your cart, ring you up, and even bag your groceries. Are there two people in line ahead of you? Another line magically opens. I keep waiting to have some form of unpleasant experience at Ted's, and it keeps not happening.

A few tips: Ted's has a fantastic selection of inexpensive, locally-roasted whole bean coffee. If you know me from other reviews, you understand how important the coffee food group is to my family. We'll never be hard pressed for good blends as long as Ted's is around.

Every spring, Ted's sets up an outdoor nursery area in the parking lot. As a gardener, I can attest to its quality and solid pricing. A lot of big box stores overfertilize their plants to keep them alive until you take them home, and then they die or produce poorly. Ted's takes care of its plants.

With access to all things IGA, Ted's carries plenty of "store brand" items with the IGA logo. I encourage you to give them as they're usually a fair bit better than other store brands.

Now call it a drawback if you like, but there's a loyalty card to access the sale prices, same as every supermarket on the planet. You can ditch the little plastic cards they give you and punch in your phone number at checkout; bonus, you can set it to receive email-only receipts and not have to fumble with another paper receipt in your life.

Last tip: Ted's sale prices are nothing short of stellar. Get the flyer...

Ted's is an overpriced mom and pop grocery store that doesn't really give a person a lot of reasons to shop there. However, they are close by, have great meats, a good deli, and awesome prepared dinners and fried chicken that I get at least twice a week, maybe averaging 60 to 70 dollars a week in purchases. They also HAD a very friendly bottle return machine until today, that accepted most returnables from other stores, making it a very convenient reason to shop there, at least occasionally, while supporting one of the few remaining mom and pop grocery stores left in this WORLD! As usual, I went by today to do my returns and grab a bunch of things, but was met with an adjusted bottle return machine that will now only accept what was purchased at Ted's exclusively. Terrible business decision by Ted's management, but there are basically no more reasons to go there and spend 20 or 30 per cent more for groceries anymore.

Sorry...

I normally don't give a perfect score on any review but Ted's deserves five stars. I have shopped there for 36+ years. I especially like their meat prices and selection of quality beef, pork and poultry. For example, they sell their own freshly store ground beef.

Their produce section is now comparable to if not better than those in supermarkets.

The Deli carries Boars Head brand and the selection and quality of their salads and sides frequently results in impulse purchases.

The grocery shelves contain an impressive selection of quality products, e.g., Kelchner's Cocktail Sauce, Duke's Mayonaise - until recently only available in the South, Bone Suckin' (BBQ) Sauce, fresh local eggs, etc.

Add to the above the cleanliness of the store and the staff who have treated me like family for years.

Bravo Todge and David...