Are changes planned for ugliest H Mart in Bergen County?

On Saturday, the entrance to the big H Mart in Little Ferry looked less than inviting. 

Editor's note: Today, I discuss food shopping at H Mart's Little Ferry store, which has seen better days; and Whole Foods Market and ShopRite, both in Paramus.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The H Mart in Little Ferry is one of the biggest Korean supermarkets in the Hanahreum Group -- and the dowdiest.

The store occupies half of a huge, one-story building that once also housed low-price retailer Valley Fair and then many small merchants under the Value Fair umbrella.

But that half of the building now is empty, and H Mart doesn't seem to draw that many shoppers, even on its busiest weekend days.

The H Mart in Edison has a beautiful food court, but I haven't dared eating at the faded lunch counter in Little Ferry.

Why shop in Little Ferry? It usually has the best sales, beating the Englewood and Fort Lee H Marts.

The Little Ferry H Mart offers an extensive selection of traditional Korean side dishes or panchan.

Chasing sales at H Mart

We were out of Shin Ramyun Noodle Soup, a spicy instant soup, and sure enough, I found it on sale at the Little Ferry H Mart on Saturday.

Sixteen 4.2-ounce portions were on sale for $10.99 with another $1 off for holders of the store card. The regular price is $16.99.

A fresh green called bok choy sum was on sale for 88 cents a pound, compared to the usual price of $1.29.

A head of red-leaf lettuce was 99 cents.

At the Englewood H Mart on Sunday, my wife picked up fresh, wild-caught small red snapper for $2.99 a pound.

Kabocha squash was on sale for 89 cents a pound.

But the Korean side dishes H Mart gets from Jinga, Pinocchio and other outside caterers are going up.

Stewed tofu, once $3.99, is now $4.49 or $4.99, and often the package labels don't list the weight.

Stewed Alaskan pollock, once $6.99, is now $8.49.

Amex promo at Whole Foods 

I registered my American Express Blue Cash credit card for a promotion at Whole Foods Market -- a $10 statement credit when you spend $75 or more.

The Blue Cash card also gives you a 3% rebate on groceries.

Shopping at the Paramus Whole Foods today for the meat eaters in the family, I bought antibiotic-free, uncured hot dogs and bacon, and baby back ribs in sauce; and frozen oxtails from animals raised naturally in the United States.

I also picked up two 1-pound boxes of 365 Everyday Value Organic Whole Wheat Shells from Italy, still $1.39 each; and a 16-ounce bottle of 365 Everyday Value Roasted Salsa Verde for $2.49.

The medium-hot salsa verde uses no sugar, unlike a similar product from Target.

The prices for the uncured bacon and hot dogs; pasta and salsa verde were less than, equal to or just a bit more than what I pay at Trader Joe's in Paramus.

Low-sodium black beans

In the Sunday paper, I found a coupon for $1 off four cans of Goya Low Sodium Black Beans.

At the Paramus ShopRite today, a 15.5-ounce can was on sale for 80 cents or 55 cents with the coupon.

A half-cup serving contains 5% of the daily recommended sodium intake, compared to 19% for the regular product.

I also picked up another 3-pound bag of triple-washed Southern's 10 in 1 Sweet Potatoes for $2.99, but seeing a scale nearby, weighed two of the bags and bought the one that weighed 3.5 pounds.

I'll cut up the small sweet potatoes, boil them with fistfuls of peeled garlic cloves, and mash them with grated reduced-fat cheese, extra-virgin olive oil and such seasonings as black pepper, cinnamon and red-pepper flakes.

And I bought four ears of sweet corn from New York State for $1.99 (they turned out to be very sweet).

But imagine my surprise when I stopped at Whole Foods later in the day and saw sweet Jersey corn selling for the same price (about 50 cents an ear).

Comparing the Can Can Sale to Costco's prices

A 2013 Can Can Sale! display at the ShopRite in Englewood.

I expected a bigger crowd at the ShopRite in Englewood today, the start of the 2013 Can Can Sale! 

Or as the sales flier wrapped around the front page of my daily newspaper called it: "The Greatest Sale Ever!"

All those exclamation marks can't hide the sad realization that the first of this year's Can Can Sales is a mere shadow of past discounts.

And when I compared ShopRite's Can Can Sale  prices to the everyday low prices at Costco Wholesale, I saw the supermarket chain has an edge only in variety. 

A couple of items I regard as staples aren't as big a buy as they were in the past at ShopRite:

ShopRite's 100% Italian Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, which was cut to $5.99 per liter, compared to $4.99 in the past; and 12 packs of Adirondack Seltzer, which were $2.50 each, not the $1.99 I paid last July at the Summer Can Can Sale.  

  

ShopRite's imported Extra-Virgin Olive Oil.

I could find only a few 12 packs of Adirondack Seltzer.

 

I had to buy 10 cans of low-sodium Progresso Soup to get the Can Can Sale price of under $1.19 each.

I came across boxes of 40 Melita No. 2 Coffee Filters (brown) for 99 cents each or half price, even cheaper than ShopRite's white filters.

Five 15.5-ounce cans of low-sodium Goya Beans were 5 for $3, but green pigeon peas weren't included for some reason.

I also bought uncured, antibiotic-free Applegate Naturals Black Forest Ham, which wasn't on sale, because the Englewood ShopRite is one of the few that carries that brand.  

Similarly, there was a barnyard full of low-quality chicken on sale, but none of Readington Farms' antibiotic-free poultry or the chicken parts from Coleman Organics. 

Naturally raised, uncured ham wasn't on sale in Englewood.

  

The Can Can Sale price for Florida's Natural Premium Orange Juice is $5 for 2 cartons (59 ounces each), compared to 4 full half-gallons of Tropicana Premium Orange Juice for $11.19.

That works out to .043 cents at Costco and .042 cents at ShopRite.

Poland Spring Water is 13.4 cents a bottle at Costco and 13.8 cents a bottle at ShopRite, but you have to buy 72 bottles to get that price at the supermarket, compared to only 35 at the warehouse store.

A 40-ounce jar of Victoria Marinara Sauce, which uses Italian tomatoes, is $3.99 at ShopRite.

I couldn't find the same pasta sauce at Costco, although I've bought it at the Hackensack warehouse store before. 

Costco has an annoying habit of moving products around -- to create a treasure-hunt atmosphere -- or my store may have run out of it.  

Food treasure at Costco: hand-made pasta from Italy.

   


To get Can Can Sale prices, you have to present the ShopRite Price Plus Card.

To get the biggest bang for you buck, search for coupons in sales fliers that will get you an even better buy when combined with Can Can Sale discounts.

I also use an American Express Blue Cash credit card, which gives a 3% rebate on groceries.