Nothing really as exciting as Whole Foods here. Makes me want to take a trip home just for shopping. mmmm
Vote for Globus.
Interesting as the butcher at my local WF was like a neighbor to me and the amount of 'pick your own' fruit and veg back home was key to me as not only do I enjoy picking my own fruit and veg, but I'm big on canning/putting up my own stuff...something you just can't do here both for lack of garden but lack of pick your own. And there is a butcher in town...we've had a few chuckles over yankee vs. european cuts but, let's be real...a giant sirloin from WF in the US is not like an entrecôte steak here...I'm from cow country and no amount of swissification is going to allow me to pay swiss prices. None. I'm going to go home and consume several pounds of sirloin in one meal for less than a few rolls of toilet paper...and I'm going to cackle while doing it...while I can.
I'm also one who doesn't like shopping, doesn't like being branded...but at the same time, I enjoy having options, e.g. not having to go to three different stores to find only one can of cannellini beans. I don't want to spend my days shopping endlessly at various markets for the basics.I was already less enthused at shopping at the supermarket for some things, TJs for others and WF for produce and meat with various other specialties. Here, you can forget about most of the variety and spend your days either going to aldi/lidl/farmer's markets or drive to germany for various groceries. I'm just not that ambitious, even as a domestic slave. I don't want to work so hard to find a bit of variety in my life.
I've spent a lot of time doing the legwork, investigating, exploring...and probably because it's all new to me I'm enjoying what in the states would be simple frustration. Now that I know where to find my staples shopping is fun again, finding new things, etc.