Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Another Rave Review For Fresh Harvest Market

A reader writes in with a rave review for "Fresh Harvest Market" at Sheridan & Leland:

"For each of the past three Saturdays my fiancée and I have made trips to stock up for the upcoming week and wanted to email to say that their service and prices have been great. Our conversations with one of the workers (female) indicated that the entire process of opening the store was a royal pain and that Shiller made it a much harder process than it needed to be.

I have been an Uptown resident for five years and have read your blog since its inception. I appreciate all the work you do and I just wanted to share a positive experience to try and help get the word out about Fresh Harvest Market. Their prices on deli meat and orange juice were actually less than the prices at the Jewel on Montrose and it sounds like they will be adding a sandwich station with both pre-made and made-to-order sandwiches to be available."

26 comments:

  1. Fresh Harvest is awesome. My wife and I walked up there for the first time on Sunday to buy some food for dinner and couldn't believe the prices and selection at such a small store. Fresh Harvest is definitely a winning alternative to the local chains. I encourage everyone in the neighborhood to check them out!

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  2. This supermarket has it going. It is clean and lots of fresh items at a good price. Now if I could only walk there in peace. I hope they do not allow the front of thier store to be a hangout as many do everywhere in uptown......

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  3. Nice place, but it was a pain in the arse to park and they didn't have aspargus.

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  4. One thing I really appreciate is that when I asked them about something they currently don't stock, the cashier immediately wrote my request in a notebook. I don't know if they'll carry my item, but it was really nice to see they had a system in place for customer requests.

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  5. Wow. I'll definitely have to check this place out as it is very close to me and I LOVE fresh produce.

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  6. i saw asparagus... they must have just been out at the time, Jason!

    Love Fresh Harvest Market.

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  7. I also have only had positive experiences with this store. The staff is very friendly and helpful. They will let you try anything before you buy it (deli, gelato, etc.). The store is clean with very reasonable prices. They have become more well stocked as time has gone by, too. All in all, I'd highly recommend it!

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  8. Great store... even though it's small, I can literally find everything I need there, so no more trips to the Jewel for me. One suggestion for the management, though, is that they need to keep an eye on the fresh herbs. I have been a few times when they were looking not-so-fresh, and just one item like that in the produce section can make a bad impression, even though everything else was in very good shape.

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  9. I agree with everyone else. I'm very happy with this store the prices and quality are better than Jewel. I'm headed there again today. I am still freaked out about how much I can walk out of there with for under $20.00.

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  10. Sounds like a winner. How's the parking situation?

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  11. I'm a sucker for a good, small local grocery store with a well-stocked veggie section. I'm a frequent Devon market person but this sounds cool too. Gotta check it out.

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  12. My partner & I have shopped there twice now and really dig the fact we can go there to pick-up the few things without having to drive to Jewel or Dominick’s. But watch out for their gelato and cakes- their deliciously evil! Nothing like an independent grocery store.

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  13. This place is awesome.
    Compare this with Jewel were even with their "20%" discount, everything is still expensive. Im glad they are getting some competition from Fresh Harvest. I just hope by becoming successful they don't turn into Delray Farms. (at first very customer friendly and cheap and then raised prices on everything which led to them closing up because it was dead empty their last 2 years.)

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  14. I will say that while I was excited as everyone else about this store, they seem to have gone downhill since they opened. I have been there 3 or 4 times. The first time was great. All the produce was fresh, prices were competitive with Jewel and Dominicks. They don't quite carry everything I need, but do OK. However, the last few times I have been they have left me with a poor impression. I will likely not be going back.

    1. Fresh Produce - as someone else commented, this can leave a bad impression and it did with me. I was disappointed the last time I went to see a lot of stuff that was past its prime.

    2. Meat - a lot of the meat I looked at looked to be on its way out. The chicken that i bought the last time I was there was OK, but the ground beef was far from OK.

    3. Shadiness - This store has never accepted coupons. They don't have a posted policy, and if they were a discount grocer like Aldi, I would maybe understand. However, each time I have gone, my coupons have been denied.

    The first time I tried to use a coupon, it was for the Pillsbury Place and Bake cookies. They often come with a coupon attached that will save you money if you buy two packages. When I attempted to use this coupon, the clerk had a hard time understanding me and eventually someone else got involved. They asked me where I got the coupon and then tried to tell me that it was already included in the price. He then in another language said something to a guy who was nearby and that guy went over to the cookie case and started going through the packs of cookies. The next time I visited the store, all the coupons had been removed from all the packages leaving behind the clear backing that was glued to the package.

    The next time we attempted to use a coupon was another manufacturer's coupon, this time for Cheerio's. This time, we were told that the system was down and they couldn't take it.

    The produce and the meat may be a cyclical thing and may improve over time. However, the policy of not accepting coupons mean that we can save more money by watching the sale ads and using our coupons at other stores in the area. The shady behavior though is enough to make me not want to go back. While I like the convenience, I don't like feeling like I am being misled or lied to.

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  15. I am a couponless Fresh Harvest Market devotee.

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  16. Andy G - I know how you feel. I have been there 3 times, & two of those times their credit card machines were 'down' as well. Make you wonder. Maybe they don't want to pay the extra surcharge.

    I was not impressed with them either: selection small & the prices, while some say cheaper than Jewel, I have found them actually higher. A POM drink for just over $3 at Jewel was about $5.50 there. The breads were were just 'wonder' bread rather than some nice selection they said they would, & the soups they are supposed to have I have yet to see. And the parking? Forget it.

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  17. I should have stipulated, I have only bought fruit and veges at this store. It's those item I always found fresh and inexpensive.

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  18. My partner and I walked in a couple of weeks ago, very excited to see what all the hype was about. Unfortunately, it was disappointing. The produce smelled old and the cottage cheese had been expired over a week. We were going to buy several things but decided to leave. One of the stockers was actually stocking the dairy case!

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  19. They have a TON of bread variety options!

    Also -- the credit card machine is up and working.

    Neighbors -- this is a NEW Uptown business. Let's try to support it. Please give it multiple chances -- they don't have the manpower of big box businesses!

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  20. May I suggest to everyone who had a negative experience to express their concerns to the store and give them another chance? I'll agree that some of their produce hasn't looked too fresh when we've visited, but our neighborhood NEEDS this store.

    While I'll admit I'm biased because I love it's convenience, I also wholeheartedly believe that smaller, independent, pedestrian/bike friendly businesses of this kind make better neighbors than Jewel, Walgreens and…well, Target.

    I have been disappointed because some produce was past it's prime and like Jason, they didn't have asparagus when I once stopped in, but I wrote the store a nice note sharing my experience and encouraging them to "keep it fresh".

    They may not be reading this blog, so take the extra time to drop an anonymous (or not) note in the mail, or stop in and talk to the manager.

    Their address is:

    Fresh Harvest Market
    4650 N Sheridan
    Chicago, IL 60640

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  21. Like many of you I WANT to believe that Fresh Harvest will live up to it's name and my experiences thus far have been hit or miss. Being a block away, I went there the week they opened and was impressed by their fresh fruit and veggies-comparable to Jewel in price and quality. I've been a half dozen more times to test out their whole product line (produce, meats, dairy, etc) and have to say I'd give them a "C" in overall quality, but think they are making strides to improve.

    On another note, aside from Thai Uptown, Fresh Harvest also donated OJ and cups to Truman Square Clean and Green last Saturday which, to me, demonstrated a commitment to those in the area trying turn against the negativity that surrounds us. So, Kudos to Fresh Harvest--just live up to your name and for god's sake, get Jason some fresh asparagus! ;)

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  22. It's in the neighborhood's best interest to promote and patronize this business. If fresh produce isn't turned over fast is just doesn't turn over. Unless the owners have incredibly deep pockets and can afford to discard hugh quantities of inventory to maintain freshness, the selection will dwindle; as the selection dwindles so do the customers; as the customers dwindle so do the businesses.

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  23. I tried to buy grapes and they were brown, I bought some coffee creamer and when I got home it was a day before the expiration and the tortillas I bought were terrible Maybe the owners should buy less but buy more frequently, that may solve the problem. BTW I enjoy walking a block and half and buying all the fixings for some chicken fajitas but when I'm disappointed with the purchases I have a hard time going back. I will not support a neighborhood shop with sub par products just to keep them in business.

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  24. Well, I've been in Chicago for nine years and have shopped at the Jewel on Montrose/Broadway almost exclusively. The entire time I've been here I've been more than a little disappointed in their produce department. The fruits are always amazingly small none of the produce is really worth it's salt. The zukes and squash are pathetic examples and many times there are too many "bad apples" in any pile of produce to exude confidence in it's edibility. Alas, I've struggled through and continue to trudge on. I can't imagine that Fresh Choice can be any worse in this department but only 100% better, no matter the condition of it's produce; Jewel is truly that bad. We are going to be giving this place a fair shake.

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  25. I'm new to this site and I didn't know this cute sounding place existed! I will check it out real soon. But in return for this info I want every one to check out THAI UPTOWN. It's to live for..
    Gay friendly and cheap eat's, Everyone must visit!!!!

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  26. Great conversation!

    I am going to take what necie1015 said and bring it back to Fresh Harvest Market.

    Rather than Thai Uptown, may I ask you Fresh Harvest Market customers to eat at (or get take out from) Siam Noodle & Rice, which is literally next door to the market?

    My wife was there recently, and again noted how slow business is there. The thing is, it is a GREAT restaurant, fetured on Check, Please!

    Please stop by the Noodle, and ask Uptown Update to write an Update on business.

    Thanks!

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