Since I blogged about the new Dierbergs yesterday, I thought I’d give Schnucks their due, too. They have also opened a new store, just down the street from Dierbergs, and in many ways they’re very similar, to the point where I have to wonder how competing stores know to include the same features when they’re being constructed at the same time!
Like Dierbergs, this Schnucks also has an upstairs eating/seating area as well as a cooking school. I think that in general, Dierbergs wins in this department. The views of the store from the Dierbergs mezzanine are pretty incredible (there’s something unique about seeing all of those rows of grocery shelves and neatly arranged produce from above!), but you don’t see a whole lot from the upper level at Schnucks. They do have this very lovely fireplace, though, which is a nice touch!
There’s a cafe at the Schnucks, as well as a bakery, olive bar, and sushi bar, all features shared by Dierbergs. I did think that the chilled wine and cheese room was a nice touch…as a matter of fact the whole wine/liquor area was pretty impressive!
Everything else was fairly standard upscale grocery store, complete with yet another meal’s worth of samples. The children definitely prefer the cookies Schnucks gives out to kids over the Dierbergs variety, and I love that there’s a Kaldi’s Coffee right there in the store. No vermaport/parking garage at Schnucks, though, which gives Dierbergs a major bonus! I love watching carts go down an escalator!
It’s fun to walk around such nice, bright, new grocery stores, especially when you’re used to mingling with the masses at Walmart!