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italy2003gt

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I am just wondering if it is worth it to take a trip to one of there locations I have one about 3 hours away, is the savings worth it, How are there prices…
 
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I like shopping at our “local” RD, but three hours? Probably not. We arrange a stop IF we’re heading to the Chicago area (about 1.5hrs) which happens with some frequency b/c we have a son still in school up there. I would suggest making it a side-trip IF you’re already heading nearby. I would guess they’ll allow you a one-day pass or something but you would be better off just registering for “membership” online. (It’s free) and you’ll only have to check in at the desk and get your official membership card, with a really nice tour of the store and an “how this works” walk about.

The only prices I know by heart right now are 6-N-1 ground tomatoes are selling for $20.67 a case, and Libby 16oz Pub glasses are $22.99 for the 2 dz case.
 
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Goto www.restaurantdepot.com, and click check out their monthly flyer corresponding to your store.

Pepperoni is on sale the month for $19.99/ 10lb case…

I have a store 5 minutes from my store, and i save a ton of money…
But to travel 6 hours round trip… maybe not worth the aggravation.
 
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I have discovered my RD about 3 weeks ago and I’m about 1/2 hour away. I figure I can save 1-2 hundred dollars a week by getting some of my staples from them. Pepperoni for $44/25# and flour at $15/50#. Those two items alone make it worth my time and gas 🙂
 
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I’ve been a convert of RD for well over a year - its right on the way to the store…I get just a few odd-ball items from Sam’s…I’ve yet had a salesman beat their prices, nor really try…

The quality of the store brands is generally fine, but I buy many national brands, Stanislaus, All Trump, Heinz, Kraft, Kens etc. Produce is excellent & what little red meat I use, it is more than adequate…

I’m fortunate to have a refer truck, so I can carry quite a load…
 
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We used to go to Sam’s about 50 minutes one way. Sure did save alot of money (I could fax my order and they would have it ready to pick up) where the downfall came was ALWAYS having to go. Among my other duties it became somewhat of a hassle after a few years. We don’t go regularly now, we “stop” by on occassion.

3 hours is quite a ways.

Kris
 
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Not a big savings from our distributor and so definitely would not be worth such a trip.

Their products “tend” towards the low end but they do carry some good name brand products.

Have not been happy with a “few” of their produce items but I’ve heard other items are fine.

Like any store you go to, it is common for them to be out of stuff which requires a second trip.

Biggest complaint is the length of time it takes to check out of the place. Not because of the lines but because of the process.
 
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I am very lucky to live 5 minutes from RD. I pick up produce once or twice a week there. They are also nicely priced for many paper goods like napkins, straws, styro cups/plates etc., plastic containers for salads and the like.
 
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I hadn’t bought any yet…for some reason the price just stuck in my head. I haven’t decided what to do for sure on our pub ware, free is nice…but I’m not too interested in plastering their logos all over the place either. I also have to correct my original reply as I see on their current sales brochure the glasses I was pricing in my head were in fact NOT the Libby brand but rather their own house brand. Still a fine glass…
 
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I dont know about a 3 hour drive, you should really think about that one. They do have some good savings, especially on their paper products. I have also used some of their produce, just like any other vendor occasionally you get some product that is not the best.
 
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We got lucky because we have a RD only about 10 minutes away, they moved in here at St. Louis about 3 years ago or so. We go there twice a week and save roughly probably 200 a week or so, but the way I look at it is that $200 a week almost pays my mortgage payment on my house, so its defintely worth it for us. My distrubutors HATE the fact that we go there and they have matched SOME of the prices, but they cant on most of it. The one thing that RD does do in a given area is keep the distrubutors in that area more honest, when they moved in we were able to renegotiate all of our prices because they knew I would just go to RD. We have a large reefer truck so its really not a big deal plus one of our 5 locations is only 5 minutes away from there so I usually swing by RD after I drop off the commissary order to that location.

RD does have it’s cons like they stock all their stuff during the day and run their forklifts all over the store while you are trying to shop, and pallets tend to get left in the middle of the floor etc… so it can be frustrating at times just to navigate through there, and like others have said the line to check out is usually not to bad but their method of checking you out is VERY cumbersome, if we buy say $700 worth of stuff and it takes us approx 10 minutes to get all that stuff we spend probably another 15-20 mins just trying to get through the line and check out, it literally takes longer on most days to check out then it does to actually get all your stuff on a cart and get back to the front. And like stated above sometimes they tend to be out of things, we always go there first and get what we need before we place our order with our other suppliers just in case RD is out, which is happened several times, you really have to be careful to rely on them to much. But the pros far outweigh the cons if they are close enough to you.

I don’t think a 3 hour drive would be worth it, but RD is definitely good for the restuarant business if they are close to you, if nothing else but to keep your other food suppliers honest on their prices, and trust me those food suppliers HATE RD…
 
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I was driving by, and had a checkbook in the car, so I stopped and bought about $200 in groceries. that saved me over $60 from my distrributor prices. I go there twice a month if I am driving by . . . but only get very specific items that are real savings or not available from delivery guys.
 
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I have shopped at Restaurant Depot 5 or 6 times in two different locations and have never once checked out with all of my prices being correct. For those of you that shop there regularly, have you seen the same difference on checkout prices as opposed to advertised prices?
 
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I’ve caught only a few price mis-matches over the past year…most price issues are new products not in the system or some things, like pizza boxes, that aren’t priced & they read them from a cheat sheet…

All-in-all, my experience has been great there…yes, the check-out time sometimes is a pain, but the staff seems to respond reasonably quickly to open up new registers…

They’ve always been helpful in the various departments, when something seems 2b out of stock, they’ll get the forklift & retrieve another pallet…

I find the prices beat the major suppliers, on the big things I buy (flour/cheese etc)…

Even many of the store brands I buy seem adequate for the job, but I buy many national brands as well…

The money you save may be the salesmans commission & the shared distribution/delivery costs, as it takes money to keep a brick/mortor operation running w/staff…

They buy/contract just like the majors, getting stuff from redistributors, like DOT etc.

At this point in time, I don’t even consider other solutions, & I have 2 friends that sell for US Foods & ROMA - they can’t continually meet the prices I get nor the preferences I require…
 
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The savings will not make a 6 hour round trip worth it. I will say that I have been shopping there for the past year and have been very happy with the quality and savings I have been getting. My sister works right accross the parking lot from them so I can allways have her grab anything I might need.
 
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I think the individual stores vibe varies with each location. In the Chicago market (my closest) there are 3 stores, one uptown, one in the south burbs, and one in the west/nw burbs. The Alsip (south) store is older but uber friendly staff, decently stocked and has a staff seemingly genuinely interested in helping you out. The Lombard store (NW) is a converted Menard’s Lumber location, newer building, clean, fairly friendly and helpful staff and stocked to the gills. Their “flagship” Chicago-land store at Goose Island I’ll never go back to. Surly, uncaring staff, dirty stock and a general “bite me” attitude from the stockers, checkers to the management. LIke in any business, the attitude and success of the entire staff runs down from the top dog.
 
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