Routine change

In the summer of 2017, Amazon bought Whole Foods. We adjusted to the mostly minor changes that soon followed, but after the introduction of a new companywide ordering system began causing inventory shortages in our local store, my wife and I — by then I was often accompanying her — decided it was time to rethink how, and from who, we purchased our groceries.

Our thinking quickly zeroed in on Sigona’s Farmer’s Market (across Middlefield Road from Redwood City’s Costco) and Dehoff’s Key Market (at the corner of Roosevelt Avenue and Upton Street). We realized that, between the two, we could obtain almost everything we needed while supporting a set of friendly, locally based retailers. Sigona’s, in particular, came as a bit of a surprise, at least to me. I had heard that they were a source of high-quality, locally grown fruit and vegetables, but hadn’t realized what else they carry. For one, their selection of wine and cheese is excellent. Their dairy section easily satisfies our needs, and they sell flour, sugar, oatmeal and spices. Even their salmon is very good. They don’t sell everything we need, however, which is where Key Market comes in. Key, a more conventional grocery store, has, over the last few years, stepped up their game by carrying an increased amount of organic produce and by adding a terrific deli counter. These days we rely on Key for paper products and cleaning supplies, bread and packaged goods such as breakfast cereal.

We briefly continued to shop Whole Foods primarily for meat, but it soon occurred to us that Gambrel & Co., a small craft butcher located on Main Street near Broadway in downtown Redwood City, could easily satisfy our needs. Gambrel & Co. opened back in 2016, and although we’d come to appreciate the quality of their locally sourced products, we had treated them more as a special occasion retailer than as a source of everyday meat. These days we eat less meat than we used to, and are more concerned with quality. Trips to Gambrel & Co. are quick, making them an ideal addition to our new routine.

Admittedly, shopping at three separate stores isn’t as convenient as getting everything at one place. That caused us to stop making frequent trips and instead resume shopping once or twice a week. And when the pandemic hit, we went even farther. In an effort to minimize our time out of the house, we began our now-current routine: shopping once every other week.

We were pleased to see how seriously our three primary retailers — Sigona’s, Key Market and Gambrel’s — took the threat of COVID-19. Sigona’s and Key Market not only erected sanitation stations outside their stores, they established limits on the number of customers shopping at any given time. For their part, Gambrel’s shifted to an online ordering system with pickup or delivery, keeping customers from entering the store entirely. While we miss the casual chats we previously had with the proprietor, this trade-off allows us to continue purchasing high-quality, locally produced meats while keeping safe.

Because there seem to be fewer shoppers first thing in the morning, we get started early on shopping day. This not only helps us maintain a safe distance, it allows us to shop quickly. We head to Sigona’s first, where we split up (each taking part of the list) and buy the bulk of what we need. Then, we head to Key Market, where we buy everything except the meat we have ordered from Gambrel’s — for which we usually make a separate trip, often on a different day, to get.

Having become familiar with the layout of both Sigona’s and Key Market, we typically work our way through both stores in a little over an hour. Given the ease with which we do our grocery shopping these days, coupled with the quality of the products we are buying, I’m sure that even once COVID-19 ceases to be a factor we’ll continue our current routine, buying groceries every other week from the combination of Sigona’s, Key and Gambrel & Co. It may not be entertainment, but I do have it admit: It is sort of fun.

Greg Wilson is the creator of Walking Redwood City, a blog inspired by his walks throughout Redwood City and adjacent communities. He can be reached at greg@walkingRedwoodCity.com. Follow Greg on Twitter @walkingRWC.