Groceries

In the College Park area there are three large grocery store chains: Giant, Safeway and Shopper's Food Warehouse. As for proximity to campus: there's a Giant store about 2.5 miles away, and another one in Greenbelt (3.5 miles) that's open 24 hrs.  The Safeway stores are about 2.5, 3.5 and 4.5 miles away, and the Shopper's Food Warehouses are about 2.0 and 2.5 mile away. If you live in the Laurel area, there's a fourth choice: Weiss Markets. Barring coupons and sales, Safeway tends to be the most expensive and Weiss & Shopper's Food Warehouse the least expensive.

As with any university town there are expensive convenience stores located near the school. Wawa, a 24 hour convenience store located in the College Park strip mall just south of campus, is one of the best. Wawa has the most inexpensive gallons of milk around and also good coffee and deli sandwiches. You can expect to run into swarms of undergrads there on weekend nights.

Other alternatives are the Co-Ops (Co-Operatives). There are three near the University: the Greenbelt Co-Op in Old Greenbelt, a Co-Op in the Berwyn Heights section of College Park, and the expensive but fancy-schmancy Takoma Park Co-Op.

There are also farmer's markets every Saturday morning in College Park, Takoma Park, and Laurel. (Burtonsville, which is just west of Laurel, also features an authentic Amish Farmer's Market). These typically operate from May through October. They have great deals on really beautiful, fresh produce.

3/12/1999