Why You Should Never Wait Until Friday to Buy These 5…

Why You Should Never Wait Until Friday to Buy These 5 Grocery Items

The grocery store on a Friday afternoon is a chaotic place. The aisles are packed with shoppers who are stocking up for the weekend. While it may seem like a convenient time to shop, it is actually one of the worst. The huge crowds mean that the shelves are quickly picked over. The freshest and best-quality items are often long gone by the time you get there. To get the best products, you should always try to do your shopping earlier in the week and never wait until Friday to buy these five items.

1. Fresh Seafood

This is the most important rule for any seafood lover. Most grocery stores receive their fresh fish deliveries on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This means that the fish you see in the case on a Friday is likely already two or three days old. For the absolute freshest possible seafood, you should plan to shop on the day of the delivery. You should ask the employee at the seafood counter which days their deliveries arrive.

2. The Best Cuts from the Butcher

Like the seafood counter, the meat department also has a specific schedule. The butchers will often prepare the best and most popular cuts of meat, like thick steaks and roasts, earlier in the week. By the time Friday rolls around, the best of that inventory has often been sold. You will be left with a much more limited and picked-over selection for your weekend barbecue.

3. Markdown Meat and Produce

The best deals on meat and produce that are nearing their “sell by” date are almost always found in the morning on a weekday. An employee will go through the inventory first thing in the morning and apply the bright orange “markdown” stickers. These deeply discounted items are a huge prize for bargain hunters and are almost always gone by the end of the day. There will be very little, if any, left by Friday.

4. Fresh Bakery Bread

The in-store bakery produces its bread and rolls on a daily schedule, with the freshest items coming out of the oven early in the morning. A loaf of “freshly baked” bread that you buy on a Friday evening is likely from that morning’s batch and is already almost a full day old. For the absolute best and crustiest loaf, you should always shop for your bread as early in the day as possible.

5. Popular Sale Items from the Weekly Ad

The new weekly ad for most grocery stores starts on a Wednesday. The most popular, deeply discounted items from that ad, known as “loss leaders,” will often sell out in the first couple of days. If you wait until Friday to shop for that special BOGO deal, an empty shelf may greet you.

The Weekly Shopping Cycle

A grocery store operates on a predictable weekly cycle of deliveries, markdowns, and crowds. The beginning of the week is when the store is at its best, with fresh deliveries and a full selection. The end of the week is when the store is at its most chaotic and picked-over. By shifting your main shopping trip to a Tuesday or a Wednesday, you can avoid the Friday crowds and get access to the best and freshest products the store has to offer.

What day of the week do you usually do your grocery shopping? Have you ever noticed that the selection is worse on a Friday? Share your experience!