It's always been a handy store with good selection and bellow average prices (at least on premium packaged products, not so much on produce or baked goods) and it's getting better. They've tried a few different layouts & aisle alignments in recent years but I think they got it right the way it is now, They also improved the ventilation compared to years ago.
Will it be too late, seeing as newer entrants like Organic Garage & Sweet Potato seem to be investing heavily in "upscale" presentation & marketing? Hopefully not. Ambrosia has outlasted others who've tired to cash in using a fancy facade to sell the same stuff at higher prices ( Planet Organic...) however the trend of consumer replacing common sense with snobbism has only gotten worse in the mean time so Ambrosia fans have cause for concern.
I usually find what I need here and the price is usually better (with the odd exception).I'll take a well stocked, well replenished place with good prices over attitude and fancy interior design anytime.
And regarding the service, I rather like the fact staff stays out of your way instead of following around and pestering like car salesmen. There are lots of staff on the floor, if I need them, i'll get them. Last couple of Wednesday evenings they had FOUR people on cash - these days you could go to lots of major supermarkets many times larger and not find 4 people on cash on a weekday! I respect that.
The line-ups look intimidating because they use the stupid single-line system like Winners which makes everyone line up in one lane so it seems like you've got 8 people ahead of you whereas if every register had it's own line up it would only be a couple of people per lane. I guess it saves them some space but I don't think it's worth the bad optics of that long queue.
Other than that I find Ambrosia becoming more and more my go-to store for better packaged foods & ingredients and low-irritant bodycare/household products. And with the improved layout and always evolving product selection I look forward to shopping here for as long as they stay true to their identity and format.