Since many of these reviews have been written, Woodman's East has GREATLY improved their store. They are still working on it, but as of now this is what I've noticed:
- More/better lighting
- New freezers
- Self checkout (Whoohoo!!! I love self checkout!)
- They've rearranged the store giving the Organic Foods and Ethnic Foods MUCH more room and have put more products in those areas.
Woodman's needed these updates and I'm glad they finally happened, but even before that, I was a big fan of Woodman's. They are cheap and have a wide variety of items.
The store is older, open basically 24/7, and people pass through there all day - OF COURSE it's not going to look like Copps or Sentry. If you are looking for atmosphere in a grocery store, you are spending way too much time there. Woodman's never claimed to be Madison's best hang out spot. They claim to provide you with groceries that happen to be at a VERY reasonable price. Yes, sometimes you will find better prices on items elsewhere, but overall Woodman's gives you the most bang for your buck. For $100, I leave Woodman's with twice as many groceries than I would if I went to Copps. This is what counts.
I will admit, I do buy my produce there, but I spend quite a bit of time playing 'Unbruised Banana Hunt' and the ever-so popular 'Strawberry Quest: The Search for No Mold'. If you take some time, you can actually leave Woodman's with some decent produce... or you could save yourself of 15 minutes of 'Find The Perfect Fruit' and go elsewhere.
The produce is the only thing that is holding me back from a 5 star review. If i could give it 4.5 stars, I would. Woodman's carries a wide variety of items and I love that I can walk in and grab apple butter, Wheetabix and veggie burgers for myself and some Pepsi Throwback, Cap'n Crunch and a Hawaiian pizza for my boyfriend - all for a very reasonable price.