Supa IGA, corner Albert and Paisley streets. Phone: 9396 1404
Our first ever visit to the new IGA – one part of the site that used to be Dimmeys/Forges – gets off to a sour start when I almost get into a somewhat heated argument with the Seventh Day Adventists manning a booth outside.
Luckily, I pull myself up with a stern admonition – “life is too short for this BS” – and head inside.
We are wielding a shopping list of very modest length, so check the whole place out – right around, and up and down every aisle – before we start throwing items in our basket.
The store is done out in urban-industrial, which would be a tad oppressive if it were not for the incredible prevalence of colourful products of Asian derivation.
Truth is, many of the Asian products seem to be of the highly packaged and processed snack food variety.
I’ve been told my sniffy disdain for such fare renders me thoroughly unfit for residence anywhere in Asia, particularly Japan.
So be it!
That said, in many ways this supermarket is a typical IGA – especially when it comes to non-food items.
This may be the only Australia’s only IGA sporting live seafood tanks, but I know there are supermarkets of other persuasions who do likewise.
The non-live unfrozen seafood range seems quite good.
On the other hand, the deli counter and bakery sections do little to impress.
The fresh produce selection seems pretty handy, but hardly offers staunch competition to nearby Little Saigon Market.
The fresh meat range seems particularly lame on this Saturday afternoon
All of which makes us think this may only be an occasional stop for us – when we’re in the area, ready to shop and figure and we can cover all our bases there.
We find bargains though.
There’s broccoli at $1.50 a kilogram, for instance, and Zafarelli pasta at $1 a 500g bag.
From the endless range of Asian sweets, savouries and frozen lines, Bennie chooses a Meiji Yan Yan Double Cream.
This turns out to contain biscuit sticks and strawberry and chocolate sauces to dip them into.
He loves it, of course, but tells me the ratio of sticks to goop is out of whack, and that he has to resort to scooping out the rest of it with his fingers.
Life’s so bloody hard sometimes!
consider the sauce 
I find that IGA such a lost opportunity. Life seafood? Already available. Cheap fresh produce? Already available. Asian groceries? Already available. Halal meat? Already available. Why didn’t they try stocking what’s NOT available in Footscray? A good organic range, a really great deli, free range pork (the Footscray Coles doesn’t stock it) etc.
I mean, I know they have a range of South African groceries but when I went to buy something just to try (forget what), it was out of date.
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A bit sterner than my words, but I agree! A mix of generic IGA and what’s already at hand, and not that good at it either. I think, though, the “lost opportunity” bit by the likes of us is subjective. I expect the proprietors are doing what they believe will win them success with what they see as their market and customers.
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Jeez Louise I think you are both a bit harsh!
Remember this is a chain supermarket with some limits on their buying range. For the supermarket crowd the IGA offers an alternative to Coles, with a range of different fare all in the one place (well over the road anyway). Most IGA’s barely reflect their community, at least this one tries.
The market crowd will live with the “narrow” range at the Footscray and Saigon Markets or travel to the Queen Vic Market or Yarraville for their organics, free range etc.
I’m with Benny, fingers and goop are what life is all about 😉
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Good to hear an alternative view! And yes, there’s a lot to be said for fingers and goop! It’ll be interesting to see how they go – there’s a lot of established competition real close.
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I’m a big supporter of the IGA simply because it’s not Coles or Woolworths! 🙂 And I do like the ‘community’ aspect of the IGA stores. I really hope they succeed.
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Ahhhh – the “anything but …” approach! 🙂
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Woolworths own IGA.
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No it doesn’t.
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A member of our household has been known to make a special trip to this IGA after discovering Koh-kae “thailand’s #1 Peanuts snack peanuts nori wasabi flavour coated”!
Apart from this discovery we are still making a weekly trip to SIms
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I agree with Lauren. I reckon there’s a growing market in footscray that is not being met for non asian interesting produce – I have shopped here once, and can’t see myself going back; it had less to tempt me than Coles. I’m a vegetarian who buys organic fruit and veg most of the time from Grasslands ( how about a review of Grasslands Kenny?), and would prefer to not shop at Coles but am committed to shopping locally – usually on my bike,
And the industrial fit out I did find oppressive, and just not that enjoyable.
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Never even heard of Grasslands until now. Will check them out – it’s on the to do list. I’d be more gung ho about organic produce if I lived, say, in the US or elsewhere in the northern hemisphere. Here, the produce often seems – to my eye and touch – unworthy of the prices asked. I’m quite happy with our local greengrocer and places such as Sunshine Fresh Food Market.
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why organic? combo of reducing residual chemical load; being able to eat an apple or carrot without having to worry about washing or peeling it; often ( but not always) better taste – (grapes, capsicums, & stone fruit stand out for better taste for me); and environmental impact of the cropping itself – improving soil instead of degrading it. no fossil fuel based fertiliser; no GMO’s; no residual chemicals straying off farm, into rivers and creeks, killing bees and birds; – it’s worth the extra cost. You could do a post on the urban harvest swap meet that happens the first saturday of the month at Bristow Reserve Seddon too.
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Janet, I’m quite aware of all those arguments. The clincher for me is “it’s worth the extra cost”. My reply, in current circumstances, is: “IF you can afford it.” And frankly, the quality isn’t there – at our local, anyway. I remain open to persuasion.
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yep, some things are considerably more expensive, ( and sadly this usually means that the non organic versions are loaded with chemicals); others not much more than good quality conventional produce (and if they aren’t of good enough quality to warrant that then I usually won’t buy them). The organic collectives that have sprung up are an excellent way of reducing costs, at the expense of a few hours work a month. (Not that I’m a member of one – too busy!)
We spend about $100 – $120/ week for our family of 4 on fresh fruit and veg – if I bought it non organically it would probably be around $70 – $80. One fewer meal out a week; or taking leftovers to work for lunch for a couple of days covers that extra cost.
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Comment from a workmate: “I’ve never seen an IGA reviewed before!”
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I’m with Andrew #1’s, for the same reasons. I actually quite liked this new IGA Supermarket for its convenience…especially in preference to the local Coles.
Lauren…agreed. How can this IGA flourish within the local Footscray scene? Each main IGA attractor (live fish, vegies, asian produce, etc) is much better served individually by other traders within the area.
My question is: Will this IGA basically be a fancy 7/11 type convenience store to the rest of Footscray?
Janet, I also see your point, although I suspect I am a little more pragmatic re: organic foods (as is Kenny it seems). However, I don’t think the organic scene works well in supermarkets…I think it has needs outside of what a supermarket can effectively provide. You raise some great options within the neighbourhood. My dream is of more open local food markets every weekend in the area (not just monthly)…really driven by local council, as happens in other countries. Very vibrant. Might need some political influence though…any ideas 🙂 ?
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Can send weekly special items massage to email ?
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Seems the store closed on Saturday – not surprised, but sad for those who lost their jobs
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I also am not surprised that it closed. I went there when it first opened and immediately noticed a major problem: there were no check- outs. They had self-serve for people buying a few items, but where do you go if you have a trolley full of groceries? The cigarette counter? How do I fit all of these groceries onto the cigarette counter?
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So it has been closed all month, wow. I live 2 minutes walk away and I only found out today because a friend told me. I went there once when it opened and ended up in Coles. So many reasons it was destined to fail. 😦
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I walked past this IGA last week and noticed it was open again. Not sure if it is permanent or just to clear the shelves. I liked this place…I hope it will stay.
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I went in when it re-opened and asked one of the staff what the situation is. She said that it’s no longer an IGA but will operate as an independent supermarket.
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Popped in again today. It has removed most of the IGA naming, and sports a new independent name..can’t remember what it was (JJ’s or something like that). Some of the old bits were closed, like the deli and roast chicken bar, and fridges were pretty empty. Still, a fair bit of activity was going on with the staff restocking shelves etc. I asked them about it, and they said it had changed ownership and was becoming more of an asian style supermarket.
Also, there appears to be a new shopping arcade being built on its north wall.
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