Goodbye, Jenny Lou
I've never liked Jenny Lou's grocery stores, but I still go because, like everyone else after decent cookies, I have no choice. I dislike the place for three reasons: crowded, bad service and fa piao mafan. You can't get fapiao's if the fapiao master has gone home for the day and the fapaio master goes home for the day at 5pm. So I have a stack of souju's from Jenny Lou's waiting for that one time of the year I can go during work hours. Anyway, no longer, because I'm an Ole man now. That's right, the Ole Supermarket in the basement of Ginzo shopping center has pretty much everything JL has: great location, it's well lit, spacious, not crowded with foreigners paying for a pint of Ben and Jerry ice cream with a foreign credit card AND you get a fapiao on the spot. Goodbye, Jenny, I won't miss you.
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Yup agreed, OLE has much better service, better decor as well for the one in Seasons Place at Financial Street. With good fresh bread selection.
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I think OLE is generally a bit pricier than Jenny Lou's, granted though you can pay with credit card with no hassle and get a fa piao.
The service at Jenny's can be a bit sullen and I get frustrated that each store stocks slightly different items but they do have a great range of "expat friendly" products. The meat and cheeses are very good (better than OLE) and they have organic milk and sugar free yoghurt.
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True that OLE is a bit pricier, but only about 2-5 kuai, I mean for me at the end of my day when I go shopping, I do want to get good service. And yes Jenny has great options as well.
So we are trapped in betweens, nothing is perfect in Beijing (does it ever get perfect?).
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Nothing is perfect just about anywhere. (Don't get me started with the Chinglish or the bad fonts...)
But this is Beijing. Where nothing is perfect but everyday, things get more and more perfect...
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So TRUE! Just made my day, thanks man!
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Just be careful about the expiration dates. I hear Jenny Lou's is terrible about checking expiration. And a significant percentage of their goods come 2nd hand from HK grocers after they receive new stock. :-O
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Wow, that's interesting info. That being said, I bought a carton of milk at Ole and only when I got home did I realize the printed exp date was FIVE DAYS AGO.
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I don't think any of the supermarkets in China are particularly careful about checking expiration dates. This is made more difficult by the fact that Chinese producers usually only print the manufacturing date on the product. The product lifespan is printed on the packaging but usually hidden amongst the blurb on the back of the package.
In Jenny's or anywhere else it pays to pay attention to what you are buying. I have in the past bought out of date stuff by accident in Carrefour and OLE. All part of the fun of living here.
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Well there was a story I heard where supermarkets just replace the expiration dates label, but not the goods. So do exercise caution, just smell and taste a bit of everything that you buy, before going ahead all in. Saves up a lot on medical bill of food poisoning.
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c'mon stop talking about it if you are not sure. respect this place please
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We do our weekly shopping at Jenny Lou (Lido) and so far, we are happy with the service. They also deliver purified water to our home as and when needed. I also found out recently that most of the foreign brand items at Jenny Lou are cheaper than most supermarkets (foreign brands). I did a research for a company and I visited Jenny Lou, Carrefour, Wal-mart, Hualian, Ito Yokado Huatang, Nick's Mart, Yansha supermarket and Xinyuanli Market (great market to buy fresh vegetable, fruits & fish). As for expiration dates, we just need to pay attention which ever supermarket we go to. BTW, you can buy groceries online at www.jennyshop.com.cn
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The xiaomaibu in my xiaoqu delivers purified water to anyone who'll pay. What were the results of your research?
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Nick's Mart in Lido is great. Also, the C store in the basement of The Place mall is great, too!
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Thank heavens I buy only water... no expiration date guessing here... (Well, not YET...)
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I have been shopping in Jenny Lou's for 7 years, and I must say my shopping experience has never been so bad and I now try to avoid as much as possible to go there.
As mentioned higher, they never have Fapiao or always find an excuse not to give you one. Only when threatening to call the police for tax evasion, they pull out a fapiao book from their counter.
Now, in most of the Jenny Lou's shop, half of the item prices are just missing. I made that remark several times, and nothing has improved. You still need to ask at the counter the price.
Price hikes: Recently they have increased prices in a big way. For the same item (foreign butter for example), you can get 40% higher price in Jenny compared to other shops.
Plastic bags: sure, it's good for the environment to charge for bags, but charging them without informing the customers look more like cheating and trying to get some extra mao out of the customer.
Jenny Lou keeps selling pirated DVDs in their premises. I don't understand why Jenny would take such a legal risk to jeopardize her business. She could get her chain closed just for that reason.
I don't call it a very nice shopping experience. I prefer April's gourmet, cheaper, nicer service but less choice. You can't get everything ;)
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Totally agree with xigor, take the price of Nescafe Coffee granules, 79 rmb in Jenny and 59 in Jingalong, Washing powder 4rmb more expensive, We are living in china, why not shop in the Chinese stores, or better still go to the fruit and veg markets, help all the chinese not just one Jenny loo.
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@xigor I find that I get more imported stuff at the CRC shop in B1 at the Kerry Center, or at that great big supermarket in Pacific Century "Place".
(They could have called it "plaza" instead...)
Have never gotten Just Juice at Jenny's. That's with the Friendship Store...
(Yes, I still go there, de temps a temps...)
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I really don't understand what everyone's problem is with Jenny Lou's. I live right by the Jianwai Soho branch and have never had a problem there, even during the stretch of months that I was a twice-a-day customer. The produce might be slightly more expensive, but as per my experiences with my local Jenny's, it has always been fresher than what I've found at either Jingkelong near my apartment. Not only that, but they've given me my fapiao every time without me even having to ask for it. I also really love their sandwiches, and have never returned to Subway after my first one at Jenny's. That said, I've never been to any of the other branches, so perhaps the one in Soho is the exception to the rule.
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A legal, red-stamped fa piao is not the same as a register receipt. They give receipts readily which I suppose is a little bit commendable. Fa Piaos are hard to come by.
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Actually, each Jenny Lou has different management which varies greatly in terms of quality. The worse Jenny Lou's are the ones in Sanlitun and Chaoyang park west gate.
From what my friends have told me, the ones in Soho and in Shunyi provide proper services and real fapiaos without arguing when asked.
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To respond to lioralourie's comment, point taken. I was previously referring to a register receipt, so I went over to my branch in Soho yesterday and asked for a fapiao. As xigor mentions, I was given one without fuss or even a "xiao deng yi xia."
As for other supermarkets that cater to a foreign clientele, my biggest mafan has been at the Carrefour near the fourth ring road and Shuangjing Bridge, which I quickly discovered is a black hole of time. Forget about going there on the weekends if you want to spend any less than a half hour at the register.
Jingkelong is alright, and there are branches everywhere, but I simply do not understand why on earth one must buy foodstuffs and toiletries/cleaning supplies separately.
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If you want to find the things that no other store in china has, you want things cheaper and you like to buy in a bit larger qty.. i liter milk uht for 5rmb, large containers of spices (99gm) for 45 rmb, frozen or fresh meats/fish/ killer fresh veggies, go to http://www.metro.cn/ , If you can't get a card (members only, kinda like a sams club) and want to go to the one in the south, just email me and I'll go with you (you'll pay the taxi, won't you?). No lines, no waiting, no people. Even large tins of fruit (i do mean the large ones), bulk washing liquid/ detergent and so many goodes you have never seen in china. I even bought a henkel (sp?) knife for 43rmb), they have everything you'd find in a carrefour and more.
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I'm still a Jenny-ized kind of guy; nobody else offers me mineral water, orange juice and ice tea at ROOM TEMPERATURE. Relevant for this season for THIS (explosive!) stomach! (I'm talking about the Jenny at Jianwai SOHO.)
Never did fapiaos with them, though. Hey, on that, I guess you're the authority... should I try tomorrow to do fapiaos? Nah, what mafan for me!