The "SXM: Grocery Shopping On A Caribbean Island" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Arrived in St. Martin a few days ago and needed to make a visit to the grocery store to stock the refrigerator and kitchen shelves with snacks and a few meals for the three weeks we will be on the island.  With the recent loss of quite a few of the large grocery stores on the island due to Hurricane Irma, we had to give a few new stores a try. 

Shopping carts are available, but you must
pay $.25 cents for the cart.  When you
return it you will get your $.25 cents back.

One such store was Leader-Price on the French side of the island which is only a mile from our rental villa.  Carol and I had seen photos of the store online an thought it would handle all our needs.  Parked near the front of the store, grabbed all our reusable bags we brought with us and headed into the store.  Very stark interior with all information on the shelves in French and Euros.  In the past we would always shop on the Dutch side of the island that would have information in a few different languages with costs in Euros, US Dollars and Guilders, the Dutch monetary system.  The store was well-lit, clean and easy to maneuver the aisles with a shopping cart that I had to pay 25 cents to use.  (When you return it you get your 25 cents back). 

Fresh fruits and vegetables were limited in the store.

The selection wasn’t the best with products and manufac- turers we had never heard of before, but that’s our problem since we chose to visit another country.  About 10% of the store was devoted to bottles of wine and liquor.  We did not find any cigarettes which in the past were always on the shelves of stores we visited on the island. 

Large, new and clean frozen food section in the store.
Yes, the store was almost empty when we arrived.

We found that quite a few items were frozen and in large quantities that we are used to purchasing in smaller quantities and in cans or bottles.  Items such as tissues, toilet paper, wraps, etc. were offered in limited sizes and with only a few choices of manufacturers.  The store was immaculate, but the frozen food counter we found lacked in items we wanted to buy such as ice cream products.  They had one or two products, but no containers of ice cream.  Soda was limited to a very few varieties while things such as light bulbs, cleaners and household supplies were almost non-existent. 

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw they sold bread
without the crust.  Had to buy a loaf for lunch-time sandwiches.

Bakery items were limited, but one item I had never seen before in any store in the USA, and which I would buy weekly, was loaves of bread without a crust on it.  My wife always has to comment when she sees me take a knife and cut off the crust on the bread when I make a sandwich.  When we checked out I found it very unusual that the clerks were seated. 

New and clean check-out booths.  The clerk
slid your groceries across the scanner and down
a chute for you to bag it.  You needed to supply
your own bags or take your groceries to your car
in the shopping cart and then remove them.  The
clerk sat the entire time she worked.

I worked at a grocery chain store in Lancaster, PA for 6 years while I was in high school and college and never sat while checking out the items.  Would have loved to be able to sit, and really didn’t notice our clerk having any problems, so why not sit!  We left the store with perhaps about 50% of what we wanted and trying to figure where we could go for the other items.  With the lack of more stores due to the hurricane, we found we would have to do without.  We did manage to find items not available at Leader-Price at other smaller stores, but did have to pay more for the items than had we bought them at a larger retailer.  Hey, we're only there for a short time and will survive.  Especially if those who live on the island can make due with their choices.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

We were able to buy a bottle of MaDouDou for our son at the store.