Sadly, Draeger's in downtown San Mateo is closing down! ☹️ It is quite pricey but it has a wide variety of speciality products that you can't always get a lot a normal grocery store. Look how beautiful the store is!
There is a closing sale going on NOW through February 2025 if you want to get pantry items, drinks, frozen foods, and more for 30-50% off:
Note that produce, meat, fresh flowers, bakery, and dairy items are amongst the things that are not on sale. But a good deal rest of the store is on sale!!
That includes canned foods, cereals, pastas, crackers, cookies, baking supplies, drinks, some alcohol, chocolate, cleaning supplies, baby supplies and more!
We didn't have a lot of time to shop, and I was hurriedly trying to find the things that would be a good deal to stock up on.
With the adrenaline pumping through me, it was like I was on an episode of Supermarket Sweep!! Anyone remember that show? Ah such a classic! People run around the store stocking up on the highest value items, throwing hams into their cart and picking up life size inflatable grocery items that represent extra bonus prize money haha.
Anyhow it wasn't that hectic in the store but there were lots of people stocking up on stuff, and also the shelves were already emptying out of some of their most popular recommended items. As I was shopping and filling my arms with things, my hubby was chilling out in the meat section talking to the butcher for the longest time and then later in the alcohol section where it's 35% off for stuff in the locked glass shelves..
When the cashier person rang us up, it came out to be a whopping $450 but then after applying all the discounts, it came down to $300. We ended up getting:
Big slab of beef brisket (not on sale) for $60
Japanese whiskey that was normally $200 but on sale for $130
My favorite Top Seedz crackers (earlier post here)
Baby stuff (diaper cream, diapers)
Coconut water
My favorite Dick Taylor craft chocolate bar (post here)
Coconut flakes (I want to make some granola at home)
Pistachios from Santa Barbara
Droste cocoa powder
Fiorello's Mango sorbet
They were mostly things we needed or wanted to get that usually never go on sale!
I would've bought more due to my natural hoarding tendencies, but we have limited fridge/freezer/pantry spaces so I had to exercise extreme restraint and choose carefully.
Two things that I'm particularly excited to try:
I heard this gelato/sorbet brand is really good!
And this Droste cocoa powder imported from Holland was a Draeger's Cooking School recommendation. It can be used for baking or drinking and also has really good reviews online. I like the old school packaging, it makes it look like a very good classic item that has stood the test of time.
Anyhow, hurry in to the sale to hopefully catch some good deals on your current beloved brands or discover some new faves. f you end up going, let me know what you find!
Draeger's Market
222 E 4th Ave
San Mateo, CA 94401