Ok, so this is limited to a specific area - namely Ohio and PA residents. There is a chain of grocery stores in our area called Giant Eagle. Recently they have been rolling out a new store format called "Giant Eagle Market District". I recently visited one that opened in my neck of the woods, and was pretty impressed. They are obviously trying to step it up a bit from your standard grocery store, and start competing with the likes of Whole Foods and Trader Joes and make your whole shopping experience a little more exciting. Basically the store is more like a food mall than a grocery store. I say that because when you walk in, there is essentially a complete food court greeting you. There are a bunch of "restaurants" ranging from a coffee shop, a gelato stand, a pizza joint, burger joint, sushi bar, chocolate shop with retro candy, and more. Then they've added a bulk foods section where you can get all sorts of items by the scoop. There is a Wolfgang Puck wine tasting bar as well as a station for live cooking classes from real chefs - who pass out samples of their food as they prepare it, along with recipe cards. When you want to order a bunch of lunch meats and cheeses from the deli, there is a touch screen service in the store so you can place your order and it will be ready for you by the time you get to the deli counter. No need to grab tickets and wait in line. The overall selection of products now includes a lot more hard to find ingredients. On the other end of the store they've put a full "spa" selection with all kinds of handmade soaps, candles, rock salts sold in bulk barrels, etc... They even offer a catering service and a florist in the store as well. I was pretty impressed with it all.
