Our online order pickers are the cream of the crop.
They’re trained to select your fruits and vegetables at the peak of perfect ripeness.
They learn from the experts to bring you meat and seafood at its fresh, flavorful best.
Meet the picky Personal Shoppers who put your order together when you order online from Town & Country Markets. They’re not just gig workers temping for a megacorporation’s delivery division. These are serious food people who’ve been on our team for a while. Some have even led teams here at T&C. They’re grocery and culinary specialists—people who get excited about great food, and it shows in the way they shop for their customers.
They know their produce. They know their meat and seafood. They know the local producers Town & Country works with to bring it to the market at its best possible moment. They know the people behind the counters who wrap the fresh fish, toss the signature salads, slice the meats and cheeses, and bake the house-made cookies. And they know their customers, who often ask for them by name.
These are the pickiest of pickers.
Next time you’re in a Town & Country Market and you notice a Personal Shopper selecting items for an online order, watch how carefully they do it. They’re not just sweeping through the supermarket trying to break a speed record. They’re not chatting on their phones or listening to podcasts while they fill an order. They’re laser focused on the order, and the thought that went into creating it. They’re considering each order individually and putting themselves in the place of the person behind it. Each item they pull from the shelf is the one they’d purchase for their own tables. They look inside each box of raspberries to make sure they’re fresh and good.. They check each egg in the carton to make sure they’re all intact.
“It can take me 3-4 minutes just to pick bananas,” says Personal Shopper Julie Ramstead. “We can choose ripeness. But are they overripe? Not ripe enough to eat today?” These are the kinds of things T&C order pickers take seriously when they select each item for their customer.
But selecting each item to be the best it can be isn’t the only thing these picky pickers are striving to do for you. They’re looking at every order holistically. For example, if they see that most of a customer’s items are gluten free, they wouldn’t think of subbing an item that had gluten in it. If it looks like an order contains ingredients for a certain recipe and the market is out of something, they’ll reach out to the customer to offer alternative ingredients to choose from. They’ve even been known to send photographs of the options.
It's not just digital. It’s a genuine connection.
“Town & Country Markets’ Personal Shoppers live up to the ‘personal’ title. In addition to the care and consideration that goes into the shopping process, they include a hand-written note with every order,” says Greg Abbey, T&C’s e-commerce specialist. “Our people develop ongoing relationships with their customers. They even know their dogs, and which treats their dogs like best. These are genuine connections that run deep. That’s the magic of T&C. And it's what differentiates our online ordering experience from that of other grocers in the area.”
Whether you’re picking up your order or having it delivered to your home, it’s ready for you as quickly as possible. It’s bagged intelligently, with fragile items protected, similar items grouped, and the weight of each bag considered. There are thermometers on every cooler, and each bag is kept at the appropriate temperature until it gets to you. “But of course, we would never put bananas or tomatoes or a fresh basil plant in the cooler,” adds Greg Abbey.
With a high-level crew like this, people really notice the difference, and they appreciate it.
“One customer recently baked cookies for the team at the Ballard store because she was so grateful for the care and attention given to her online order,” recalls Abbey. “We’ve had people deliver flowers…all kinds of things. Has Amazon or Instacart received any flowers from online customers lately? It makes you wonder.”