Just to follow up on what we actually did for shopping on our arrival Saturday.

Our plane didn't arrive until after 5, picked up our car from Unity and got to Grape Wine in Hope Estate about 6. It turns out that the time was not a problem, since they are open late on Saturday. So I was able to pick up some nice bottles of white wine. (Jan prefers white.) Then on to La Playa hotel.

Since we only needed to pick up some basics, we decided to give Simply a shot on Sunday. ( Thanks to all for proving their hours. )

It was a total disaster. A few aisles were well stocked, but others were totally empty. Finally gave up and headed down to Super U in Marigot.

For the record it is 12 minutes in Sunday traffic.

Super U is a nice modern, well stocked store, but a total zoo on Sunday morning. Prices were very good. Better than Simply's. If you were doing a full shopping it would be a great place to go.

Super Undoes carry more store brands and less American brands than Simply. White wine selection was not great. (Didn't matter to us, since we already were all set.)

The lack of American brands was a pain, since we had based what we brought down on what we thought we could pick up at Simply.

Ended up having to make a few trips over to Orient Village to pick up things we needed or to replace local brand items that didn't work out. Nice selection at Petit Bistro, but prices much higher than in either market.

So in balance, Simply would have been a better choice for us, given our needs. However, it doesn't matter since Simply is so bad right now.

Next trip we'll just pack the things we can't get at Super U.

We always loved Simply, but this year the shelves were empty. Super U is a great market, but very busy. If we needed American products, we went to Carrefour in Cole Bay.

You wrote that Super U didn't have what you needed to replace local brands based upon what you had brought down; what would that have been? I'm trying to imagine. Do you mean they had, for example, frozen veggies or instant rice but the directions for cooking were in French?

No. Things like sun tan lotion, underarm deodorant, bug spray, mouth wash and the like. They add up in weight.

Simply carried all of these things in American brands at about the same price as we paid in the US. So why haul them down in our luggage?

Super U doesn't carry them. Petit Bistro in Orient village carries some. The newsstand in the village carries others. But at prices sometimes 50% or more above what we would have paid for them at Simply or in the US.

Not insurmountable, just annoying and needing extra stops.

It's actually Petit Casino, not Petit Bistrot. Not sure how you can say that Simply would serve your needs better, if the shelves were empty?? I always just bring suntan lotion, etc from home.

That makes sense. Good to know those products don't cost much more on island. Now that's less I have to pack. Makes room for my lounge chair cup holder and my towel clips shaped like pink flamingoes!

Hi RonDon

With Simply Market not really functional there isn't anyplace that I know of in the Orient area that you can get those items for close to US prices.

Sorry if I wasn't clear in what I posted. Next trip we will bring those items ourselves until (if) we find a reasonably priced local source.

Ted

We didn't find Simply as empty as everyone describes when we were there last month.(We went to both stores) And they have a far better cheese selection than Super U. I will say that we were not looking for American brands.

Did not like Super U - produce not appealing, couldn't find breakfast meats; Simply (Grand Case) may have been out of butter but they had awesome pate; Grand Marche in Phillipsburg great for basics & produce. That is this week anyway.