14 Grocery Store Chains With The Best Senior Discounts

If you're on a fixed income, it can be challenging to manage your grocery bills on a month-to-month basis, which is why being a discerning shopper these days is more crucial than ever. Unlike other, more discretionary expenses, groceries are an absolute necessity for which you have to budget. Even saving a fraction of your weekly or monthly grocery bills can add up to big savings in the long term, making finding the best senior discounts highly important.

With so many grocery store chains from which to choose, it can be a bit overwhelming to identify the ones that still offer a generous discount, particularly when the trend has been for some chains to eliminate their discounts altogether in the last few years. Fortunately, there are still a good number of chains all over the country that offer senior discounts, so you'll likely be able to find one in your neck of the woods — whether you live on the coast, the Midwest, or the South. These grocery stores with senior discounts make it easier to get the groceries you need without breaking the bank.

A subsidiary of The Kroger Company, Fred Meyer came into existence in 1922 and is based in Portland, Oregon. A mainstay of the Pacific Northwest, its stores are found in four states: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska. Over the past 103 years, this grocery store chain has swelled to 132 locations, making it relatively easy to find one if you live in any of these states.

Seniors will find a large selection of natural, frozen, and organic foods, along with the usual staples they need for their pantry. It's important to note that Fred Meyer defines seniors as those 55 years and older.

The chain's 10% senior discount is available on the first Tuesday of each month and is good for select items only. That said, there are quite a few categories that make the cut, including groceries from store brands like Fred Meyer, Kroger, and Simple Truth; apparel, shoes, and accessories; items from their Home department (including toys, sporting goods, and auto & garden); and many items from their Electronics department.

Hy-Vee does things a bit differently. It's an employee-owned supermarket chain that's headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa, with more than 240 locations primarily in the Midwest. You'll find a Hy-Vee if you live in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Wisconsin, Missouri, South Dakota, Minnesota, or Nebraska.

In operation since 1930, Hy-Vee stores offer your typical grocery items like dairy, deli, meats and seafood, in addition to departments like bakery, catering, and pharmacy. Keep in mind that Hy-Vee senior discounts vary by location.

For example, at Hy-Vee's Omaha #10 store in Nebraska, you have to be at least 55 years old to qualify for Hy-Vee's senior discount. If you're in this age group, you'll get 5% off at this location on Thursdays. Some exclusions apply: This discount isn't applicable to pharmacy items, wine and spirits, lottery tickets, gift cards, tobacco, and postal services or supplies. In contrast, in Hy-Vee's Norfolk #2 store in Nebraska, the senior discount starts at age 65 and takes 3% off your entire order if you shop on Tuesdays (with some exclusions).

Harris Teeter, founded in 1960 and based in Matthews, North Carolina, is a grocery chain with 261 stores scattered across seven states and the District of Columbia, in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. Find your nearest location if you live in Washington, D.C., Delaware, Maryland, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.

Harris Teeter is another big grocery chain that's owned by The Kroger Company. At your local neighborhood Harris Teeter, you'll find everything from groceries to fresh fruits, veggies, and seafood, pet supplies, health and beauty supplies, and electronics.

To take advantage of Harris Teeter's 5% senior discount, you'll first need a VIC card, which is free and can get by signing up online. When you join, you'll be part of Club 60, entitling you to a 5% discount on Thursdays if you're 60 and over. Your senior discount applies to everything at Harris Teeter except for fuel, gift cards, tickets, and pharmacy items. Club 60 benefits take effect only after any VIC discounts and coupons are deducted. Remember to tell your cashier during checkout that you're part of this program.

One of America's oldest grocery store chains, Weis Markets is based out of Sunbury, Pennsylvania, and serves consumers in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and South Atlantic. Founded all the way back in 1912, Weis Markets has since expanded into several states, including New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Weis Markets has all the basics you'd expect to find in a well-established grocery store chain, with departments for deli, meat, seafood, bakery, produce, pharmacy, office supplies, pet supplies, and more.

Weis Markets has a number of ways you can save, which includes a 10% senior discount on a select number of Weis-branded products. Here's how it works: First, sign up for free for your Weis Rewards Card.

If you're 60 and older, come in on Tuesdays, go to the customer service desk, and show them your ID and Weis Rewards Card so it can be scanned. And, just like that, your 10% senior discount will be applied to your card.

Another grocery store chain that's owned by The Kroger Company, Fry's Food Stores is a major presence out west, particularly in Arizona, where it has 120 stores in the state. Established in 1954, Fry's Food Stores became a part of the Kroger empire when another regional grocer, Dillons, was purchased by Kroger in 1983. Today, Fry's Food Stores sells everything from groceries and liquor to cleaning and household supplies and baby products.

If you're looking for good deals, you don't even technically have to be a senior to take advantage of considerable savings. Fry's Food Stores' senior discount is meant for those ages 55 and up. It's only available to you on the first Wednesday of each month, so make a note of this.

However, the upside is that the 10% senior discount applies to most of the products you'll find here — whether you buy them in the store or just swing by to pick them up. Some of the items your senior discount covers include groceries, deli, bakery, meat, produce, seafood, housewares, and even most electronics.

Founded in 1928 in Tyler, Texas, Brookshire's started out with only four employees at a single location and has since swelled to more than 200 stores across four states: Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. You might know Brookshire's through one of their five brand names: Brookshire's, Reasor's, Super 1 Foods, FRESH by Brookshire, and Spring Market.

Their large selection means it's easy to find what you're looking for, whether it's at the deli, bakery, or produce department — or you're just looking for the best meat and seafood choices for your next cookout. Brookshire's senior discount is in effect twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

You qualify if you're at least 60 years old, and you'll get 5% off all of your items. Just show your ID in the store and ask for your discount as you're checking out. There are some exclusions that apply, so be sure to get clarity from the cashier when you show your ID.

DeCicco Family Markets has only been around since 1973, but that hasn't stopped it from making an impact in the state of New York, where it operates four locations in Jefferson Valley, Katonah, New City, and Scarsdale. Family-owned and operated, this grocery store chain prides itself on having shorter lines and a generous number of staff for better customer service. Besides restaurant-style meals and fresh salads made daily, DeCicco Family Markets also features produce, meat, deli, gourmet cheese, dairy, seafood, and bakery departments.

DeCicco senior discount starts at age 62, but DeCicco does not specify the exact percentage. To take advantage of it, you have to first get a preferred shopper card and register it for "senior status," which you can do at the store's customer service desk. Once the card's active, you'll need to flash the card to your cashier at checkout as you're paying. You may also be required to show ID for verification.

If you live in urban areas in New York, you've likely heard of Gristedes. If nothing else, Gristedes epitomizes longevity, with its first store opening way back in 1888. Today, this supermarket chain boasts more than 30 locations in the state, primarily serving areas like Roosevelt Island, Westchester, Brooklyn, and Manhattan.

With a long history of provisioning New Yorkers for more than 100 years, it's not surprising to find everything from frozen foods, bakery items, meat, and produce to gourmet offerings and dairy selections at your local Gristedes. As far as seniors are concerned, this chain makes it easy for them to save money.

Simply shop in the store each Tuesday and save 10% off your purchases. What makes this senior discount stand out is that there are very few exceptions — only to alcohol and tobacco products, so you'll save money on almost all purchases you make at a Gristedes location.

Bashas' is an Arizona-based chain of grocery stores with its headquarters in Chandler. Bashas' started in 1932 when the Basha Brothers broke ground on their first location in the state. Since then, the chain has expanded into upwards of 100 stores all across Arizona, making it one of the Grand Canyon State's biggest employers. While the vast majority of locations are in Arizona, there is also a location in Crownpoint, New Mexico.

Besides Bashas', the chain operates a number of other grocer formats under the names Eddie's Country Store, AJ's Fine Foods, and Bashas' Diné. For decades, Arizonans have been getting their natural and organic staples from Bashas' many departments, like farm fresh produce, butcher shop, deli section, and bakery.

Seniors interested in saving money will appreciate that Bashas' offers a 10% senior discount, which is available on the first Wednesday of the month and applies to those 55 and up. You have to use the Bashas' Thank You Card to get the store's senior discount. Signing up for the card is free, easy, and takes just a few moments online. Note that you might be asked for your ID when checking out, so be sure to bring it along. There are also a few exclusions — such as alcohol, fuel, and tobacco products.

New Seasons Market is one of the youngest grocery store chains on our list (founded in 2000 in Portland, Oregon). Since its beginnings at the dawn of the 21st century as a food-based, community-building enterprise, it's grown to 22 stores, mainly found in the greater Portland area and southern Washington state.

This West Coast grocery chain is known for working with regional producers in the Portland area to source locally made food items for their shoppers. New Seasons Market features a large selection of groceries, body care items, supplements and vitamins, household products, baby supplies, floral arrangements, and alcohol.

This grocery store chain's senior discount takes place on what they call Wisdom Wednesdays. On these alliterative Wisdom Wednesdays, those who are 65 and up get to save 10% on nearly every item in the store, making it a helpful and useful discount if you shop weekly or a couple of times per month.

We now jump across the country to Tops Friendly Markets, a grocery store chain that's located in the Northeast. Established in Niagara Falls, New York, in 1962, Tops Friendly Markets is now based in Williamsville and is present throughout the state, as well as Pennsylvania and Vermont, where its 152 locations are found in a mix of urban centers and rural areas.

Seniors who shop here will find a wide selection in the chain's aisles, including pantry items, dairy foods and beverages, meat and seafood choices, produce staples, snacks, deli and bakery items, baby supplies, and healthy and beauty needs. To save money at Tops Friendly Markets, aim to shop at its locations on the first Tuesday of a new month (called Young at Heart Day), as this is when the chain's senior discount kicks in.

This 6% senior discount applies to those 60 and older and covers not just groceries but also out-of-pocket pharmacy items. You'll have to first sign up in-store, whether at the customer service section or pharmacy or print out the PDF signup form from Tops' website.

Uncle Giuseppe's Marketplace, known as Uncle G's to the locals, is a New York-based chain of supermarkets with 11 locations in New York and New Jersey. Since opening its first location in 1998, this grocery store chain has earned a loyal base of shoppers that values its philosophy of mixing a more old-school neighborhood store with the selection and convenience of a supermarket. Uncle Giuseppe's Marketplace is known for its meat department, Italian recipes-inspired deli section, Italian bakery, produce department, pasta room, candy counter, and seafood department.

Seniors will be pleased to know that Uncle Giuseppe's Marketplace has their backs. On its Senior Discount Day, which occurs each Wednesday, simply head to the customer service station at your local store.

Once there, show your ID, and that's it. Your senior discounts will be applied to future purchases you make. This grocery store chain doesn't explicitly specify what age you have to be for the discount to kick in, or what percentage of your total purchase you'll save, so it's recommended you contact your local Uncle G's for specific details.

American Discount Foods is a family-owned operation that began in 1998 under the name Harvest Market in Mesa, Arizona. Since that time, it's kept its identity as a smaller, family-run affair, with only two locations in Arizona: a Fiesta location and an East Mesa satellite store.

A Christian business, its claim to fame is it's the state's biggest liquidation store grocery chain, meaning seniors can find good deals from its selection of discontinued and overstock case products that American Discount Foods gets straight from bigger grocery chains. According to American Discount Foods, the result is that you can expect to pay as much as 75% less for brand-name products than what you'd ordinarily shell out at more well-known grocers.

There's also a senior discount program here that's worth your time: Senior Day. Senior Day falls on each Monday of the month. If you're at least 62 years old, you can get a 10% senior discount on your groceries, on top of the liquidated savings American Discount Foods already provides shoppers due to its unique business model. Just make sure you have a valid ID with you when you go to the checkout.

Run by family-owned parent company Bogopa, Food Bazaar Supermarket is a collection of 37 grocery stores that serves the tri-state metro areas of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Food Bazaar Supermarket has an interesting history.

Founded by Korean-born Francis An, this grocery store chain first opened in Queens, New York, in 1988, largely out of a need to supply New Yorkers with the ingredients to make Latin American dishes, which An grew fond of during his time in Argentina. Since then, Food Bazaar Supermarket has become known for aisles full of international and more mainstream grocery items, along with a meat shop, in-store fish market, and frozen and dairy products.

Food Bazaar Supermarket has perhaps the most accessible of all the senior discount programs mentioned in this list. Due to popular demand, it recently extended its 10% senior discount to run from Monday to Friday, from 7 am to 5 pm, and you'll need to show valid ID to take advantage of it. Food Bazaar Supermarket defines seniors as those 65 and up.