Kim G.
Yelp
When I moved to NE Portland years ago, every time I needed an item for my new house, whether it was a household item, garden supplies, groceries, cleaning products, whatever, my new friends would say, go to Freddie's. I was like, what's a Freddie's? And why does it have all of these items? Well, 18 years later, I'm still shopping there weekly, sometimes several times a week.
While the last few months were challenging as they remodeled the store, causing mass confusion for shoppers, now that it's completed, I'm very happy with the upgrades. Yes, it's large and requires lots of walking, but if you need groceries and plants for your garden and household items, this is the place to shop.
Really like the upgraded area of prepared foods. Lots of fresh and healthy options. When entertaining, I often make bruschetta so I love that there is a machine to slice your baguette. What a time saver! Also like the area dedicated to frozen sides and mains, where you purchase by the weight. At first I was skeptical when looking at the individually flash frozen food products, but I decided to give one of the potato sides a try and it was great. So easy! And you can buy single servings.
The bakery carries a wide range of items across anyone's budget. They have fresh bread, cakes, cookies, pastries, chocolates, caramel apples, pies, bagels, doughnuts and seasonal treats. They have products from many local chocolate makers (Moonstruck) and bakeries. When I'm splurging, it's Jacaiva's all the way!
The garden section used to get a lot of my money when I lived in a house with a large yard and flower and vegetable gardens. They have a great variety of healthy plants in all seasons, especially the spring. Now that I live in a condo, I buy 2 of the gorgeous pre-made planters with a variety of plants in one pot and call it a done! Easier on the wallet and labor but I still get beautiful flowers on my lanai.
The clothing section is ok, not the style or quality I prefer, but I do sometimes find decent athletic wear and fantastic sales on swimsuits in June, which is awesome because it's still the start of swim season.
Seasonal items are also a must whether it's decor or wrapping or baking supplies for the holidays. This year they had an entire aisle that had the most common baking and cooking ingredients. What a convenience!
Over the years I have bought outdoor lawn furniture, fire pits, bbq grills, silk plants, storage containers, paint supplies, clothing, electronics, had jewelry fixed, garden supplies, keys made, Blazer gear , pillows and towels, and of course groceries and bakery items.
I've found the staff to always be helpful and thecustomer service department easy to work with on returns. The checkout lines are long depending on the day and hour you are there but that's to be expected. Love that they added another section of self checkout in the middle of the store. It's always open as most don't know about it yet!
Even though I moved across the River, I shop here weekly since I still go to the gym daily and it's an easy stop afterwards.