It sure does feel nice when you visit a new local place that's much different than the usual place you go to because there's so many new things that you don't see from usual grocery stores.
In my area there's the typical Kroger companies that flood the market & sell the typical foods that most people consume. They really don't offer foods from different countries which makes so people of that region & the foods their used to not want to shop there.
A place near me that I recently visited offers foods from many different countries. Foods I haven't heard of before & spices I have never seen & couldn't say the first thing of how to use them. It's a crowded place as well in the heart of Chicago & I don't like to drive there because it's far, & extremely overcrowded. But I would rather support local, small family owned shops rather than big box grocery stores because I think those smaller stores deserve my money rather than the big boys.
RE: [Market Friday] Discovering a Paradise of Foodstuffs Rarely Found Elsewhere