Best Import Stores in Nanjing

Best Import Stores in Nanjing
Mar 10, 2009 By Sarah Meik , eChinacities.com

Times Grocery Store
No.48 Yunnan Road 云南路48号
Delivery hotline: (025)8368-5530
E-mail: times_grocery@yahoo.com.cn

Let’s get serious for a moment: Dr. Pepper, Johnsonville Bratwurst, Trix cereal…and that’s just the American imports! In addition, Times Grocery also has a selection of European, Japanese, and Korean foods. The first floor has pantry goods, crackers, snacks, sodas and juices, and also Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (if they’re still there); a freezer section, and a very good refrigerated section with cheeses, meats, butters and yoghurts.

The second floor has a large wine selection, with canned goods, cereals, spices, and even a small house wares section where germ- phobic foreigners can find big containers of Clorox Wipes. This store has a lot of those “special” things you miss from home that you just can’t find at the hypermarkets. One word of warning though, once you see a product you love, buy it, because next time you come around they may already be out of stock!

Metro (Maidelong) 麦德龙
288 Ningli Lu 宁溧路288号

If you have been missing Sam’s Club or Costco, Metro will be your new favorite place. Nowhere else in Nanjing do they sell a 15 gallon tub of sour cream, or a 25 lb bag of Tyson Chicken Nuggets. You can even find the finer things, like a small bit of saffron.

They have a very extensive frozen foods section that contains everything from Halal meat balls, to s’mores cheesecake. They sell Asian and western sauces, spices, and pantry staples like brown sugar. They also have very large produce, meat, and seafood sections with a little bakery.

If you’re in Nanjing for the long term, Metro is also a great place to buy appliances for your kitchen and bathroom. They sell very large convection ovens, toasters, steamers, blenders, knives, rugs…you name it- they probably have it.

Because of its location, many foreigners are weary to bother with giving Metro a try. But one very convenient way to get to Metro is to take the Metro, to the Zhonghuamen station. From there, the store should only be a 10 or 11 Yuan taxi trip.

Although they like you to bring your passport and business card to get a membership, they also allow foreigners to walk-in and shop. Just tell the clerk behind the “I Speak English” sign that you are just here for the day, and they will give you a pass to present to the check out.

Carrefour 家乐福
Address: No.7, Daqiao Nanlu 大桥南路7号
Tel: (025) 5877-1118
Second Location: Daxinggong Carrefour 大行宫家乐福
Tel: 13675126677

Believe it or not, Carrefour is a great place to shop. Carrefour carries a strong supply of random, but good foreign products, like Land O’Lakes pepper jack cheese, great Thai curries, and Hunts BBQ sauce. The other thing about Carrefour is they sell other foreign products that are making their way into the mainstream Chinese market, i.e. Cheerios and Frosted Flakes, which can actually be found in the breakfast aisle, not the imported section. They also sell other hard to find grocery items like simple ground beef. Carrefour has two locations in Nanjing, one on Daqiao Nanlu, the other in Xinjiekou, and yes, both locations have a Subway sandwich shop. 


Photo: Myuibe

Ivy Food常青藤食品
No. 6-4 Hunan Lu湖南路6-4号
No. 1 Chengxian Jie成贤街1号
No. 50 Hongwu Lu洪武路50号
No. 46 Zhongshan Dong Lu中山东路46号
No. 47 Guangzhou Lu广州路47号
No. 1-5 Beimen Qiao北门桥1-5号

Found in several locations throughout the city, Ivy Foods is a good store to get your snack on. Although products at each location vary, the store is a good place to find a myriad of European and American truffles, candies, liquors, sodas, and the occasional grocery item. It’s also a great place for little novelties. For instance, you can buy French dark truffles or a retro box of Lemon Heads.

My Shop
No. 3Taipingmen Lu 太平门路3号
This little shop is hardly known, and is on Taipingmen Lu, opposite the also lesser visited location of Skyways Bakery. This one-man-store (always manned by the same gentleman, who speaks some English) sells a very strong supply of imported American goods like Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and syrup. It’s also a great place to order those holiday essentials like a Thanksgiving turkey or a Christmas ham.

Honorable Mention * Walmart
88 Hongwu Road, Baixia District白下区洪武路88号
Tel: (025) 8478-2888
Although their imported section is mostly a large section of crackers, Wal-Mart gets an honorable mention for being the only place to sell Newman’s Own Ranch Dressing.

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