Are you tired of going into Meijer every day and seeing the same products and Starbucks coffee that most other grocery stores possess? Let yourself steer away from the Meijer and Forest Hills Foods chains of the world, and enter a new realm of grocery shopping.

Kingma’s Market in Ada offers a refreshing variety of products, self-serve stations, and businesses that you won’t find all in one place elsewhere. Kingma’s is located on Ada Drive between Fulton and Thornapple River Drive and is in the perfect location for patrons that live in the area that don’t always feel like making the trip into Cascade to shop.

Right as I entered Kingma’s, I immediately was surprised by the low prices of the Michigan-grown produce. The sign for 2/$5.00 watermelons and Michigan apples for $0.99 a pound caught my eye and the trend continued as I grazed throughout the store. While other local shops offer Michigan-made products and food, I have yet to find another that can match the competitive prices of Kingma’s.

I continued to give myself a tour of the market, and it seemed that around each corner was another unique trait that made me stop and look. On one set of shelves were around ten different flavors of Schull Coffee Beans ready for customers to pour and take home. In another section of the store was a self-serve soda and kombucha station that featured drinks that are locally brewed in Grand Rapids. On the back wall of the store was a large meat and fish counter, and at the end of it, there seemed to be a place that you can order food and eat it right in-store.

Despite all the positives of the Michigan-grown and organic products, Kingma’s will lack in featuring classic favorite brand snacks, such as Doritos, that you would normally be able to find almost everywhere. This makes Kingma’s unique in its own way, but some shoppers may be disappointed in being able to only find alternatives to their favorite snacks. Kingma’s offers lots of baked goods and other snacks that are organic and/or made locally, but if you have a craving for a Coke, you may want to venture elsewhere.

For me, my favorite part of Kingma’s was the coffee bar in the front corner of the store. Rowster’s Coffee, a coffee shop in downtown Grand Rapids, has a smaller shop set up in Kingma’s which lets shoppers grab their cup of coffee and also keeps Kingma’s unique by not having a Starbucks like every other grocery store. The prices were high for the sizes, but the taste of the freshly ground espresso and steamed milk was worth it. The cup of coffee offered me the comfort I didn’t know I needed on the September night that was slowly chilling.

Walking through the aisles of Kingma’s, I was pleased over and over and over again with the amount of space that was offered between shelves, allowing shoppers to pass each other freely without having an issue. I never found myself having an issue getting through aisles, and I felt that I had enough room to even stop for a moment and search for something.

While shopping at Kingma’s, satisfaction comes in the form of healthy, locally-grown products and none of the big chains. I look forward to returning to Kingma’s soon again to explore a little more and find my new favorites.