City Market is probably the best grocery store that is accessible from the trolley line. It’s on the northeast corner of Union and Main. They have a deli, fresh produce, and a wide variety of international goods. Really neat place to shop. Insider tip: The owners are Indian and often have Indian food specials for weekday lunches. Open 7 AM-10 PM Mon-Thur, 7 AM-11:30 PM Fri-Sat, 9 AM-8 PM Sunday.
Frank’s Grocery and Deli at South Main and Vance is also on the trolley line. Smaller selection than City Market. Deli makes absolutely delicious sandwiches. Open until 10 every night.
Jack’s Food Store, on Main just north of Jefferson, is another grocery store that is accessible from the trolley line. Not anywhere near the size of a Kroger or Schnucks, but you can get most of your essentials here. They have a meat counter and a surprisingly good beer selection. Open 7 AM-10 PM Mon-Sat, 9 AM-9 PM Sun.
Next door to Jack’s is Easy Way. They are the place to go for produce and they also carry canned items and other staples. Easy Way closes at 6 PM.
Walgreens at Main and Madison is the only drugstore in the area. In addition to health-related items, they carry a limited amount of groceries. They also carry a pretty extensive line of Memphis and Elvis memorabilia. They do not sell beer. Hours are 7 AM-8 PM Mon-Fri, 8 AM-7 PM Sat, 10 AM-6 PM Sun. We’ve been trying for years to convince the corporate office to keep this store open until at least 10 PM, but no success so far. Downtown Memphis is now a well-populated walking neighborhood and the hours need to be adjusted to accommodate that.
Family Dollar, on Main between Monroe and Union, carries some grocery staples.
Second Street Shoppers, on Second just north of Gayoso, across from the Peabody Hotel, is a convenience store with a pretty good selection of drinks, chips, candy, cigarettes. Very good deli. They carry about a dozen brands of beer.
BP at Riverside and Carolina is a gas station/mini-mart. In addition to the usual convenience store fare, this place has an outstanding deli.
The Shell station at Main and Auction carries a lot of convenience store type grocery items. There’s also a Subway sandwich shop inside.
There’s a convenience store at Madison and Second. It is small and carries drinks, beer, candy, chips, cigs, very basic grocery items.
There’s a Hostess thrift shop on Monroe at Danny Thomas. It carries snack cakes and pies, breads, cookies, chips, drinks and other assorted goods of that variety.
The Blues City General Store on Beale near Second sells mainly memorabilia, but they also have basic selections of drinks, candy, and cigarettes, and they sell lottery tickets. The store stays open very late.
A. Schwab’s on Beale is a “general store” that is a holdover from the 1870s. It’s not a grocery store in the regular sense, but if you’re looking for candy, preserves/jams, or hot sauce they have a pretty good selection. They also have tens of thousands of other knick-knacks that you never knew existed. Everyone should visit Schwab’s at least once. 9 AM – 5 PM Mon-Sat. During tourist season they stay open late on Saturday.
For a full-service grocery store, you’re going to have to drive. The closest one is Miss Cordelia’s across the Auction Street bridge on Mud Island. They tend to carry upscale brands and you’ll pay a premium for shopping there. Meat counter, deli/restaurant, produce, good beer selection. Open until 10 every night.
Downtowners also drive to Midtown to shop at the Kroger on Union (the ghettofabulous Kroger at Poplar in Cleveland is closer, but I definitely recommend that you avoid that one). They also drive across the bridge to Arkansas and shop at the Wal-Mart, Kroger, and Walgreens in West Memphis. The West Memphis Walgreens sells liquor and has a very large selection of liquor and wines.