Review: 60347 Grocery Store
Posted by CapnRex101,
The selection of shops and public buildings has improved recently, within LEGO City. These now include the creative 60347 Grocery Store, which has inspired particular anticipation because the popular City range has never provided a proper supermarket before, remarkably.
The contemporary architecture looks appealing and I appreciate these vibrant colours. The integration of the car park seems reasonable too, even though the supermarket building is the priority, of course. Nevertheless, the additional vehicles and minifigures appear fairly enjoyable, hopefully complementing the grocery store.
Summary
60347 Grocery Store, 404 pieces.
£54.99 / $69.99 / €59.99 | 13.6p / 17.3c / 14.8c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
60347 Grocery Store includes numerous delights, without realising its full potential.
- An overdue addition to LEGO City
- Many realistic features
- Good vehicles
- Perfect minifigure selection
- Awkward internal layout
- Relatively expensive
Minifigures
Nominative determinism definitely exists in LEGO City and Mr Produce, the proprietor of the grocery store, is an excellent example! This minifigure offers several unique parts, including a new moustachioed head and the supermarket uniform. Surprisingly, the head does not feature an alternative expression, but Mr Produce's apron does present the shop's branding.
The chequered shirt underneath the apron looks marvellous too, particularly from behind. An interesting mascot is also included, sporting the delightful pea pod costume introduced with a Collectable Minifigure during 2020. These lime green peas stand out perfectly inside their pod and the moulded stalk on top provides another welcome detail.
Two cheerful expressions decorate the head and the costume is removable, revealing a green jacket and white shirt underneath. The minifigure can therefore become a customer if you wish, which is useful. Furthermore, a stickered sign is provided, displaying a fun message rather than actually advertising the grocery store.
Another employee is provided to drive the forklift truck, featuring the new vibrant yellow high-visibility jacket. This component is currently available in five sets and looks fantastic, with the metallic silver designs recreating reflective strips. The dark azure gloves seem appropriate as well, while the dual-moulded hair and cap element works nicely for this minifigure.
The two customers are impressive too, each wearing colourful attire and including uncommon parts. The male minifigure's torso is new and features a lovely pattern of interlocking triangles, while the girl's pink jacket has only otherwise appeared in 60321 Fire Brigade. The continuing creation of unique designs for City is a pleasing development, as exclusive designs were once fairly rare.
However, undoubtedly most interesting and important is the exclusive prosthetic leg. LEGO's representation of disabled people has improved dramatically in recent years and this element captures an accurate shape, while still fitting onto studs. Hopefully the mirrored version will be available in the future. The minifigure also includes a detailed shopping list, which has usually appeared in Friends sets, until now.
The Completed Model
While buildings have become increasingly common across LEGO City, they are often relatively shallow and overwhelmed by large road plates. 60329 School Day exemplifies that issue, but I think 60347 Grocery Store strikes an appropriate balance between the actual supermarket and the attached car park. The whole assembly measures 35cm wide, so is quite substantial.
I have typically disliked the addition of road plates to various City sets, even though I think the actual plates are effective. This occasion is less problematic though. I would have preferred greater focus on the supermarket, but the attached car park provides some play value and demonstrates the versatility of these road plates, since swapping a few tiles creates plausible parking spaces.
Each parking space is seven studs wide, providing adequate room for the ubiquitous cars and smaller trucks frequently found in LEGO City. However, this set contains an unusually tiny car, resembling those populating the Town range. The scale appears charming and some notable details are present, including a printed electric car icon, stickered number plates and opening doors.
Furthermore, I like the colour combination of red and black, although the trans-light blue front and rear windscreens seem slightly unusual. The proportions of the vehicle are also inevitably abnormal, but that only increases its charm, in my opinion. Of course, there is enough room for a single minifigure inside, but accommodating much shopping could be challenging!
The parking spaces are clearly identified, although the second space also provides access to the loading dock. The alternating black and yellow strip curtains look brilliant, contrasting with their surroundings and making clever use of Technic beams. Each strip swings independently, so they move realistically when items pass through.
Fortunately, an orange forklift truck is included for that purpose, perhaps ferrying boxes from 60345 Farmer's Market Van. Crates slide smoothly through the curtains, although the door is relatively narrow, so bigger food accessories inside the crates sometimes become stuck. The forklift truck looks brilliant though, including several important details, but needing few parts.
The orange bodywork looks nice and the proportions between the body, cab and mast appear realistic. One minifigure can sit inside and the roll cage is connected using clips, allowing easy access. The adjustable forks are fun, although the rubber band remains identical to past LEGO forklift trucks, suddenly returning the forks to their raised position if you are not careful.
The actual grocery store measures 19cm across and could undoubtedly have been enlarged. However, efficient use of space can counteract actual size and I think the exterior fares rather well in that regard. The entrance looks splendid, demonstrating the continued usefulness of the double doors and their frame, which were introduced in January.
Green, lime green, white and trans-light blue are combined outside. Simpler colour schemes usually prove more successful, in my opinion, but these colours are attractive. They definitely convey the desired freshness promised by the supermarket's name, especially because some fruits and vegetables are displayed alongside flowers near the entrance.
The vegetables include the delightful corncob element, introduced this summer. The textured corn looks marvellous and I love how the bright green leaves, known as husks, wrap naturally around the corn. The handgrip underneath is nicely integrated as well, although I am surprised LEGO chose to include the pea costume mascot, rather than re-using the Corn Cob Guy.
An enormous carrot rests above the doors, underneath a sticker. The supermarket branding achieves wonderful consistency between the shop, Mr Produce's apron and 60345 Farmer's Market Van. The side lacks such detail, but does include a bottle recycling bank, providing an additional use for the forklift truck.
The grocery store is completely open, without an enclosed roof or rear wall. Excluding the wall seems sensible and I can also understand omitting the roof, for easy access. However, I would have preferred a hinged roof, perhaps featuring air conditioning units on top. The interior seems reasonable though, despite the peculiar arrangement of items.
Bottles can be inserted into the recycling bank from inside, through a narrow slot. This simple feature works well, although a recycling icon would perhaps have been more appropriate than the printed computer screen. The neighbouring shelves house a selection of drinks. The varied colours look nice, but this space could easily have accommodated many more accessories.
The area in front of this elongated window also leaves space vacant, only including two green containers. While their colour matches the supermarket well, such inefficiency is disappointing. Some empty space was needed though, especially since a trolley is included. 41362 Heartlake City Supermarket introduced this trolley element, but this orange example is unique and looks excellent.
Several glass bottles are placed in the corner, with the loading dock. The integration between such industrial features and the shop displays was bound to prove challenging, but placing an extra crate on the conveyor softens the transition. Even so, I think the loading area could have been smaller, leaving more room for the checkout and some extra shelves.
Overall
Despite some drawbacks, 60347 Grocery Store captures various essential features from real supermarkets. The exterior appears superb and the car park has proven remarkably effective, especially around the loading dock. Furthermore, the vehicles and minifigures have exceeded my expectations, alongside an outstanding selection of food accessories.
The interior is probably the greatest weakness of this model, not using the space as efficiently as I expected. The bottle bank is welcome, although I think there was potential to include even more. Also, the price of £54.99, $69.99 or €59.99 feels rather expensive, but I think the grocery store is worthy of consideration, providing another necessary service for LEGO City.
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70 comments on this article
This is such a great set. I love the prosthetic, the recycling area, the forklift conveyor section, the parking lot, it’s just so fun. I hope to see more sets like this and want to pick this up at a point.
Just three years ago the same price could get you a full-sized openable house that even came with an alternate build, albeit with fewer play features, fewer minifigs and no vehicles (70831), and even back then that price seemed outrageous in terms of price to volume of stuff. This one is up with the likes of 60329 and 60132 (which seems to have a similar price-to-volume ratio and also came with an alternate build). As much as I love forklifts I don't think it's nearly enough of a saving grace.
I don't know, as much as I like the design of this set I think I'd rather search for a 41362 for half the price and a green shopping cart, and build my own grocery store. The only way to convince me to get this would be to offer it for half price, as I got my sealed sets of 70831 and 60132 at the same discount.
It's also exceedingly annoying that LEGO decided to invert the black and yellow striping of that printed 1x4 tile. It doesn't help that you can still find either variant at random in certain sets as the remaining supply of the old print is used up. Is there a meaningful reason for the switch? Because it just seems like they wanted to do a little trolling and completely and utterly upset over 20 years of consistency of that print.
Overall looks quite good! I myself wish they'd included a roof - I can just hear Me-as-a-Little-Kid voicing this exact complaint - but there's a lot to like here.
$70 is far too much money, though. I know organic supermarkets can be expensive but this is ridiculous!
The set itself is okay but $70 is absolutely insane
Wow, Lego really forgot that minifigures can't eat. Huge oversight. 1/10
At least 3 different beers to choose from :)
This set looks great! Aaaaand then I saw the price. Gonna have to pass unless it gets discounted.
I really dislike this new trend of road plates being included in many City sets. I have no problem with road plates packs, be it the new system or the old 32x32 baseplates, because they're optional products that you don't have to buy if you don't want them, but I can't help but wonder what the price for a set like this would be if the large plate weren't included. I'm sure the difference wouldn't be that big, maybe five to fifteen dollars depending on how many plates there are, but when it's 10 to 20% of the price it can still be considered relatively significant.
I remember when I was a kid playing with City or Creator town sets that the table or the floor itself would be the street, which is why I much prefer the old solution of smaller LBG or DBG plates with telephone booths, street lights or other street accessories that aren't tied to a large plate.
I know this sounds a heck of a lot like "back in my day we used to play with sticks!" but I wonder what this grocery store or the recent City school would have looked like if the budget had been fully dedicated to the structures themselves.
Sure ain’t no Kwik-E-Mart!
The forklift is nice, but the road system and the red car are needles. it would've been better to have, at least, a roof? One can buy a $4 polybag if they really need another generic car. I think the "Friends" supermarket was better.
I like the set, I think it's a nice addition of normal life in LEGO City to contrast with all the disasters that the police and fire service are having to deal with there.
However, the price feels way too high. At £40 this would be a maybe set. At £35 I'd be keen to buy it. I suspect we'll see it discounted, in which case I may get it.
Bought this set with a discount for €44,99, which I think is a way more fair price.
This building does not even have a roof... C'mon LEGo,..,
No Road Plate, and sell it at $50. $70 is like the other person said, goes right into the 60132 issues.
I love it, but I don't "$70" love it. Hopefully the new parts are available from BnP or BrickLink at decent prices.
Lovely set but I decided to build my own supermarket.
I have enough products from friends sets!
There are so many great builds in Kwik-e-mart that I can use + some great ideas I got myself.
And it will be WAY cheaper xD
Well, I for one really love this. Lego City has needed a proper supermarket for a good long time, and this one has a pretty impressive array of features all things considered. It reminds me of smaller grocery stores like Aldi which have started to become popular in the U.S. in recent years (but are probably already more familiar to European consumers).
There's definitely room for improvement—the town-styled car (maybe meant as an homage to those older sets) would be better off replaced with a larger vehicle with room for groceries. But other than that I think this set is really fantastic. I'm not bothered by the open roof, which is more or less necessary to allow room for little hands to get into a building with this much floor space.
Mr Produce's stache and thin eyebrows reminds me of Johnny Thunder:
https://brickset.com/minifigs/col348/jungle-explorer-minifigure-only-entry
A similar face but with thick eyebrows was produced back in 31064
Lots of neat pieces with this set, but the price tag is steep, I would like to see how many people end up buying sets like this and 60329 or 60320.
I know it’s a minor thing, given all the other problems in these sets, but it does wind me up how the roads in City are always higher than the paths (sidewalks).
59.99 USD for this... wow.. Im guessing 20 dollars is for the 'parking lot'. They can keep their 'street system' and make the set cheaper please.
This is great; Lego City's mayor finally got the memo that stores have a purpose other than getting robbed or going on fire.
Maybe, one day, people will also LIVE in Lego City, once the commute from Heartlake City gets to be too much.
@Padmewan said:
"This is great; Lego City's mayor finally got the memo that stores have a purpose other than getting robbed or going on fire.
Maybe, one day, people will also LIVE in Lego City, once the commute from Heartlake City gets to be too much."
People did move into city with 60291 : Family House , from Ninjago City and Newbury (Hidden Side) it looks like, based on the kid's fashion.
Creator 3-in-1 buildings are still better tho.
Are Lego returning to 4-wide cars in Town sets? With 1-stud wide wheels? They seem to have started adding more of them to recent sets. A welcome return, and an overdue change from the 6-wide cars that are too big for the new roadplates, especially if the vehicle has the 1.5 wide wheels which have been standard since the 90's.
This is a great set for KFOLs but the interior doesn't quite have enough food in it: the ATM takes up too much space. Ideally, the shelves should fill young minds with wonder.
@chris38911 said:
"Are Lego returning to 4-wide cars in Town sets? With 1-stud wide wheels? They seem to have started adding more of them to recent sets. A welcome return, and an overdue change from the 6-wide cars that are too big for the new roadplates, especially if the vehicle has the 1.5 wide wheels which have been standard since the 90's.
"
I agree, especially the fact this tiny car has DOORS, unlike many of the 6 wides.
That said, I did build a bunch of 2022 City sets, and there were 4 wide Car mudguards inside the builds, just functioning as 2-high plates, but it does make the part a lot more common to build more 4 wide cars from them.
@madforLEGO said:
"59.99 USD for this... wow.. Im guessing 20 dollars is for the 'parking lot'. They can keep their 'street system' and make the set cheaper please."
Except.... it actually has an even more insane price of USD 69.99! I am so sad to say.... I don't know which is more offensive... this or the 45$ truck that should be 25$ or the abysmal 1/8 of a juniors barn that holds all the animal molds hostage for a ransom.
Okay. Where is Huw?
good set, but i want a roof! Lego sets always had a roof! at the price of 60€ TLG has to give me a roof!
However, I like that minicar, like old cars from '80 and '90 (6394, 6349)!
The Friends take on a supermarket, which had clearly defined "departments," seems more like an American supermarket than this store, with its emphasis on vegetables and beverages (adult and otherwise, it seems). On the other hand, a smaller store is pretty common in really large cities--and this is a City set, not one from the Town series!
The price, unfortunately, means I'll be examining this set from afar. Its delightful assortment of food items might justify the price in Euros, but nothing makes it worth $70.
@trelic said:
"Okay. Where is Huw?"
I have not heard from him since I overheard Huwbot saying 'I'll make you pay for these years of thankless servitude!'
Huw is on holiday :o)
The prosthetic leg on the one minifig looks pretty cool and is a fun new addition, but something about the overall design makes me think we have a Terminator visiting this supermarket today ...
Want it.
"...although a recycling icon would perhaps have been more appropriate than the printed computer screen."
I think it has a computer screen because it looks like a machine to get back your deposit on beverage bottles. With the crate for returned bottles so openly accessible on the outside, it might as well be called a money machine though. ;)
LEGO sells a big pile of those road plates and ramps with 100-odd extra pieces for $19.99, unless they're selling that set at a huge loss it seems highly unlikely that including one or two of them is the cause of the huge markups on all these City buildings, rather that they're doing that because in the last handful of years LEGO has decided that City sets are so desirable that they will sell at literally any price point.
Anyway quite aside from the price and some obvious cut corners this seems like quite a good playset, I find it very evocative of an Aldi store except with brighter colors.
The fruit and veg crates, pot plants and carrot are quite cool, but I don't think I've ever seen a fork-lift truck at a grocery store so not needed? As usual the road plate just seems to increase the price without adding much. When available on discount I think I would need to change a few things like add cool drink and ice-cream dispensers instead of a create of bottles. Switch the cash machine to be on the outside to give more space, and create a wall of refrigerator doors like the Kwik-E-Mart 71016.
$70... that's laugh out loud funny.
This is a $30-40 set at MOST. I'm starting to get real glad my kid doesnt love Lego like I did.
@24nolf said:
"The price is pure insanity. This is a: "I'm going to stop buying Lego" type of price for many normal folks. "
My kid is almost 8, and he never really loved Lego like I did (and do). I was disappointed (for me, lol), but he can like whatever he wants. It wouldve been fun for us to build/play together.
But for these prices, I think I dodged a bullet!
It's not the roads causing the high price, would be like €5 worth of roads at most, there are 4 of such roads + ramps + tiles + decoration in the €20 road pack.
Relatively expensive feels like it going to be common enough on reviews, until the pricing becomes generally accepted and normalised.
Overpriced, but apart from that a pretty good set. I would have liked a bit more detail inside the shop, and that car is the bare minimum, but those are just minor niggles when so much is done very well. The price is the main obstacle, but Amazon.de already has it discounted at €45, that seems more reasonable.
Love this set and I’m so glad to finally have a supermarket in Town/City.
Still not sure what the red pumpkins are meant to be though - big tomatoes?
AU$99 here in Australia. This is one of the sets that I really want but feel it’s too expensive to justify it. Also wish it came with a few more apron wearing employees.
Can we talk about the fact they just put the fishes in some random boxes in the middle of the shop?
A wonderful set and a good use of the new road plate system. One of, if not the, best set for City this year, imo. It duplicates nothing I own. My biggest complaint is that there are so many small, fiddly parts that the overall set is rather small.
Then I look at the US$ price. Why you gotta do us dirty like that, Lego? I'll likely still get it because of the rareness of a grocery store but I can't recommend this set to anyone outside a hardcore City afficianado.
This confirms that my decision to buy this is the right one :) (especially since I can snag it for 20% off the RRP at K-Mart here in Australia)
@jonwil said:
"This confirms that my decision to buy this is the right one :) (especially since I can snag it for 20% off the RRP at K-Mart here in Australia)
"
Still feels expensive even at AU$79. $69 seems fair.
Needs an SUV parked at a skewed angle in the car park
Definitely way overpriced for a non-licensed city set. It's bad even for a SW set. Would be a very popular set if it's $40-$50.
Got this for £45, which seemed more appropriate. A good starting point for a MOC supermarket; I could imagine buying a second one, and mirroring its basic layout to create a more realistic footprint.
Unsurprisingly too expensive and I can probably build something similar with the pieces I already have so I doubt I’ll pick it up. The forklift is a more interesting addition to me than it was during the reveal, as I can’t make a LEGO forklift unless I use the 2012 Recycling Truck build (and I’m still missing some parts and would have to replace them with brick-built alternatives).
@Lyichir said:
"It reminds me of smaller grocery stores like Aldi which have started to become popular in the U.S. in recent years (but are probably already more familiar to European consumers)."
Interesting, I certainly wouldn't consider Aldi to be a small supermarket in the UK. They're almost always the standard mid size while some of the bigger brands like Tesco, Sainsbury's and Coop do the full range from massive down to actually small shops right in town. Your bread and butter exclusively small ones are more like Spar and Costcutter. Having popped around Europe, that seems to vary a whole load country to country, even with the same brands.
Oh, err, Lego. Yes, good set, but expensive!
The PPR is right on the mark for a City set. Starting in 2019 most City sets went to $.20/piece. This one is actually a slight bargain!
Excellent review for a laudable but mediocre-appearing set, with an atrociously overpriced price tag (PPP 17.3c?), a trend now with most City sets with the road plate system. Agree with the comments on the interior; it seems overly small without many stocks; the lack of roof is concerning; and this is a trend observed in lots of recent city sets, including 60329 and 60306. The quality of the sets is going down from my perspective, but the subject matter for this wave is certainly interesting.
The little girl’s jacket is likely inspired by the trans pride flag :)
I…have never seen parking lots with dashed lines. Ever. I’ll stick with my modular parking lot baseplates, which even include some extra-wide handicap spaces.
For a dome light like the one on top of the forklift, I prefer a 1x1 round plate and tile combo.
I’m trying to decide if the store logo is a crested tree-dwelling lizard, or Jurassic Pac-Man.
@ambr:
Generally speaking, the forklifts would stay in the dock or stockroom areas, not out where people would see them. Small stores may get by with pallet jacks, but really large stores probably receive enough new product on a daily basis that a forklift would pay for itself in labor savings.
@vzarmo:
The trans-light-blue reads as a refrigerated/freezer storage chest.
@PurpleDave: Have there been any dedicated parking lot prints since classic Town (if even then) and the 2017 City playmat?
@Ridgeheart said:
"Miss Ha-Pea, you'll notice, is equipped with a full-body costume and a riot-shield. I don't think she's really a mascot - she might be the green guardian this supermarket deserves, but doesn't really need."
I want this to be the canon lore now!!!!
@GBP_Chris said:
"The prosthetic leg on the one minifig looks pretty cool and is a fun new addition, but something about the overall design makes me think we have a Terminator visiting this supermarket today ..."
Yes, I immediately thought paralympic sprinter... obviously needs his carrots quickly!
I fully expected the price to £24.99, that’s WILD.
It is too expensive but then again, almost since the premier day it is on discount at many online reatilers in my country. Current lowest (and widely available) price where I am is 44 us dollars. And that seems a bit more fair. Lego seems to have decided to include future discounts in every sets price lately....
Can NOT be ha-pea with 404 pieces/$70.
Can't keep buying City without a MASSIVE discount (and still, no goats).
@Padmewan said:
"This is great; Lego City's mayor finally got the memo that stores have a purpose other than getting robbed or going on fire.
Maybe, one day, people will also LIVE in Lego City, once the commute from Heartlake City gets to be too much."
BEST COMMENT EVER???????? Cuz gas prices are waaaaay to high to keep making this commute!!
@snackyfrench said:
" @Padmewan said:
"This is great; Lego City's mayor finally got the memo that stores have a purpose other than getting robbed or going on fire.
Maybe, one day, people will also LIVE in Lego City, once the commute from Heartlake City gets to be too much."
BEST COMMENT EVER???????? Cuz gas prices are waaaaay to high to keep making this commute!!
"
Just take the train. Every 2-3 years one arrives at Lego City. Once.
Okay, maybe don't take the train.
@LegoSonicBoy:
I’m not aware of any. Parking lots just aren’t something they’ve really focused on. The same holds true for my LUG, and I would often be scrambling to find space to set up superhero fight scenes or pop culture references. So I made several parking lot plates. I started with a 32x32 baseplate and filled it with a layer of 6x6 plates. Around the outside edge I used 1x10 plates with 1x1 plates in the corners. The parking lot surface is built with 2x2 tiles, so the edges of the plates and tiles only line up together at the edges of the baseplate. This resulted in the entire assembly taking on a cupped shape, but after a few days it settled flat.
The lines are made of yellow or (for the handicap spaces) blue 1x tiles, so no print involved. I think the dividing lines are 18 studs long, and the ends of the spaces have concrete burms. I made three paired left and right plates with 2.5 spaces each, and two paired left and right handicap plates. The latter have two normal spaces and one extra-wide handicap space. The international symbol is just a pattern created with regular tiles.
@Paperdaisy said:
"I like the set, I think it's a nice addition of normal life in LEGO City to contrast with all the disasters that the police and fire service are having to deal with there.
However, the price feels way too high. At £40 this would be a maybe set. At £35 I'd be keen to buy it. I suspect we'll see it discounted, in which case I may get it."
Amazon.de has it for £44 I had a voucher so got it for £36 delivered today..like you said £35 it's happy days and a nice set :)
Yes! Melon/pumpkin sized killer tomatoes! Edible flowers in edible cones! Grapes! Smelly fish! White and wholegrain baguettes! An Endame suit lady! Everything is awesome!
I love that the car is a nod to the one in 6397!
I love the idea of this set and the whole farm City subtheme. What it includes is great, what it doesn't include - back wall and barely any area to shop/play in- is bad. Hey Lego, how about $40? Nearly half the width of the set is roadplate, which not all of us use. If I want road plates, I'll buy 'em. I don't have space for a whole city, so the roadplates just keep piling up in a bin- useless. Overpriced + roadplate bloat = NOPE.
yes this is quite pricey. I thought the internal is ok, enough space for us to rearrange. Here is my review: https://youtu.be/IHOvbfIFka0
I loved the look of this set when I first saw it, so made sure to buy 2x of it and am looking forward to really bulk it up on a 32x32 baseplate.
Very expensive. It is a well-designed and fresh-looking set. Sadly the price puts it low on the priority list.