Triangle grocery stores offering free delivery to protect immigrant communities
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Free grocery delivery keeps shoppers worried about interactions with Border Patrol safe.
- Compare Foods stores in Durham are trying to slash delivery fees.
- Border Patrol agents expected in Raleigh after arrests in Charlotte over weekend.
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With Border Patrol agents expected to arrive in the Triangle today, Nov. 18, local grocery stores are working to offer free delivery so shoppers can stay home.
Over the weekend, the Department of Homeland Security arrested 130 people in Charlotte restaurants, grocery stores, home improvement stores and a church, The Charlotte Observer reported.
In response, Compare Foods — which offers a large selection of groceries from Latin America, Africa and Asia — offered Charlotte shoppers free delivery and pickup through the end of the year.
Grocers in the Triangle are working to make similar arrangements.
Durham grocery stores offering free delivery
The Super Compare Foods at 2000 Avondale Drive in Durham, one of five Compare Foods locations in the Triangle, is offering free delivery for orders placed via WhatsApp (919-895-4687) for a limited time, the store shared on social media.
There is a $50 minimum for free delivery orders, and the store will deliver within a 20-mile radius.
The other Compare Foods in Durham, at 1233 University Drive, is offering free delivery, manager Juan Acosta told The N&O in a phone interview.
Customers should call the store at 919-419-8346 to make arrangements.
Cómo conseguir entregas gratuitas de comida en Durham
Llama a Compare Foods, ubicado en el 1233 University Drive de Durham, al 919-419-8346 para hacer un pedido de entrega gratuita de la compra.
Clayton grocery store offering free grocery delivery, pickup
Compare Foods in Clayton is making grocery delivery and curbside pickup free for shoppers, owner Ariel Ramirez told The N&O over the phone.
Customers who live within an 11-mile radius of the store at 421 E. 2nd St. in Clayton can get orders delivered for free, Ramirez said. The offer is good through at least the end of the year.
Orders can be placed on the Clayton grocer’s website, comparefoodsnc.com, or its app. The delivery is completed through DoorDash, but shoppers do not need to use any particular code to get free delivery; it should be automatically applied.
Shoppers can also place online or app orders for curbside pickup, remaining in their cars while store employees bring groceries to them, Ramirez said.
The store is searching for alternative ways to get groceries to customers within a certain area, including by cutting out a third-party platform and doing in-house delivery. A solution has not been found, Ramirez said, but any updates would be shared on the store’s Instagram and Facebook pages.
Raleigh grocery store responds to agents in town
International Foods off New Hope Church Road in Raleigh was taking precautions to keep people safe, a store employee reached by phone told The N&O Tuesday afternoon.
That included letting customers in the store one at a time and having a person “here on guard just making sure that if anything was to show up in the parking lot, we’re not letting them in,” the employee, who declined to give their name, said in Spanish.
The store was not offering free delivery, as others in the Triangle were, but the employee said customers who needed assistance could call.
Border Patrol / ICE in Raleigh
Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell and N.C. Gov. Josh Stein confirmed that Border Patrol is expected to arrive in the Triangle on Tuesday.
The immigrant rights group Siembra NC said it saw agents leaving their Charlotte headquarters Tuesday morning and expected that some were already heading toward Raleigh.
The city of Raleigh is asking people not to confront immigration agents.
The News & Observer’s Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi contributed to this story.
This story was originally published November 18, 2025 at 10:47 AM with the headline "Triangle grocery stores offering free delivery to protect immigrant communities."
