| rev:text
| - This place has restored a bit of my faith in grocery stores.
I live in central Phoenix where the grocery offerings are of very poor quality. Stores tend to be smaller-format, very crowded at almost all times of day and night, and often have unstocked shelves of staples and popular items. After several bad experiences with spoiled dairy products from my local Walmart, I quit buying groceries there. Prices at Fry's and Safeway are quite high.
But at the urging of a friend, I drove up to WinCo. Some things to know: WinCo is employee-owned. Profits don't go to stockholders, they go back into the company and to WinCo employees. Wages and benefits are good. WinCo accepts cash, benefits cards (WIC, SNAP) approved checks and debit cards. They do not accept credit cards.
Walking the wide, well stocked aisles containing a large selection of grocery items and multiple brands of many items, one is reminded how shopping for food used to be, say, 10 years ago - even at Walmart. A disease called "SKU rationalization" has taken over many stores. SKU rationalization means stores reduce the number of items you have for sale. This means fewer choices of brands and sizes of products. Many of my favorites have disappeared over the years at Walmart. There's lots to choose from at WinCo.
Several of the bad reviews are from people who visited right after the store opened. I'm certain there were glitches getting a new grocery store running. Also, the stores were very crowded for awhile, because they were new. On the recent Saturday I went, things were busy but completely manageable.
The store has a large bulk area with everything from spices to supplements to candy to emergency preparedness items. Plenty of produce of acceptable quality and very good prices. Dairy also had a large variety of brands and items, many from the high-quality northwest U.S. Tillamook brand. Again, prices were great. They were usually lower than Walmart's and almost always cheaper than Fry's.
WinCo is quite large, so be prepared to spend time getting acquainted the first couple visits. Also, they have a sort of one-way corridor entry. This may annoy people who want to dash in, but it also reduces energy costs and that crazy congestion you experience at the front of a Walmart and some Fry'ses. I got lactose-free milk for $2.40 a half-gal and English cukes for 80c. and 30c red bell peppers. Laura's Lean Beef was $2/lb less than Target. Tillamook extra-sharp cheddar was $3.40 a package.
You bag your own groceries at WinCo. This is the norm for many groceries across the northern U.S., but never caught on here. It frees up employees to do other important things, like stock shelves and provide customer service, 2 things I know you know are lacking at most other groceries in Phoenix. They specialize in groceries, which means no home goods, no pharmacy and no photo lab, just good groceries.
WinCo is definitely worth your time if you are a value and quality minded grocery shopper.
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