rev:text
| - I have a love-hate relationship with Winco.
Love:
-Produce department: the quality is good. The major plus is that they have all those weird fruits and veggies that I've never heard of, but show up in recipes.
-Meat department: the quality is also good here. There's quite a variety of cuts in various meats and the prices are awesome.
-Seafood counter- I was SO excited to see a seafood counter! Quality here is also good, not too much variety, but it's awesome to be able to ask for 1/2 lb of something and get it wrapped up in nice, white butcher paper.
The prices! This place is way cheap. My average weekly grocery total at Walmart was $60. My trip to Winco, about $45. Uh-mazing.
Hate:
-The crowds are nuts. The store is always very crowded, seemingly with people who think they're the only person in the store and can apparently spend 3 hours grocery shopping. I want to get through the store, get the things on my list and leave. The slow people are in my way and it's annoying.
-The store is strangely laid out. It takes some serious maneuvering to get from produce to frozen food.
-The lines to check out tend to also be very long.
Other things:
Be prepared to bag your own groceries. Be advised that credit cards are not accepted. If you value your sanity, do not go during the day on the weekend, on or near the 1st /15th of the month or within 3 days of a holiday. To make your life so, so much easier, download the store map and list of product locations from Winco's website so you can make your battleplan before you go. This is not the place to stop by and grab one thing; it will not be quick.
Bottom line: Go only if you have patience and preparation, during strange hours, and make this your big, staple shopping trip so you don't have to go back before your patience has been replenished.
|