TL;DR : Everything except produce is cheaper and typically of higher quality. Even then, if you…read moreonly need a few things it's not worth the gas money to buy produce elsewhere. Self check saves you money on tips, but not time. Get a loyalty card, plan ahead, use coupons. Should you shop here? You'd be stupid not to. Just have your ID ready at the front door.
Wow I'm glad I'm shopping here now and not a few years ago as the past reviews aren't really relevant anymore. I've been here for about 7 weeks now and I've done most of my shopping at this location. I'm a bargain shopper and I've done my research: this is the cheapest even WITH the surcharge. Yes you will need your ID at the door and at the checkout. (just like getting on base, it needs to be scanned at checkout, why complain about this?)
Meats: The meats here are always fresh and even comparing similar products to say Walmart they are better here. They go through them so fast, they rarely have leftovers. When they do, typically on steak, they freeze it on the "sell by date" (please note this date doesn't mean the meat suddenly turns rancid, you still have a few days) and place it into the freezer near the milk for the discounted meats. My husband eats pretty good with all the frozen steak I've been buying, and he aint complaining.
Dairy: The dairy section also tends to be around the same price or cheaper than typical grocers. The milk is always fresh (a big deal to me) and other than going to Costco, it's cheapest. Chocolate milk is about $1 for a quart, 2% is $2.10 for a gallon, you get the idea. They also have a nice selection of non-dairy and organic options which FAR beat Whole Foods or even Trader Joes in price.
Canned goods/boxed foods: For the most part (and take note I don't eat a lot of processed foods) all the canned goods seem cheaper, I can buy bush's canned beans for 69¢ a can compared to Walmart's 92¢ per can. If you use their loyalty card (which you really should) sometime there are coupons where you save more. For example, I saved $1 off two cans of bushes beans the other day. So I ended up spending 39¢ for TWO cans of beans. Heck of a deal! Brownie mixes, mac n cheese, boxed meals, are either the same price or cheaper.
Deli Meats / Cold Foods: The deli is more expensive but the quality of product is nicer. If you want run of the mill luncheon meats they are near the frozen foods with the cheese and what not. Again, cheaper. Bagged cheesed are between 30¢- $1 cheaper a package.
Frozen foods: Again, don't eat a lot of processed stuff, but it's cheaper from what I can tell. Especially the frozen fruits and vegetables. $1.50 cheaper here per package on blueberries, frozen veggies for 50¢ per 1lb package? YES PLEASE!
Produce: okay here is where I get negative (lol) if I had ONE complaint about the prices it's the produce. Positive first: fresh. I've never seen gross or moldy produce here. The negatives: it's expensive. Expensive in a sense if you compare to walmart or Aldis you might be upset. Depending on what you're buying, you might be better off making an extra trip to get produce elsewhere. IF it's just a few items, you might not care. Look for the "cooking bananas" and other misc items that are marked down and wrapped in plastic. I was able to buy apples the other day for 75% off because they had a tiny bruise on the corner. You cut that part out, bam, good to go.
Beyond all of what has been mentioned I will say that 99% of the employees have been kind to me. I've only ever used a "regular" cashier once and she was nice to me. I normally use self checkout and yeah it can be a pain, but I'm cheap. If you go through a regular lane there are baggers and they aren't on the payroll so they rely on tips. If you have an extra couple bucks I'd say help them out as a lot of them are kids going through college from what I've noticed OR veterans. If you're like me and money is really tight, self checkout is an option.
One last note, coupons and loyalty cards: when you show your ID at the entrance you'll notice they have information about the loyalty card which is like a store card that you load coupons on. You go to the website, register, log in, and load coupons. When you start checking out you or the cashier scan this card and it automatically takes the savings off. You can save BIG if you just do a little planning. They take printed coupons, coupons from the newpapers, and often times you'll go about the store and find government or commissary only coupons. Grab it and use it. Often it's the highest value coupon on that product. I am unsure if they stack, sorry.
If you've held off coming here, don't, this place is awesome.
