The store is open 24 hours. That makes it convenient for shoppers, as well as people trying to pick up a second job during odd hours. It's great for those early morning or late night forgotten items. Fortunately, this one was built literally one parking lot over from where we are, VERY convenient.
They gave me a store map when I entered, but you can download your own local WinCo store's map on their website, www.wincofoods.com. They also have another app called aisle411. It's like a GPS to locate any item in the store for you on your smartphone. Technology really has come a long way, huh?
It's also "employee owned". The employees own stock in the company, so they have a real interest in having it succeed. They also pay well above minimum wage, so you get better employees to deal with as a shopper. Why would a cashier making $12 an hour get fired if they'd only make $8 or so doing the same job somewhere else? Wouldn't it make sense to just do your job well and keep it?
They have a huge bulk item section. Not like a 10 lb. jar of paprika like a warehouse club. They have bulk bins with over 800 items! That's a lot. Everything from spices, to nuts, candy, cereals, grains, flours, sugars, dried beans, soup mixes, etc. If you plan on buying a lot of something from a bin, you can ask an employee if that item "qualifies" for the 5% discount. If it does, you place an order for it. When it comes in you will save 5% by ordering it by the case, or bag, or however it comes before they open it to dump it in the bins. It's not an advertised 5% off deal, you have to order it and wait for it to come in, and you won't know what items qualify for it until you ask someone, but it's there for you if you can use or if you need a lot of something.
They have cashiers to ring your order up, and take coupons, and make sure your debit card goes through, or you get your change back if paying with cash. The catch is they don't take credit cards. If they did, they'd be passing on a 4% or more charge hidden into the cost of everything in the store. Also, once the cashier puts your stuff down the conveyor belt, you bag your own groceries with the bags they provide. It seems strange, but I find myself, or Tim when he's home, bagging a few things in all the grocery stores from time to time when they're shorthanded, without baggers, or too busy to keep up. It's not a big deal.
They call themselves the Low Price Supermarket Leader. My experience today is that they are competitive with the least expensive grocery stores nearby, UNLESS that store has it on sale. The WinCo regular prices are less than the stores' regular prices, but to find items cheaper than the sale price in the weekly flyers is difficult. If you shop for everything at one store for pure convenience, this is a great alternative. If you shop in a few different stores to catch the sale items & loss leader items, than I'd suggest you keep doing that - but all the NON-SALE items on your list may be cheaper at WinCo. Some items do have the top few stores price for the week listed on a sign for you to compare but not everything.
Coupons...this is a toss up. They do take them, but only at face value. Since 3 stores around here (plus WalMart & Target) only give you face value, and I'm down to just 1 store that offers to make all coupons worth $1 (if less than $1 face value), I guess that's okay/expected. I found that in a few cases, the prices were low enough that buying 2 items at the WinCo price plus a .40 when you buy 2 coupon were actually cheaper than paying more at another store and making the coupon worth $1 on 2. They also offer coupons on their website you can print out at home and bring with you (no loyalty card to download to). They're the same stuff on www.coupons.com. WinCo offers no gas rewards, no sports team points to trade for merchandise. Just straightforward lower prices across the board. They have no weekly ad to tell you what sales there are. You just have to find out when you get there, or share the info. with your friends after your own trip there. (They also use the ibotta app for savings although I don't use it myself. I understand you do things like watch ads for products or something and they reward your effort with a coupon or give you money off certain items - or something like that.)
Sales: They do have some stuff on sale. You can find them because they're labeled with a green "wow" tag on the shelf that also reads "extra savings". They say on their website they never make you buy in multiples to get the savings. No more making sure you have items in 4's, or 5's, or 8's, or 10's to get that price. That's one less thing to throw off my grocery list. Nothing like having your list planned in groups of 8's to find they're out of 1 item and now you need to find 2 or 3 new things that are part of the deal or you lose the savings on the rest. Much easier. (FYI: The yellow signs are their everyday low prices. Not sale prices.) The bulk items also have green labels to let you know that the price is a sale price, and only lasts for a limited time.
Finally, they run their website easier than most other stores. It says you can build a grocery list on it, no need to make an account; just bookmark it and it'll remember you. Not sure if I like that it "tracks you" like that, but it beats logging in every time.
Overall, it was a good experience. The employees were very happy, friendly, enthusiastic about the company, and helpful. The prices were low enough that they'll probably be my store where I start with my list. Anything I can get cheaper there will come off my list from the other stores. This way I'll either come in on budget, a little less than budget, or else I'll find a brand or item my other stores don't carry but I've wanted to try (usually I hear about new products by getting coupons for it). If you haven't been to your local WinCo, it's worth a look, and I hear the next one in my area will be opening in Chandler.
