[luckpants]

When I lived in WA a WinCo opened up the street from me, when they first open there prices are supper low. As the weeks go on they creep up closer to what everyone else sells things for, some things will stay cheaper but most things end up real close or a little more than the competition. I buy a lot of the same things and brands like most people so I know exactly what I'm paying store to store. One of the things that amazes me is how Kroger owns Smiths and Food 4 Less, the stores are a few miles away from one and other and I pay about 30% less for same exact products at Food 4 Less, only difference is you have to bag your own at Food 4 Less. Food 4 Less even takes the Smiths card and you can get the gas discount.

[ladyat63]

Originally Posted by Traypaul

Wife and I went to the one in Henderson today. It was a people zoo. It almost as crowded as Costco on Black Friday. There was a line if you wanted a cart. The line went through pretty fast. But inside was crowded.
It was all worth it. The prices are much cheaper then any other store. A lot of there regular prices easily beat Walmart's or even Smith's/Vons/Albertson sales prices. The only thing really that was the same prices was for soda. Milk was way cheaper as were canned goods, cereal and frozen dinners. Huge selection of stuff. I thought I was in a military commissary(which I have stocked at before) with all the different Campbells soups and other things.
My overall rating is 5 out of 5. They were well organized and extremely helpful. They had everyone out on the floor including the bigwigs. You could easily tell. They were well stocked and people constantly keeping bread and fruits/vegetables continuously. We are definitely going back and only using Smith's and Vons for their sales and meat on clearance.

Glad you enjoyed shopping at Winco. I really like it too though I do shop at other stores at times.

[ladyat63]

Originally Posted by Cinebar

I'm glad you had a positive experience - except for the crowds.

Was this opening day? If so, the crowds will settle down and you can maybe find a time to shop for you that would be more peaceful. Weekends, of course, will be the worse, and as I've noted before, the first couple of days of the month tend to be pretty busy.

Also, again, even on the busy days, I have noticed that they really seem to make the effort to have as many checkout lines open as possible - unlike WalMart, where I have been in there three days before Christmas and they've had only a few checkouts open.

I find that I can almost always get pop cheaper on sale at Safeway than at WinCo. One of the very few things that happens with. During the summer, especially around holidays like Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day, they tend to have some very good sales on pop.

I find some things a bit cheaper too at other stores especially if they are on sale. But overall Winco has a larger meat dept. than any store I have ever shopped at.

[ElleTea]

Any Trader Joe's in LV?

[PinkString]

WinCo looks like a bigger version of Crap4Less in many ways. But their produce section is better at Winco. Way too many people in Winco today. We went a little after 11am and finally saw the entire store and checked out around 12:30p.m. Parking was very crowded, and found a spot about 7 mins or so from the store.
They do have a few items that we buy that are less than stores we normally shop at like Smiths. Pacific brand low sodium broth for $2.98 versus $3.50 on sale at Smiths. Kettle chips were $2.18 versus $3 or higher at Smiths. Veggie burgers and other fake meats for less than Walmart even.

Loved the enormous bulk section of everything imaginable. Can't wait to save more money buying grains, rice, beans, sugar, etc in bulk instead of having to overpay all the time everywhere else.

There are many things they do not have like my cats favorite flavor of Fancy Feast dry food in chicken flavor. They do have the garden green flavor, but the price is comparable to Walmarts price. My cats are picky and demand both flavors. I wonder if they take product requests from customers.

I can see that several stores around Winco and nearby like Smiths, Fresh and Easy and even Walmart will have to lower their prices on many items to compare to Winco. Fresh and Easy's prices have been going up up and away for awhile now. When they first came to town, they were the best value for what we buy. Now they are about the same as everywhere else. Nice to have more competition in town.

[PinkString]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

Any Trader Joe's in LV?

3 locations around the valley. One at Washington/Buffalo. One at O'bannon/Decatur. And one in Henderson somewhere.

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by PinkString

3 locations around the valley. One at Washington/Buffalo. One at O'bannon/Decatur. And one in Henderson somewhere.

Sweet! TJs is so cheap, and they have dog treats that are also cheap and made in USA.

[airics]

Here's my take.. i went tonight at 7pm... no lines whatsoever.. Some very good deals (gatorade 48 cents, toothpaste 78 cents, shampoo and conditioner 78 cents, etc...

Prices are on par, some less than Walmart... 1 gallon minutemaid oj was 3.98, eggs 1.18, etc...

i liked the bulk food area and prices were good.. produce looked good except the clerk didn't know what a persimmon was..

some prices to me were very high.. bread (sara lee..2.98 walmart 1.78) soda 2 liters 1.48 - 1.78 walmart $1 $1.25...

the meat.. i cooked out tonight.. bought ribeyes at 3.98 a lb.. was a step barely above Walmart (which i refuse to buy meat at).. and a far far far far far cry from albertsons or costco... won't buy the meat at winco either..

employees, for the most part seemed friendly.. no complaints..
will i shop again.. yes.. i like the bulk food item ideas and for sale items only... will still do mostly walmart for hardlines.. albertsons or costco for meat..

thats all.. over and out

[dmbfan41cn]

Originally Posted by PinkString

3 locations around the valley. One at Washington/Buffalo. One at O'bannon/Decatur. And one in Henderson somewhere.

Henderson TJ's is on Eastern just south of St Rose Pkwy... hoping to check out WinCo sooner than later and hear back from others' visits/experiences!

[ElleTea]

Did you know Albertsons, Winco and Cub all have the same distributor? Super Value foods. They also deliver to smaller chains in my area. (I know someone who has worked in the grocery biz for years)