City Store Market — Local services in Denver

I've been going to City Store for over 7 years and I've finally had enough. The owner price gouges and the owners (adult) son is a liar AND a thief. The son stole my money with lies and deception and then lied in his Fathers face when questioned about it. I had asked his Mother for a discount on a piece of glassware. She gave me less than a dollar off and I bought it. It was fun and it's my legal right and responsibility as an American consumer to ask for a discount especially if the margins are huge or the seller is gouging and if she had not given me a discount I wouldn't have bought it. Simple as that. We made a mutually beneficial deal.

The son didn't seem pleased. It is my belief he got the difference back from me the very next time I came in. He didn't charge that .86 cents to my card because he couldn't...legally. He wrote it on a slip behind the counter as if I had asked for and received some sort of credit or charity. I had more than enough in my account to purchase a pack of cigarettes, loaf of white bread and a quart of milk. Nothing fancy. He said I was short. I was confused. Why didn't he just charge any difference to my card? Me being me I promptly brought it to them within hours without question as I live across the street. It was only later I began to question the transaction.

I checked my EBT account later because something just didn't feel right. I had paid $4.97 for one quart of Meadow Gold milk and a loaf of the plainest, whitest, white bread made by Albertson's called "Sandwich White. I checked my bank account, fully charged for one pack of smokes at $6 with plenty of dollars to last the rest of the month. Why did he have me bring money back to him like that? Cash...or change as it were? Weird. The question remains unanswered... If I fully paid for the food via EBT and fully paid for smokes with my bankcard, why did I have to bring him more money and why didn't he just charge it to my card? Maybe he couldn't reconcile a charge for $6.86 which would have been an illegal credit transaction?

My proof is in the form of fully paid transaction receipts both from EBT and Chase. My concerns were met with anger and hostility by the owner. They lose my business over an attempted theft of .86 cents. They lose my 3-4 packs of smokes business a week. That's $18-$24 week, $72-$96 a month, $864-$1152 a year. Multiply that times 7+ years. (I really need to stop smoking) :( That doesn't take into account the amount I spent annually for food. They lost thousands of dollars over an .86 attempted theft. That's just me, one customer. I know of at least 3 others, residents and a business owner that absolutely will not shop there because of the owner and the business principles, practices and the way they treat their customers. Smokers talk and are regular shoppers at the convenience store closest to them. I suppose they're doing well enough they can afford to alienate the public closest to them, their neighbors. It seems expensive, foolish and just plain bad business to me. I'm just another guy who refuses to give anymore money to them...EVER again. Be smart and choose to whom you give your money. There is nothing wrong with choosing to give your money to nice, friendly people who provide fair trade and good...

The tl;dr: they were randomly closed in the middle of the day, didn't sell non-sweet drinks other than water, and the box of Triscuits I bought had a "best when used by" date of 2 months ago.

When I first arrived, there was a cardboard sign on the door saying "back in 3 minutes" with the 3 weirdly scribbled out. I should've taken that as a sign and kept looking for a different store, but it was raining so I just waited. Once the guy let us in (another woman was also waiting by that time) I went straight for the beverage coolers. I was craving unsweetened iced tea or kombucha but they had neither. They did have some diet sodas but all very sweet stuff, so I just got water. I also got a box of Triscuits. When I opened the Triscuits, they smelled a little stale. It turns out the "best when used by" date was two months ago. Is that even legal? I also noticed after buying and opening the box that there is a layer of dirt/grime on the bottom. I give them two stars instead of one because the prices were slightly less ridiculous than typical convenience store prices, and because they have a pretty good selection of ramen and other ready-to-eat meals. I'm guessing they provide a useful service for local homeless/down on their luck people (they accept EBT), but this is not my...

Dishonorable businesspeople. Bought an already Overpriced item that was obviously defective and tried to exchange within 1 week of purchase and the cashier would not honor the breach of customer trust in worksmanship with an exchange. The unit cost of this item is way lower than what they are charging, vendors can easily replace a faulty product, my guess is that everything you buy here is from Costco or Sam's and/or a swap...