Lowe's Mercado — Local services in Four Corners States

I'm always on the hunt for bargains, and if you follow my thrift store reviews, you know this. Well, I figure I might as well start writing for some of my favorite grocers in north Denver.

Ok, right out of the gate, this is 100% a Latin mercado, or market, and caters primarily to Hispanic customers, so you'll need to use your Spanish skills that you learned in school. As a gringo, however, I really didn't feel unwelcomed into the store, which some ethnic markets of call types and stripes can DEFINITELY do. if you don't have a grasp of Spanish your conversations will get awkward quickly if you interact with somebody who doesn't speak English, though most do.

Ok, as far as my review of the store, here are some points:

Cleanliness: Very clean inside. No problems here.

Atmosphere: Well, it depends. Outside, it's not the nicest part of town, and that's me putting it nicely. Parking lot is often crowded, hard to get through, and in serious need of some proper repair, cart corrals look like they've been used as Demo Derby barriers. Inside, it's a different story. The store is spotlessly clean and smells decent. I appreciate the security, others don't but given where they are there is bound to be some riff raff, and I honestly like them at the door as a deterrent.

Produce. Produce here is cheap, and lasts decently long enough. It's not the same tier as King Soopers or Safeway, but it is much cheaper on the whole, so if you are eating it within a week, you should be fine as long as you are buying stuff that rotates through the store frequently, so things like tomatoes, cilantro, potatoes, all the varieties of peppers (habanero, anaheim chile, jalapeño, serrano, etc.) Onions are still going strong after 3 weeks. As with any produce, make sure you look at the whole bunch. If you see rot in the basket, maybe don't buy it until next time, any grocery store can have that, I know I've seen my fair share of moldy fruit and vegetables at Safeway.

Middle of the store: Worst part. This is where the price gouging happens. Despite purveying itself as a cheaper store, prices for canned/jarred goods are worse than comparative grocers. Stay out of the middle of the store unless you are desperate or need a specific product, you can find it elsewhere for cheaper. Hot sauces were fine though, and as of this writing, they have a GREAT deal on bulk Valentino (2.99 for a big jar, WOW!). Spices were fine. Tortillas were more expensive, but better brands. Also, avoid the beans. Bagged beans or bulk were too much. You can get a 50 POUND BAG of pintos at Sams Club for ~20-25 bucks, same with rice, and both products last FOREVER. I think there are some South American products that are neat, and the price can be justified due to import expenses and rarity. Drinks are priced OK, so grab a Medio Litro of Coke, Fanta, or Sprite, or maybe a Jarritos.

Meat/Dairy: Good selection, but you'll need to hunt for the deals. We've had good success with chicken and ground beef sales. I've yet to interact with the butchers, but I imagine using your Spanish language skills would be beneficial. Cheese selection is somewhat limited and I would come here for specific cheeses like Muenster, which they have lots of. You can also get cheap detergents here, like "Ace" the tide knockoff, and other cleaning supplies. or perhaps you may be interested in "Unique form of flavored sugar #35378" also known as Tampico.

Overall, a good place. Check the website once a week and get their ad and swing by and stock up when something you like goes on sale, and come for the produce, grab a drink on...

It’s a good grocery store but the Lowe’s Mercado on Colfax in Denver is much better. I’d like this to see this location expand, well, everything fresh like produce, meat and … Does this one even have a bakery? I don’t remember. The Lowe’s on Colfax has prepared meats, multiple selections of cream and cheese, amazing wonderful fragrant dried chilies (no apostrophe belongs in the plural of chilies because the chilies aren’t owning anything).

Of course everything most of us need on a routine basis is available there and they’ve probably increased their stock of “comfort foods” like most grocery stores have done. I don’t know if Hibiscus tea is going to be available there; is it important enough during a pandemic? A neighbor Offered to pick it up but I guess it’s been out of stock in a lot of places.

It’s been a few months since I shopped at the Colfax store and I was concerned about the percentage of shoppers not wearing masks. I have reasons to worry about my immune system which is why I haven’t been to this one that’s closer to me since the pandemic began. I really hope shoppers are listening to Governor Polis now so I can do my own Mexican shopping; at least there’s Korean and Chinese nearby for wonderful variety and mask wearing is highly encouraged in...

The store is great! I love to shop there. The bakery suck though. Ordered my little one's birthday cake there and when I went to pick it up at the time I needed it.... And it was sitting there on the back counter, bare. It wasnt even decorated yet. I was furious. I had to retell them what I wanted on the cake and the design cause they lost the paper with the color of frosting and decor for the cake. They did a very sloppy job. Reported them to the manager cause the ladies there were rude. Not one apology from them. The manager gave me my money back. And I was late to my baby's birthday party! I Don't know why they have order forms to tell them what you want if they don't complete it and do their job. I will NEVER EVER order a cake...