Grocery Outlet — Local services in National City

This particular Grocery Outlet used to be a much better store, however the previous owners sold this store off, and the new owners immediately began rising the prices. All of the friendly staff from this location that we had gotten to know over the years all left this store, either transferring to the Downtown San Diego Location, or they just quit.

The staff that replaced them all seem bothered or annoyed by customers, and if you are looking for something, don't bother asking them, they don't know or they don't care.

Speaking of NOT caring, on August 3rd 2018, my wife was doing her routine shopping at this store. A terrible driver drove into the side of our car, and he took off, despite my wife, and witnesses trying to stop him. My wife went inside, and asked if the manager could provide any footage of the driver, and the manager of the store advised her that he didn't have time to look.

I called, and left a message for the manager, who I later identified as Rick Leyva. Mr. Leyva apparently didn't have time to return my call either, however he did finally agree to allow my wife to see the footage from the incident, however he was about as pleasant as Freddy Kruger conducting a prostate exam.

I attempted to contact Grocery Outlet's Public Relations team regarding the matter, and was advised that basically they are all a loose group of independent retailers, so the only thing that they do on a corporate level is take money from the retailers, so that the corporate folks can make the commercials with the puppets, so they hold no power, or are able to do anything about a rude manager or owner of any specific store.

In summary, prices tend to be higher at this location, as well as the other store in Chula Vista. Staff seem agitated, likely from being underpaid as well as overworked, and they are not likely to be very kind or helpful, but you MIGHT occasionally find a deal every once and awhile, but not nearly as often as before with the previous owners,...

🚨 My recent experience at Grocery Outlet, Bargain Market, was absolutely unacceptable and dehumanizing. After buying an item worth $10, I took just two minutes to use the restroom — a basic human need — and was suddenly met with aggressive banging on the door and hostile questioning. ❗🤯 The employees berated me without cause, speaking to me as if I was some criminal or threat, when in reality I was a paying customer exercising my rightful access to the store's facilities. This wasn’t just rude — it was inhumane. The staff behaved without an ounce of respect, empathy, or understanding — the complete opposite of what civil and decent humans should be. 🚫🧊

This is a warning to others: ⚠️ Grocery Outlet, Bargain Market in this location is not just failing at customer service — they are failing at basic humanity. The employees here operate on presumption, suspicion, and disrespect, rather than civility or decency. Management needs to wake up and re-educate their staff before more customers are treated like inconveniences instead of human beings. No one should be made to feel criminalized or degraded for simply using the restroom. 🚻🙅‍♂️ Until changes are made, this is not a place that values or respects its customers — and people deserve...

It's too bad there is no home office to complain to, but whomever hired this current guy as manager, made a huge mistake. The manager, the guy with glasses and a beard, is rude to customers, at least THIS customer--not that he probably even cares. Maybe the staff is friendly, but the Manager not so much. I complained to one of the female checkers and she replied that other people HAVE complained about him. The girl who is a Head Cashier, could also use a lesson in customer service. I didn't get his name, but if he reads this, he'll know.

Also, the fact that you are checking video tape to see if a customer has a legitimate return, EVEN when he has a receipt of something just purchased (I didn't even get in my car when I caught the checker's error and went back in the store) is does not look well. If you are that concerned about shoplifting, maybe invest some money in hiring a guard. My purchase was for $1.35 and they had to check security cameras just for that. Pathetic. The ONLY reason I come here is because they sell a few items that I need and the location, even though their Nosh selection...