Ballinger Thriftway — Local services in Shoreline

Google's definition of thrift is: the quality of using money and other resources carefully and not wastefully.

Miriam Webster says it's: careful management especially of money

These two definitions taken as written, would make 'Thriftway' the most inappropriately named store in modern history.

As I walked through the store, just browsing to see if there was anything I wanted to buy, I quickly found the prices on items to be FAR higher than anywhere I normally shop. At first I thought it was just the deli was a little steep (that happens, right?), but as I continued to browse, it became apparent that this was not the case.

In every department I shopped, the prices were consistently 30-50% higher than even Safeway. And a few products that I had recently shopped elsewhere were almost TWICE the price. Now, I'm not talking about special, in-store exclusives. I'm talking the EXACT SAME products in other stores, just MUCH more expensive.

So if you're wealthy, and don't care about 'thrift' (spending money wisely), then Thriftway is DEFINITELY your kind of store. But if saving money is something you want to do, drive the extra distance to a different store. Even the QFC in Mountlake Terrace...

I was just in there to buy a bottle of Rye Whiskey. It was pretty slow and I know where their liquor section is, so I was in and out in under a minute.

I was about to get into my car before I heard somebody asking me if I'd paid for my bottle of whiskey. My initial impression was that he was just another customer being strangely friendly, making some slightly off color joke. I realized quickly that he was their loss prevention authority, so I gladly let him usher me back inside while explaining that I'd opted out of taking my receipt.

He insisted that I pay for the whiskey, which is a very tolerant and patient form of loss prevention. I insisted that I'd paid already, and he checked with the cashier who'd rung me up, who then confirmed.

It was a strange experience being mistaken for a shop lifter, but the speed, professionalism, and courtesy with which I was treated was exemplary. I was in and out in under a minute without a receipt. Chris does his job very well and deserves a raise regardless of his...

The employees are always so friendly. Today, I saw a customer being... not so friendly. The employee handled it with empathy and patience and also educated the customer about the reasoning why they couldn't accommodate his (in my opinion, unreasonable) request. She was very professional and personable when I was next in line. As someone who has worked in customer service for a decade I know I would have felt very frustrated but the other employee involved also remained calm and handled it like a champ. Really amazing people there. As far as the products, a lot of the pricing is comparable to Safeway with a few random items way cheaper or a few dollars more. I'm going to shop here more often because I want to support this business. I'm impressed with some of the things they offer that other stores don't and they're very community oriented. I wish I had gotten the cashiers names- shout out to the two women working 15 minutes before closing on 5-31-25, give...