Grocery Outlet — Local services in Spokane

You know, sometimes it's hard doing a review. It's hard because there are so many positives and so many negatives. Grocery Outlet stores main positive point is amazing prices that prove to be unbeatable 99.9% of the time. The namesake would be the giant clue to that fact. But also the namesake, specifically the word " outlet " would let consumers know the discounted pricing usually comes at small issues. Make sure to ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS check expiration dates. I have purchased expired grocery items there more than once. Another mark in the negative area is the produce that might appear and look nice, but it usually only lasts one or two days and I've experienced apples and mangos where the inside is completely rotten looking and I wouldn't even try to taste it. Also another positive is that you can find really unique items that you can't find anywhere else and it's like finding a treasure. But don't find yourself getting attached and plan on making those treasures the kind of thing that you want to buy regularly. The bummer and the downside to that wonderful unique find is of course not being able to ever find it again anywhere. I mentioned the very diverse collection of items this store is known to sell. Just a small example list starts with toiletries, cleaning supplies, hair products, natural, vegan, organic section, a ton of items to decorate your home, even house plants for your house. They have really neat gifts too and with spring coming up right now they have cute little bunnies and spring decor amazing prices. Even a nice size area of planters and lawn decor, wind chimes, cute stone turtles and some beautiful hummingbird feeders. I can't forget the big pots and pans, dishes, and knives, tumblers, and canning jars, silverware, lunch boxes, and plastic leftover or storage containers. The vitamin and supplements are comparable to every grocery store but the smoothy mixes, protein powders, etc. Rise above every grocery store I have been to. FYI, the Grocery Outlet stores are all individually privately owned. The owners of the specific Grocery Outlet in Spokane Washington downtown on third gives generously to local domestic violence charities. Its important to me, and others should also ALWAYS ATTEMPT to shop at privately owned community supporting stores that are in your area. I love shopping at some place that gives to the community. One more thing i thought of right this min that i neglected to mention while explaining all the different typed of items sold at Grocery Outlet that I noticed recently is they have wine, a large wine selection actually. As I previously mentioned, there are some real treasures to find at any grocery outlet, the wine selection provides many options that include unique types of wine from every region. I would recommend Grocery Outlet to everyone, even if its just to check it out. If you dont feel comfortable buying food there, I guarantee you won't come out of that store empty handed because they make sure of that by always carrying fresh new cool unique merchandise. So this is a year later and I'm adding onto my review.... They still have unique, fun gifts for anyone you can think of. So, recently we have been into tasting different cheeses. I know your thinking " OH, SURE, JUST THE PLACE I WANT TO TRY MY NEW CHEESE OBSESSION OUT" Honestly, they have some same cheeses you can find at very spendy fresh grocery stores, but you will save a million bucks! And they aren't expiring any sooner than those other fancy stores. The one downside I wanted to add, was if you go there with extra bags or back packs, they make you place them into lockers. I know, bummer! At first, o was super irritated until I observed a few people thinkin the bag or purse...even their pockets were carts. People are so messed up trying to shoplift from a great local community store, that supports local charity and provides solutions for issues such as domestic violence. That's when I quit being grumpy over the locker thing....

My wife and I were setting up an account at the Global Credit Union next door, but it required us waiting awhile for paperwork to be set up, so we decided to go across the street to Grocery Outlet.

The inside of the store is very upscale compared to others I have been to, but the parking lot reflected a more homeless and down on their luck crowd. I began to park, but my wife did not feel safe, due to a couple of seedy looking characters who appeared to be tarrying in a car next to where I was going to park, so I had to drive to a safer looking area of the lot.

While shopping I noticed that prices were MUCH higher than other stores, like Winco and Walmart and even other Grocery Outlets, but chocked it up to being downtown, with higher overhead. For example: A small piece of chuck roast was almost $10 a pound, but had a $3.00 off price as it was near its expiration date. Even Costco sells chuck at under $6.00 a pound, plus it is USDA choice or prime and not the inferior select that Winco was selling. So even with their discount Costco, and even Winco, has better quality meats at a far better price. I also noticed that some bulk items cost more than single items, per item. An example is some Pillsbury Crescents. 1 8oz. tube was 99 cents, but a 4 pack was $5.00 or $1.25 per single tube, also 8 oz per tube. Food items that I have always been wary of at Grocery Outlet are groceries being sold that have already expired. Over the years I have found a lot of that at all stores, and this one was no exception. You must always check the sell by dates.

The main reason I am writing such a poor review is not the items above, as I have come to expect certain things from all Grocery Outlets. This review is about this particular store's policy. While at checkout we were asked to scan our ID, as we had close to two cases of wine and some groceries. They happened to have a 20% off sale on all their wines, so we indulged a little. I asked them why they would need to ID us as we obviously weren't underage. I'm in my 60s and my trophy wife, who supports me, is in her 50s. The clerk said it was "STORE POLICY". My wife held up her ID and shared with the woman that /they/them/ he/she/it could verify she was 21, but the person stated it was store policy and they had to scan the ID. We stated that we would not be comfortable with our IDs being scanned. They told her they would not sell us the wine without it.

I am old school and enjoy my privacy and the Constitution. This store has decided to get aggressively invasive with their data collection. I get enough spam and junk mail as it is and don't need more. These companies have been known to sell this data to enhance their profits, while invading my privacy. On top of that, both the clerk and bag-boy were/are your typical ignorant, woke and entitled bunch that treated us as if they are paid by the hour and have no clue about running a business. They seemed to enjoy being in control, but that's one of the ways stores go out of business; employees with no business sense or skin in the game. These same geniuses would predictably let a thief walk out of the store with the same items without paying - Brilliant. Before we even had a chance to question the clerk or ask for a manager, they both copped an attitude, like we were in the wrong and the smug bag-boy told the clerk; "Don't worry, I'll put the stuff back on the shelves. We ended up just walking out of the store. We wasted about a 1/2 hour of our lives, but still had the $200 we would have spent. We later went to Trader Joe's and Natural Grocers and purchased what we needed. Plus, we didn't get carded at Trader Joe's when we purchased a case of wine there.

Anyway, the owner lost our business and the Grocery Outlet chain will never see me or my wife ever set foot in one of their stores...

The downtown G.O. is close to my home, and their prices are unbelievable. I am on a low fixed income and I count my pennies. My one complaint about this store, is the attitude of the employees. With the exception of a couple staff members that I've come to know by name and are friendly and helpful, it's common to have the cashier not say a single word to you. No hello, no smile. They rarely know where in the store to find a particular item, which is sort of understandable given that their stock changes constantly, but getting a simple price check can be impossible. I don't like feeling that I'm somehow imposing on their personal lives by shopping at the store they work in. A few things if you've never shopped at Grocery Outlet - always check sell by dates, but you're bound to take a chance on things that might seem too good to be true. When an item gets close to or passes the sell by/use by date, they usually mark the price so low it's not much of a risk. 87 cents for a pound of ham two days from expiring? Sure, if it's bad I'll just toss it. Their inventory changes constantly, and new items are added every day. Many of their best deals aren't even advertised, so the weekly ad is just a small sample. They don't always have what you need. If you go with a specific list, you might have to stop by another grocery store later. For example, last week I needed salt. They had multiple varieties and brands of seasoned salt, but no iodized salt at all. Two days later they had more than could fit on the shelf. Some things are different, like eggs and milk. They use a steady supplier for staples like that. All in all, it's a great way to save money and I always come home with a nice treat I wasn't expecting. I wish the employees at this location were slightly less zombie like, and would crack a smile or at least make eye contact once in a while, but in spite of that I will keep going to this store for the...