Sharp Shopper Grocery Outlet — Local services in Union Township

Barb the cashier absolutely needs to be let go. I walked out of the store in tears due to the racism and discrimination I experienced. I’m Middle Eastern, and I already get stared down at shopping in Belleville. I travel an hour from home just to shop here because I truly enjoyed the deals I get and the Amish made goods. Unfortunately, today my perception of this store has changed drastically.

Barb, was ringing up a man in front of me. I could see she was talking to him and being cordial. When it was my turn to check out, her attitude and mood did a complete 180. I smiled and said “hello”, she did not respond. The drinks I was buying were not ringing up properly and she was getting upset. I let her know politely I also had water down below in my cart and she seemed incredibly annoyed.

When I had tried to move the cart up, so the bagger could put the bags in the cart, Barb came around and SHOVED the cart back at me physically assaulting me. At this point, I could see the bagger started sensing Barb’s cold interaction and smiled nervously back at me in compassion. I smiled in return, holding back tears.

All I wanted was to be done with this checkout process because I was feeling so uncomfortable and unsafe in the store at this point. When I paid,Barb didn’t say a word to me, just stared at me coldly. The bagger and I ended up saying our “goodbyes, and have a wonderful day”.

I want to stress that the young women who was bagging my groceries (dark hair, glasses), was incredibly kind and sweet-the complete opposite of Barb. I do hope she either gets a promotion or some sort of raise because she was the only one in the store that made me feel safe and welcomed. She was the only one that treated me like a human being, not a villain in a new area.

If you are a person of color, DO NOT shop here. This is not a safe space for us, and Sharp Shopper has...

We are really thankful to have this store right here in our town. They gave some really great deals that make shopping for a larger family much easier on the wallet. Granted, not all the deals are on things you might want (some very strange seasonal or gimmicky food items the big chains can't sell), but almost always a good deal to be had.

The staff is also super friendly.

Update: After reading some of the other reviews, it occurred to me that most of the lower ratings for the store are written by people that seem to miss the point of the store. As you walk in the entry, there is literally a poster that describes expiration/sell by date information....the whole basis of the store is selling overstock/expired items that are actually still good. If a meat is frozen before it's exp date, it's still perfectly fine for some time after. Also people seem to fixate on Sharp Shopper "not having what they need"....once again, it's not a typical grocery store. They do have some regularly stocked items that you can bank on them having every day but a vast majority of their inventory changes with whatever new overstock lot they get in from other grocery retailers. If you don't go in there expecting to get XYZ on your list, and take a look at what they have, you will get some great deals. You just have to be flexible and willing to check often, maybe once...

The Sharp Shopper is a good place to shop as long as you have an idea what to expect. They buy overstocked goods in bulk and sell them cheap. That means you can get some really silly prices on short-dated (and sometimes post-dated) goods. It also means you don't always get the chance to buy more of something you really liked, if they sold out.

Given the signs all over the local Giant store explaining why they are better than Sharp Shopper I can only assume the local chains are suffering as a result of Sharp Shopper's presence. If I go to the Giant store I get gas points, coupon doubling and all that but if I go to the Sharp Shopper I get vastly better prices.

I gave four stars rather than five because it can be frustrating to try something new, really like it, and then find I can't get any more because they sold out.

A note to anyone wanting to shop here, they don't take manufacturers' coupons and don't take...