I have been shopping here for years and it’s okay, but could be way better. Here are my thoughts and suggestions!
• I have more than a couple times bought something only to notice it’s past the best by dates. Now, I know that these are suggestions a lot of the times, BUT when you go to a grocery, especially a small one, you expect product to be rotated out when it’s past its date. My examples are… stale chips, moldy plant based items, out of date/freezer burnt frozen products, dye free wasabi peas, mixed with dyed in the bulk section (this was after they let all of the extremely out of date peas sell mostly out.
I thought maybe this was because they don’t want to waste, but the problem with that is they should at the very least put the items on sale so people know what they’re getting. I don’t want to pay full price for items that are past their best use, it seems like a trick!
• The bulk area and purchasing from the bulk area is a TERRIBLE time and I have heard MANY complaints about it (I worked at a bulk shop before). It’s not a true bulk bin to say the least, more of a “look we have a bulk bin.” It seems they just have bulk for looks rather than its implied function.
There is no proper scale to weigh contain, they only seem to offer prefilled bulk in plastic containers, and will mix old bulk with new (example wasabi peas.. I used to exclusively buy them here because it is the only place I could find them without dye). Not only was I getting extremely out of date product (stale), but it was also mixed with a product I didn’t want (mislabeling).
Last thing with bulk… the employees do not have training on how to ring bulk in and have to call a manager over every time to help. I get that it’s probably due to lack of use of the bulk area, but that just seems like a HUGE red flag.
Having worked in bulk food, expirations and cross contamination strategies are still important, customers want genuine bulk and not a frustrating shell experience. What’s the point of bulk if it isn’t used properly? Just seems like a waste.
• The peanut butter area NEEDS some type of trash can or something. There is no where to toss used napkins, etc. Not a good look even if you have an employee stop by to pick it up ever so often. Comes off as unhygienic.
I meant to make this review sooner, but kept forgetting. I genuinely want this store to make changes, so this isn’t an angry review, just an in depth view of what I have seen over time.
For a store that sells such expensive products, you’d think they would want to come off like they care about the customer experience. This is how customers decide whether they want to continue to shop there or not. I rely on this store for certain products and I don’t want it to crumble!