WinCo

[Pete]

I very strongly prefer not to have a cart for this very reason, it puts you at the mercy of the huge majority of people who pay no attention and completely block passage if you also have a cart.

With a hand cart you can just dodge but at a place like Winco, you usually don't bother unless you are getting quite a few things and therefore you almost always are going to be using a cart.

[stile99]

Funny (at least to me) story, I went the other day (madhouse, complete madhouse) and there was a woman doing the cart in the middle of the aisle thing, just standing and staring at the shelves. The aisles are plenty roomy, so to get around her I went behind her (so as not to block her view of the shelf). Her response was to not move so much as one millimeter and say "excuse me" to me in such a way that the intended meaning was clear, that being that I was the a-hole here. I didn't bother responding, but did internally laugh when immediately after this one of the employees pulling a pallet-jack (I think that's what they are called, not sure...bigger than a hand truck, smaller than a fork lift) returned her "excuse me" with one of his own, said in such a way that the meaning was clear, that being "we're trying to work here, feel free to browse but get out of the way". At this point she no longer found it wise to park in the middle of the aisle.

There's a lack of self-awareness, and then there's crass stupidity. I feel this flirted with the latter.

[d-usa]

I got hung up several times by the machine saying 'unexpected item in baggage area; staff has been alerted for help'. The one guy standing there was completely overwhelmed and I noticed 4 of the 6 checkout stations all were flashing red, meaning they were all stuck.

Ever since Target got rid of the scale function in the bagging area, I actually really enjoy the self checkout process there. I usually don't have that much in my basket, the self-checkout is usually not very busy and moves fast, and it's a breeze to slide all my items through the scanner, organize them in the bags I brought, remove one of my bags and put them in my cart while I'm still checking out other things, put the cat litter box back in the cart, and not a peep about "unexpected item" or "bag item before you can scan anything else" or any other error message from those machines. If stores only had self-checkout as an option, I wouldn't go to any other store other than Target.

Really, the only issue I have there is that sometimes the scanner will catch the label on a piece of fruit before I can type in the number and then it gives an error message.

[jerrywall]

I had the same problem with the self checkout.

[jerrywall]

The crowds were decent enough that I braved a visit yesterday evening. It was still crowded but there was parking available. My opinion? It's a nice store for the area. It will be really convenient for my wife to swing by after work and pick up stuff on the way home.

From a pricing standpoint, I saw what someone else mentioned. Some things were cheaper, and some things were more expensive than Crest. This wasn't surprising though. It took us a while when switching from Wal-Mart to Crest to figure out the right brands and such that saved us money on our total trip, and it would be the same if we were trying to make a switch here.

I was really impressed with their bulk food section. I was also surprised by some of the items they carried such as grills. They were missing out on a few brands/items I get from Crest such as Old El Paso Taco Sauce though. Their packaged seasonings was also unimpressive in selection, although the availability of bulk seasonings is a decent trade off. I was also pleased to find Ore Ida frozen fries in stock. They've been out of stock at Crest for months due to a shortage.

Since I live right by the Crest in Edmond, this won't be a place I'll visit on any regular basis, but if I had a Winco as close to me, I could see it potentially replacing Crest. Nothing that makes me go wow, but a good, solid grocery store with decent pricing.

[oklip955]

Since I live east of I-35 in Edmond, Winco is a hike for me. I usually shop at Sprouts with a few items from Aldi's. I avoid packaged foods and generally eat, fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains and add some meat to the mix. The few prepackaged items I buy are free of presuratives and HFC, msg, etc. I avoid regular grocery stores for this reason. It takes way too long to check the ingrediate list. I don't have to do that with items from Sprouts. (or Whole Foods) I'm wondering on how Winco compares with those items.

[Mastermind]

New flyer... also comes with a $10 off $50 coupon:

[Teo9969]

Shopped here (39th/Portland) for the first time yesterday.

Used two separate C.C.s an AMEX Blue and a Chase Freedom...The AMEX was used at a self check-out and the Visa with an attendant.

Made the two purchase because I wanted to see how these cards coded Winco for Rewards points, and then when I got home and did some digging I learned they "don't take credit cards"...This concerns me because I really liked the store, but I would hate to go one time, load up $100.00 worth of groceries and steals only to be told at the counter that credit cards are not accepted.

I searched to see if they had a change in policy, but I could not find anything. I'm wondering if it's something this store is doing for a limited time while they open or if this can be different for every store.

Anyone know why this store would be an outlier to the no credit card policy?

[foodiefan]

Shopped here (39th/Portland) for the first time yesterday.

Used two separate C.C.s an AMEX Blue and a Chase Freedom...The AMEX was used at a self check-out and the Visa with an attendant.

Made the two purchase because I wanted to see how these cards coded Winco for Rewards points, and then when I got home and did some digging I learned they "don't take credit cards"...This concerns me because I really liked the store, but I would hate to go one time, load up $100.00 worth of groceries and steals only to be told at the counter that credit cards are not accepted.

I searched to see if they had a change in policy, but I could not find anything. I'm wondering if it's something this store is doing for a limited time while they open or if this can be different for every store.

Anyone know why this store would be an outlier to the no credit card policy?

. . . from the NW 39th store web site. . .looks like they accept most major credit cards. . .so an individual
store policy??
·
American Express
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Cash
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Check
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Debit
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Discover
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EBT
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MasterCard
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Visa

[David]

Yeah, that is something that confuses me about WinCo. It was stated early on (I think in this thread) that they do not take credit cards, just debit, but then our locations actually opened and credit cards worked just fine.

[BlackmoreRulz]

How long before the Memorial Rd store opens? Has construction started on it?

[Pete]

How long before the Memorial Rd store opens? Has construction started on it?

They've been doing a ton of site work, as that area has a massive drainage issues.

This is a photo from 5/18, with Walmart in the foreground and the new Aloft in the background.

[Pete]

Here is the site plan for the N. Penn location.

[Pete]

New Aloft in the background:

[Thomas Vu]

Oh is that on the road that eventually leads to chisholm creek?

[Pete]

^

Yes

[SEMIweather]

They are really going to need to find a way to put some dedicated left turn lanes on Penn at that light.

[Pete]

[SouthSide]

Does anyone know their expansion plans for Oklahoma metro area? Do they have plans to build in South OKC?

[Pete]

Does anyone know their expansion plans for Oklahoma metro area? Do they have plans to build in South OKC?

I don't think they've ever had plans to build more than the 3 finished locations plus this last one.

[SouthSide]

Thanks for the reply. It is just so frustrating that companies coming into OKC so often bypass south okc. I am beginning to think the entire area is red-lined as far as the chamber is concerned.

[baralheia]

Thanks for the reply. It is just so frustrating that companies coming into OKC so often bypass south okc. I am beginning to think the entire area is red-lined as far as the chamber is concerned.

And specifically, inner-city Southside. I mean, the south side of OKC has seen some love from places like Crest, Sprouts, and Natural Grocers, but north of SW 89th St, Walmart pretty much runs the place. I would kill to have a good full-service grocery store close by instead of having to either drive out of my way or fall back to Walmart - and it's not like there isn't land available either; the huge former Riviera Drive-In theater property at SE 59th and Santa Fe has been completely empty for a few years now, to name just one spot.

[OkiePoke]

Doesn't look like this site is moving very quickly.

[TheSteveHunt]

An Uptown on the South Side would do quite well I am sure...

[Pete]