Sprouts

[oneforone]

Unions really don't care about how much the rank and file get paid, all they care about are union dues from those people. I knew someone who worked at Homeland 20 years ago, her union dues were three times greater than her uncle who worked for AT&T who was a CWA member, she also got paid a third of what he did. When I worked at Skaggs in high school on average we got paid more than the union members at Humpty Dumpty across the street. For the most part unions are nothing more than another corporation who acts as a middleman and makes their money off the same workers they claim to protect. They had their time and place and could still if they changed their methods but they hold onto the old union mentality which just doesn't work for most nowadays. The sad thing is there are still people who believe that the leadership really cares about them, they care about the rank and file about as much as their corporate bosses do.

The only people unions help are those who have little education and very few marketable work skills. Your average union workplace is full of dead weight not to mention the work conditions can stressful from constant driving from managers and supervisors. I have been working since 1992. Every place I worked at was a non union workplace. I was always well paid and well liked by almost all my bosses over the years. Just simply because I show up everyday. If I am running late, I call well before I am scheduled to start work. I rarely complain. When I do, I find a tactful way to take it to my boss. I always made it a point to be a good employee. When things got to the point to where the job was not fun anymore, I found another one and left on good terms. You can be well paid in almost any job out there. You just have to make the effort to prove your worth.

Anyway... Back to the topic.

I really like how Sunflower chose an existing big box to fill instead of building another one. I have a feeling Sunflower will have it's own loyal following for years to come. I just hope they continue to perform well and stay in business for years to come in that location.

[mrktguy29]

I stopped by there today just because I was in the area and figured I would check it out. I really didnt need anything but thought if I found something at a good price I would get it. I was a little overwhelmed with all the people and orderly chaos that it was... I quickly turned back and exited without a purchase. I did like that setup and seemed to be a nice addition to the city. I am sure that once it slows down I will check it out again. I noticed in the circular that the advertised savings overlap on wednesdays. Nice to know for any frugal people like myself. I hope they have good coupon policies.

[bandnerd]

Went today, and yes, it was crazy. That was to be expected. After a couple of loops around the lot, we got a great parking space and headed into the "ordered chaos," as another person put it, inside. I found my cheap tangelos (2lbs for $1? Are you kidding me?), onions, bell peppers, and I got two blocks of cheese for only $9 total. I wanted to get some shrimp since it was so cheap, but the seafood area was a bit crowded and since I'm not using it this week, I didn't feel inclined to wait for it.

Check out was quite speedy. Had a good laugh with the checker and bagger about the boycotters (all two of them). I said I wanted to roll down my window and tell them to go protest Wal-Mart. The checker said they were likely from Homeland. The boycotters had signs about keeping business in Oklahoma. If they are from Homeland, I find that funny, since it's not an Oklahoma company, either. Oh well. I was happy with the prices and will likely go back at a more non-peak time by myself so I don't torture Mid by meandering through the aisles looking for deals.

[soonerguru]

Went again today and got a week's worth of groceries for $160. I wasn't even trying to be thrifty. I had to ask the clerk if these prices were super discounted for the opening but he said the sales going on in OKC are the same ones in all of their stores. It's amazing how much better the food quality and variety is from the status quo in OKC and yet how reasonably priced everything is. Does anyone else wonder if this has anything to do with Whole Foods suddenly announcing its opening date last week?

[MikeOKC]

Went today, and yes, it was crazy. That was to be expected. After a couple of loops around the lot, we got a great parking space and headed into the "ordered chaos," as another person put it, inside. I found my cheap tangelos (2lbs for $1? Are you kidding me?), onions, bell peppers, and I got two blocks of cheese for only $9 total. I wanted to get some shrimp since it was so cheap, but the seafood area was a bit crowded and since I'm not using it this week, I didn't feel inclined to wait for it.

Check out was quite speedy. Had a good laugh with the checker and bagger about the boycotters (all two of them). I said I wanted to roll down my window and tell them to go protest Wal-Mart. The checker said they were likely from Homeland. The boycotters had signs about keeping business in Oklahoma. If they are from Homeland, I find that funny, since it's not an Oklahoma company, either. Oh well. I was happy with the prices and will likely go back at a more non-peak time by myself so I don't torture Mid by meandering through the aisles looking for deals.

Actually the new "Homeland"...after all the dust settled is...in fact, a local company - run out of a P.O. Box in Edmond. They are union but pay their workers even less than Sunflower. I love the Homeland at May & Britton, especially the pharmacy which we've used for years - but yes, it is a local company.

[bandnerd]

Actually the new "Homeland" after all the dust settles is, in fact, a local company - run out of a P.O. Box in Edmond. They are union but pay their workers even less than Sunflower. I love the Homeland at May & Britton, especially the pharmacy which we've used for years - but yes, it is a local company.

I stand corrected! However, we did shop at Homeland for other items on our list that either Sunflower likely wouldn't have, or I didn't have the patience to wait for this time around. I don't mind spreading my dollar around if necessary. Last weekend we got most of our groceries at Target because it was cheaper. Why is Homeland so much more expensive on basic things? There are also a few things they don't carry that I need to request. Otherwise I'll just keep buying them at Sam's or Target.

[MikeOKC]

I stand corrected! However, we did shop at Homeland for other items on our list that either Sunflower likely wouldn't have, or I didn't have the patience to wait for this time around. I don't mind spreading my dollar around if necessary. Last weekend we got most of our groceries at Target because it was cheaper. Why is Homeland so much more expensive on basic things? There are also a few things they don't carry that I need to request. Otherwise I'll just keep buying them at Sam's or Target.

I mentioned this in a thread not too long ago and you are so right. If you can be disciplined enough to buy only the advertised bargains, which are frequently very good, you'll get good deals at Homeland. But regular priced items? I go to Buy4Less on NWX. I mentioned the pharmacy, they are the same pharmacists who have been there for years - even when it was another company across the street. One of them from when it was Skaggs! They are all very nice in that pharmacy and inexpensive too. They will match or beat any other price and they always do. Much easier to get in and out of than a Walgreens and far more personal.

[bandnerd]

I do shop their ads as much as possible, and try to use in-season produce when I can, but 10 for $10 on Hamburger Helper or Kraft Mac isn't really that awesome to me :P One of these days, we'll have a big freezer and I can stock up on meat when they do those sales, but I can only do so much now before the freezer is packed!

I shopped the ad at Sunflower, and got cheap bell peppers, onions, and tangelos. I needed them, and they were on sale. I plan on following their online ads as much as the others.

[bluedogok]

I mentioned the pharmacy, they are the same pharmacists who have been there for years - even when it was another company across the street. One of them from when it was Skaggs! They are all very nice in that pharmacy and inexpensive too. They will match or beat any other price and they always do. Much easier to get in and out of than a Walgreens and far more personal.

Like most of large retail, the pharmacy in probably 99% of all grocery stores or places like Wal-Mart and Target are not employees of the store they are located in, it is a separate operating company that leases the space inside the store. The same company operates the pharmacy in many different stores, a friend is a pharmacist in a K-Mart in Meridian, Mississippi and she worked in a Wal-Mart pharmacy prior that was operated by the same company.

It is pretty common for most of those type operations, Steve's Rib in Edmond started out as the BBQ stand inside the Safeway/Homeland at Edmond Road & Santa Fe. He was an architect by trade and started the BBQ business as a supplement to his income after the economic downturn in industry in the early 80's. I knew him from coming into Triangle A&E when I worked there. The shoe departments in places like Dillard's are that way as well.

[bombermwc]

I went there this weekend...feels like a smaller scale Whole Foods to me, but much cheaper. Great produce though!

And a couple picketers with their stupid "keep taxes in the state" or whatever. OK, someone please tell me how this little store is a threat but they don't have people out in front of the 1000+ Wal-Marts that we all shop at and send all of our money to AR every day? Or when we had Williams and Albertson's and they went even further away.

If you're going to pick a "corporate" fight folks, why don't you make sure you pick the right company next time. And by the way, if you read any of the signs inside, you'd see that a lot of the produce is local, so money is going to the local farmer. Heck, even Wal-Mart is doing some of that these days. And the next time you buy a tomato or lettuce or really any fruit/veggie product at all in December, you can thank the out-of-state stuff for it. Ugh folks.

[Pete]

Deleted a bunch of posts about unions.

Please stick to discussing this store. Thanks.

[Larry OKC]

This isn't a slam against them per se as I will shop there from time to time when in the area and especialy if they have a good sale ad (this weeks ad looks even better than the grand opening week). Hard to price-compare exactly since they don't carry a lot of the same national brands that regular stores do, but overall it seemed pricey to me. now when Whole Foods opens, I might see it differently. One example that stuck out was small 5 oz bottle of A-1 steak sauce (the only size they carry), Sunflower was significantly higher:

A-1 steak sauce (small 5 oz bottle)
Sunflower = $4.49 (only size they carry)
Buy 4 Less = $ 2.99 (10 oz = $3.99, on sale for $2.49; 15 oz = 4.99)
Wal-mart = $2.50 (10 oz = $3.16, on sale $2.48; 15 oz $4.48)

I didn't stop and read EVERY produce sign inside Sunflower, but those that I noticed were just like every other grocery store, mostly out of state/out of country origins. I can't really say I noticed any "local" produce at all. Certainly not what one would expect to a place that has "farmer's market" as part of their name.

[metro]

Larry your always the odd duck. Comparing A1 steak sauce? This is more of a natural/organic grocer and not generic Walmart junk foods on average. If you want to compare, compare their produce quality, or selection on anything fresh,or compare Amy's organic frozen meal prices if you want to compare prices. Sunflower and WF aren't the type of markets people price shop. Your probably better off at Walmart or Homeland for that type of shopping.

[soonerguru]

A-1 Steak Sauce is the kind of **** you'll want to buy at Crest. If you want good prices at Sunflower, buy their house brands. We sprung for some of their house brand Teriyaki sauce and salad dressing. Both were excellent and very reasonably priced. Neither contained crap like corn syrup and all sorts of weird preservatives in them.

You can find oddball products that are priced high at Wal-Mart, too, but it's not about being the cheapest. It's about value. I would rather buy high-quality food that is better for me in smaller portions than load up the cart with a bunch of **** like people do at Wal-Mart.

In the end, I paid about the same I would for groceries at Crest, but got much better food.

Seriously, though, I have to laugh that you're using A-1 Steak Sauce as any kind of comparative pricing gauge. News Flash: Don't buy stuff like A-1 and Ziploc Bags at Sunflower (hint hint)!

[bandnerd]

Just don't buy A-1 sauce. Blech.

[pickles]

No one is going to Sunflower Farmers Market to buy A-1 freaking steak sauce. If they are, they're better off elsewhere. As a general rule, this is not the sort of place you want to purchase non-specialty prepared items like the sort of canned and jarred crap you can buy at rock bottom at Wal-Mart. This is a specialty grocer, not Sam's Club.

[FritterGirl]

or compare Amy's organic frozen meal prices if you want to compare prices.

Their Amy's were on par with Akins', which are about $1 to $1.50 higher per meal than Crest or Target. Their Kashi prices were almost $5 per meal, which is pushing $2 higher than either Crest or Target.

I think where they have great strengths in some areas (OK-made bakery products, fresh meat selection, fabulous produce) - which they do have at "silly" prices for the quality, they have to somehow account for in other areas, by having higher prices for those items.

Their yogurt prices were on par with Akins, espeically for the Wallaby Brand (Chocolate Thunder Down Under, ohhhh myyyy). In fact, I think the Wallaby was a bit lower than at Akins.

Hopefully next time I go, I'll have more time to look around. As it was, I went on a quick curiosity trip, and due to the crowds, didn't explore as much as I would have liked.

[Larry OKC]

Larry your always the odd duck. Comparing A1 steak sauce? This is more of a natural/organic grocer and not generic Walmart junk foods on average. If you want to compare, compare their produce quality, or selection on anything fresh,or compare Amy's organic frozen meal prices if you want to compare prices. Sunflower and WF aren't the type of markets people price shop. Your probably better off at Walmart or Homeland for that type of shopping.

Sorry if it seems odd to you & others. FritterGirl seems to be seeing what i am saying. As I stated before, I agree, it is hard to comparison shop because they aren't a typical grocery store. The price comparisons will be easier when Whole Foods opens. No argument there. I only used A-1 as an example because it was one of the very few national brands that I noticed that they DO carry and a direct price comparison can be made. They are also higher on Lofthouse cookies and Stubbs BBQ sauce. It also stuck out in my mind at how high the price seemed...at direct odds to their advertising about "silly prices". Then on the other hand, that can apply both directions, the prices can be silly low or silly high. As far as produce quality, I didn't see much difference between what was there and what was available elsewhere (esp since most of what I saw prob came from the same places). If you or anyone else has money to throw away like that, by all means do so. Selection is one thing that they do have places like Buy 4 Less beat, in particular, while both carry the Amy's organic frozen items, it looks like Sunflower may contain the whole line as opposed to B4L. Tell you what, next time I am in both I will cost compare that for you and report back, but since you mentioned Amy's you may already know the answer to it and can do so.

[Midtowner]

I stand corrected! However, we did shop at Homeland for other items on our list that either Sunflower likely wouldn't have, or I didn't have the patience to wait for this time around. I don't mind spreading my dollar around if necessary. Last weekend we got most of our groceries at Target because it was cheaper. Why is Homeland so much more expensive on basic things? There are also a few things they don't carry that I need to request. Otherwise I'll just keep buying them at Sam's or Target.

I don't know about the P.O. Box in Edmond, but it's actually a subsidiary of Associated Wholesale Grocers, the HQ of which is over on South Council in OKC. Looking over the corporate history of Homeland is interesting. It split off from Safeway in 1987 in a leveraged buyout, and was technically owned by the buyout vehicle, namely SWO Acquisitions Corp., then it glommed up just about every grocery store which came to town, i.e., Food Lion, Albertsons, etc., then in 2002, was bought out of what I guess was a Chapter 11 by Associated Wholesale Grocers, which is fortunately based right here in OKC, and is a big 'ol food selling conglomerate claiming to own or have an interest in 1,900 stores.

[MikeOKC]

I don't know about the P.O. Box in Edmond, but it's actually a subsidiary of Associated Wholesale Grocers, the HQ of which is over on South Council in OKC. Looking over the corporate history of Homeland is interesting. It split off from Safeway in 1987 in a leveraged buyout, and was technically owned by the buyout vehicle, namely SWO Acquisitions Corp., then it glommed up just about every grocery store which came to town, i.e., Food Lion, Albertsons, etc., then in 2002, was bought out of what I guess was a Chapter 11 by Associated Wholesale Grocers, which is fortunately based right here in OKC, and is a big 'ol food selling conglomerate claiming to own or have an interest in 1,900 stores.

Homeland is owned by HAC, Inc. which is based in Edmond. Technically, you're right, it's an independent subsidiary of AWG - which is based in Kansas City, not OKC. They have a distribution center here, I think on 50th street maybe? It's a convoluted relationship as I understand it. As a lawyer, you probably know a lot better than I about these kinds of arrangements.

[bluedogok]

AWG owns the former Safeway/Homeland properties in NE 36th & Lincoln area. I know they were based in KC, the group that owns Homeland may be a shell corporation for the Oklahoma Homeland stores, that makes it easier to sell off or close up shop without affecting operations in other states.

[Midtowner]

Homeland is owned by HAC, Inc. which is based in Edmond. Technically, you're right, it's an independent subsidiary of AWG - which is based in Kansas City, not OKC. They have a distribution center here, I think on 50th street maybe? It's a convoluted relationship as I understand it. As a lawyer, you probably know a lot better than I about these kinds of arrangements.

I looked at the Secretary of State filings and Homeland's M&A history.

As for AWG, you're right, I checked their site and must've seen the distribution center or something.

As far as an independent subsidiary relationship goes, well, that independence-ness is going to vary quite a bit from organization to organization. Ultimately, if AWG has a controlling interest, they pretty much call the shots. It sounds like they have a controlling interest, btw.

[oneforone]

AWG owns the former Safeway/Homeland properties in NE 36th & Lincoln area. I know they were based in KC, the group that owns Homeland may be a shell corporation for the Oklahoma Homeland stores, that makes it easier to sell off or close up shop without affecting operations in other states.

Homeland Office's there and they may uses a small portion of the Safeway/AWG Distribution Center at 36th and Lincoln. AWG moved all of their OKC operations to Airport Road/HWY 152 and Council.

I think may have to go check them out. I have been disappointed with the quality of the produce I have bought lately. I can remember a time when I would buy produce and it would last a few days. Anymore when I buy it, I have to use it with in a few days or it spoils.

[mrktguy29]

The Homeland store at 33rd and Broadway in Edmond has a single door off to the side and there is signage that says Homeland Corporate Offices. The property at 36th and Lincoln last I saw had very little activity as the distribution operation has moved to South Council. I think portions of the old are leased out to smaller companies, one looks like a produce company.

As for Sunflower, I went back in Sunday and got some super cheap ears of corn that were delish! I got a nice sized steak and the price on that was very reasonable. I also had to try the Almond butter machine. I have to say, I may never buy peanut butter again.

[Martin]

I also had to try the Almond butter machine. I have to say, I may never buy peanut butter again.

what part of the store is that located? didn't have time to search for it when i visited sunflower last saturday. -M