Outlet grocery store shopping... salvage groceries... discount supermarkets... call them what you will they are not for the faint of heart, it's too true but I am here to 'splain it all for you: this is NOT your mama's supermarket, ok?
Some Definitions
Let us begin at the beginning: Here on my planet there are three loose categories of alt. grocery procurement.
Bad Food Stores: Salvage grocery, outlet food store, pallet store. The inventory comes from every cat and dog place you can think of and the good people who run them organize the truckloads a little bit and price the stuff to move. Brands you recognize and brands you don't in every condition from brand new to smashed beyond recognition. Sometimes they package smashed stuff into baggies and tape others up so they look like something a man with duct tape got hold of. Sorry. Or a woman. Most have lots of cleaning products and the HBA line up... make-up, shampoo, vitamins, all that. Some have produce and some have frozen stuff, too. These fabulous people have listed a whole bunch of them.
Discount / Limited Inventory Grocery Stores: These will be your Aldi's and Sav-A-Lot style stores. Mostly private labels and no frills but very good prices on pretty much every basic grocery thing you need over the course of a week. These are chains so there's a greater likelihood that you live near one. Adventure? No. Endless variety? Hardly. Cheap groceries that ARE always in date and organized so you can actually see what it is you're getting into? You betcha!
Hybrids: These are the crossover vehicles of the medium. Not exclusively banged up and dented cans, not only those one-step-up from the black and white generic labels of our parent's price-controlled Nixonian 70's Show pantries... these are a little bit country AND a little bit rock 'n roll. They tend to be chains but medium-sized; usually 5 or 10 all told. Amelia's has gone and gotten way too big for her britches but here in Mooville we have the Sharp Shoppers and I love them so... If it weren't for the Sharp Shopper, what would have become of all of those abandoned Jamesway Plazas?
Next Time: Outlet Grocery Shopping Part 2: The Bad Food Store
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