Note: In the following story, names have been omitted to protect what is, in all likelyhood, a legitimate business. If you are in my area and would like additional details so you too can avoid this place, either take a good look at the clues I’ve provided or email me.

Food in Phoenix Metro is expensive. Perhaps the native Phoenicians (I’m pretty sure that’s what they’re called) don’t think so, but it is. At least it’s expensive compared with the fertile Wilamette Valley. Here’s an example. Cheese is nearly twice the price. Yes, no joke. Tilamook cheese is the only non-mega-food-distributor cheese and it costs nearly $12 full price. Hint: Don’t buy it full priced. We’ve been lucky to find it for $7 with a “frequenty buyer card” at the nearby Smart & Final. Pasta cannot be found for $1.00 a bag. Kraft Macaroni and Cheese is nearly $2. Can of refried beans: $1.50. (We buy a mega-huge-resturant-size can for $3). Meat is, unfortunately, also expensive. A bag of frozen chicken breasts may cost you $10 or $12 — something available in Oregon for $6 or $7. We’re adjusting, but it’s slow.

Which brings me to the current story. I have been searching for a cheap food, warehouse, WinCo-like store for a while.

• Smart & Final: It’s a restaurant supply store and seems almost Costco like, but much smaller.
• Costco: We haven’t been there to determine pricing because they require a membership
• Fry’s Foods: Is, unfortunately, nothing like the electronics super-store by a similar name. It’s run by Kroger and feels almost identical to a Fred Meyer (for those from the Pacific Northwest).
• Bashas: Locally owned, feels like a Safeway… a non-renovated Safeway
• Food City: Caters mostly to the latino population, which is fine. Prices are similar to Fry’s. Great if you’re looking to cook Mexican food… you should see their tortilla selection!
• Safeway: Is not a grocery store apparently. It kind of looked like a Rite Aid. It has a grocery section, but that’s about it.
• Albertsons / Osco: Generic grocery store. Similar to, well, Albertsons. Locally it’s somewhat of a minority and similar to Bashas.
• *name removed*: The subject of our story.

We went to this place, rather East of our apartment hoping to find a WinCo like store. I found them on the internet where they had some current deals posted… LIke Silk Vanilla Soy Milk for $.99. Ridiculously good deals. Meat seemed fairly cheap, too. So we drive out there. Apparently the place is in an old Rosarita factory. To me, that says that the place is big.

When we get there it’s quite obvious that it’s an old factory, but nevertheless we press on. As we approach the place (which is decently busy I might add) we see a guy coming out with a cart full of stuff. But he’s not coming out of a door, he’s coming out of plastic strips. The type that were seen on old factories/warehouses to keep the cold air in, but allow for easy movement of pallets. Sketchy bit #1.

Sketchy bit #2 is apparent immediately upon walking in. First big room is the refrigerated section… and it’s not very cool. Kurt tested the apparent temperature in the floor coolers by touching the “frozen” beef. He states that it didn’t feel like it was in the appropriate temperature range. I look at the frozen bag of chicken. The bag is unmarked clear plastic and is selling for $1.

Sketchy bit #3: we walked into the produce room, which smelled way funny, and noticed boxes of produce thrown onto the tables. Walla Walla onions. $.29/lb…. are Walla Walla’s even in season?

Sketchy bit #4: huge, generically marked cans of stuff lining the canned food section. Name brand cans were mostly dented and weren’t even stacked.

Overall: The whole place feeled dirty and a little bit uneasy. Seriously, you think that anything you eat from the place could give you a serious case of salmonella… or worse. In the end Kurt and I scooted out of there pretty quick after arrival with a case of the heebie jeebies.

While I miss Winco, I think our shopping trips will mostly keep us contained to Smart & Final and Fry’s from now on.