REVIEW - Madera’s Grocery Outlet on Cleveland Avenue has been open for the last ten years, but it is not the first time the discount chain has had a store in Madera. In the 90s, they were in the space now home to the Planet Fitness Gym. These two stores couldn’t be further apart in comparison. Grocery Outlet, which first opened in 1947 in the Bay area as “Cannery Sales,” used to be a place to buy government surplus, out-of-date food products, dented can or damaged box products, or just products that could no longer be sold in a traditional grocery store.
Today, there is less out-of-date and damaged food, more discounts, and overstocked and closeout products from name brand and private label suppliers, with brands you may have never heard of before. The current grocery outlet probably has Madera’s largest selection of wine at a major discount over local liquor stores. The same large selection can be found in the deli area with a vast selection of cheeses and lunch meats. You won’t find a better price in town on milk, pasta, beans, rice, or bread.
That is what Grocery Outlet gets right on every visit. It may be a hit or a miss for the rest of your shopping. Some days, it will be better than others, and sometimes, products will be priced the same or even higher than at traditional stores. Some days, you will find a bottle of brand-name mustard for 99 cents; others, you won’t find a single bottle of mustard in the store.
Grocery Outlet does a good job of being the halfway point between traditional supermarkets on the higher end and the “Dollar Tree” or “discount” stores on the lower end. For example, Grocery Outlet sometimes has the same brand names as the dollar stores but is priced a little higher.
Grocery Outlet has a better selection of produce than the “discount” stores, which no longer limit their pricing to 99¢. Still, you might find higher quality items at a more traditional grocery store for nearly the same price. However, there are some savings in produce. Last week, I was looking for whole pineapples. I found them at Save Mart for $5.99 each when Grocery Outlet had the same size for only $1.99.
The same goes for their meat selections. Most of Grocery Outlet’s meats are vacuum-packed cuts packaged in water. They claim to have fresh-cut meats but don’t. Most meats are more expensive than traditional grocery stores' fresh-cut meats. Their ground beef comes in 1, 3, and 5-pound tubes. The five-pound tube sold before the pandemic for $9.99, but now that is the price of a three-pound tube. Save Mart offers a sale price on fresh ground non-tube beef for a dollar more per pound. My question is, when and where were the tubes and packages produced?
When the Madera Grocery Outlet first opened, I bought what I thought was a rib-eye roast. When I got it home and pulled it out of its watery, shrink-wrapped package, it turned out to be a very thinly sliced rib-eye rolled into what looked like a roast, tied together with string that was not visible through the plastic.
Now, I am not saying anything is wrong with the meats at Grocery Outlet; I am just saying that there is not much of a price savings over the meats you could buy locally at Save Mart, Smart n Final, or Food 4 Less. I regularly buy a few conveniently packaged meat products at Grocery Outlet. They offer a two-pack of 6-ounce New York steaks for $8.99, but they were only $5.99 before the pandemic. Another favorite in my house was the bacon-wrapped beef medallions, which sell for $7.99 but have been out of stock for the last year.
One tip for Grocery Outlet meat buyers is to shop early in the morning. This is when some of the meats on the shelf too long are discounted with little red markdowns from $1 to $6 off the packages. We found some fantastic deals on leg of lamb, venison, and other exotic meats that didn’t sell well. These markdowns have also been on their expensive tri-tips and all traditional cuts of beef steaks. Over Christmas break, we found packages of carne asada for less than $4 a pound. If you find these deals, stock up your freezer because there is nothing wrong with these meats.
You also need to do your homework on other items such as canned or frozen food, sodas, cereals and breakfast foods. For the most part, you’ll find significant savings on these selections at Grocery Outlet, but I have seen a couple of items that made me scratch my head. They had a box of Captain Crunch for $3.99 and a sign that said this item was priced elsewhere at $6.99. I am sorry, but I have never seen a box of Captain Crunch anywhere for $6.99. About two weeks later, that box was marked down to $1.99.
They do have a large selection of frozen pizzas. They have several name brands that you might find in any other store for one or two dollars less, but they also have many more out-of-the-area brands that you might want to try, and if you like them, stock your freezer up, considering how inexpensive they are. That is probably the best thing to do when shopping at Grocery Outlet; if you find great deals on canned or frozen foods, stock up on them because the chances are that item will not be there the next time you are shopping. Over half of my freezer was filled with Grocery Outlet items at one point last year. You know cheeses and lunch meats can freeze too. So, if you find a pound of sliced deli turkey for $2.99, fill your freezer.
Grocery Outlet always has a decent selection of non-food items. They have everything from bathroom and kitchen items to blankets and tents. Last year, many of the items in my kids' Christmas stockings came from Grocery Outlet. My oldest daughter can’t get enough journals for her writing, and of course, Grocery Outlet has the best prices. My youngest daughter found a pair of pajamas she had to have for Christmas Eve. They were about four dollars cheaper than the same style at Walmart.
This Grocery Outlet in Madera is much smaller than many stores where I’ve shopped. Most Grocery Outlets take over larger closed grocery stores. This one in Madera opened in a new location abandoned by a failed grocery store chain based in England, Fresh & Easy. The rent at this location is probably much higher than that of many other locations, which could explain why this store might have changed ownership in its first four years.
You will save money using Grocery Outlet to supplement your monthly shopping needs. A gallon of milk is $1.50 to $2.00 cheaper than anywhere else in town. Buying most of your other staples at the Grocery Outlet will save you significant money. But for different items, do your research; you can’t always trust the ‘comparable’ price banners displayed.
When you check out, the cashier will always cheerfully tell you how much you saved on your visit (using those ‘comparable’ prices, of course). If you sign your receipt with your phone number and then deposit it in the box near the entrance, the store owners have a monthly drawing. If your receipt is selected, you could win a gift card for the amount you saved. This is a nice touch to top off a fairly positive and usually ‘sticker-shock-free’ shopping experience.
One of the best aspects of Madera’s Grocery Outlets is how you will run into the owners on the floor, stocking shelves, or running a register. Sean and Tiffiny Tharp are not absentee owners and work with their staff every day to bring you great deals. Sean has also taken a leadership role in our community, serving on the Madera County Food Bank board. Because of his hard work with the rest of the Food Bank board, staff, and volunteers, this nonprofit is preparing to open a new facility to serve more of Madera’s marginalized community. It’s been a long time since Madera had a real local grocer, and the Tharps are just that.
If you have not shopped at Grocery Outlet, try it and let BVN know your impressions. If you’re already a Grocery Outlet fan, please share your specific tips with our readers in the community message board.
On a side note: If you’re interested in even more savings, there is a store in Fresno behind the Fresno District Fairground on Maple and Butler Avenues called Chili’s Canned Food Warehouse. This store resembles the original Grocery Outlets of the 1960s and 70s. Boxes of Rice-A-Roni & Pasta Roni for 25¢, Stovetop Stuffing for 49¢. We shop there every two months and leave with a trunk load of food for less than $50. They aren’t open on Sundays and close early on Saturdays. Not a lot of people seem to know about this place. It’s a west-side Fresno secret that might be worth checking out if you’re interested.
