I went at 8:00am as it was the Grand Opening and they were giving out something special for the first 100 customers!
The 10 minute wait in line up wasn't too bad as it was luckily not as cold and they did serve hot apple cider which was a nice added touch. Upon entering, we were all given what seemed to be an equal amount of $10 gift cards.
There were samples of food given out. Yogurt parfait, juice, cheeses, pepperoni, breads - all items from their specialty areas. The store was set up quite nicely and was super clean and shiny. All the produce was all laid out in perfect order. Even the hot foods section looked better than most grocery stores! And the breads looked extremely fresh.
Price wise - other than the sale items. A tad pricier than some grocery stores. But they do have some more upscale products which is nice to see. Because it's located on the ground floor of a large condo, I find it rather odd that grocery stores wouldn't cater more to condo owners. For example, why have sales like "buy 2 for $X.XX" or "buy 3 for $X.XX"? Condos are small and have small amounts of storage and a small fridge. I'd rather see discounts on single items. Rather than having the bulk up. Also, being downstairs from condo units, it's so easy for people to visit more often than to bulk up on items. Just a thought...
The staff was incredibly helpful and friendly. Especially the ones handing out the food. The lady who gave me a cheese sample that was infused with red wine (yep - red wine!) was definitely the nicest! There were however a number of what seemed to be upper management/office staff standing around watching and talking. Which I must admit is a bit uncomfortable while you are shopping. There were camera people which is normal for any grand opening. They even hired a violinist near cashier #4 to play for everyone. Nice added touch. Lastly, they had a very happy girl giving away reusable tote bags.
I did use up my gift card upon leaving. The cashier was new and perhaps not that well trained. The manager, Mary (who was so nice and busy!) came over 3 times to help.
1. the coupon attached to my ricotta cheese didn't scan through.
2. The gift card wasn't working/not scanning either. Which is odd as they gave away 100 of these. The cashier at first just asked me if I wanted to keep it since it wasn't working. I guess assuming I could pay cash as opposed to using the gift card that they just gave me 20 minutes earlier. Anyways Mary was able to correct this for me.
3. lastly - when i checked my receipt after leaving, I was invoiced for a plastic bag ($0.05) but I had brought my own. Not a big deal but because it was their opening day, I thought they should know about the error and Mary did refund me and took note of it. And now that I think about it, why would they charge anyone for a plastic bag that day if they were giving out free tote bags? They maybe should have had the tote bags with the cashiers.
Also, upon leaving the hot apple cider guy was outside and still handing out free apple cider.
I give it a 3. Which is A-OK. I'm sure that people's reviews may be higher later when their systems are operating more regularly but for an opening day, not bad.
And thanks for the gift card! read more