I drove by last yesterday around 7:30-7:45pm. The parking lot was packed, and cars were lined up on St Clair back to 39th. Fortunately, it wasn't affecting through traffic on 39th.

Yeah, it was the mess we expected and then some.

I drove by last yesterday around 7:30-7:45pm. The parking lot was packed, and cars were lined up on St Clair back to 39th. Fortunately, it wasn't affecting through traffic on 39th.

Same here. Was by there about 8:30 and it was far too crazy to even attempt.

I'll go very early one morning soon.

Does anyone have a scan of or link to the store flyer listing the opening specials?

@stile99

Thank you!

I went this morning around 7AM and there was hardly anyone there except an absolute army of employees stocking, cleaning, baking and generally getting ready for a new day.

I had forgotten how huge and overwhelming this place can be. Will take some time to break it down instead of wandering aimlessly through the scores of aisles. Fortunately, they have very high ceilings and the ability to see all the departments and signs up above.

Unfortunately, everyone else is completely lost and overcome with scale and assortment and I'd hate to be there on a busy day with hundreds of people blocking the aisles with their carts, brows knitted in utter confusion.

It was decently not packed at 11pm last night as well.

Stopped in around noon today. Really, really like it and I am excited to have it right down the street from me. It was slammed, which made for a slightly frustrating experience getting around, but I'm sure that will clear up with time. The bulk section is really impressive -- not just the usual stuff (beans, etc) but pasta, pancake mixes, seeds, spices, coffee, etc. The produce section looked sufficient but it was so crowded I didn't spend much time there. If I'm remembering correctly, their prices on certain things were definitely cheaper than the Buy-4-Less right up the road. I got 1 lb of strawberries for $0.99 (in the flyer), a red bell pepper for $0.58 (cheaper than anywhere else I can think of -- Walmart is like $1.68!), a big block of pepperjack cheese for $4.00, 0.6 lb of granola for $1.78, a family size box of Cheerios for $3.64, etc. Also, the employees seemed really happy even despite the crowds getting in their way of restocking. I went looking for more select items (red curry paste, cotija cheese, etc) to make sure they had them and I found everything I was looking for. Every lane on checkout was open and went very quickly, though I forgot until the last minute that I had to bag everything myself, which is fine. Parking lot is a tad confusing to get in/out of. I thought the "no frills" approach would bother me a bit -- I found it very offputting at Aldi the one time I went for some reason -- but I barely noticed that I was taking items out of their shipping boxes at all, and once I got past the first aisle of seemingly random items everything became organized by aisles with signs, etc. I definitely plan on making this my main store, and unfortunately I predict big problems for the NW Expwy Buy-4-Less in the coming months.

Oats, cereals, baking mixes, etc.:

14588

Every type of pasta imaginable:

14589

Croutons, salad dressings, hummus, cheese mixes, rices, beans...:

14590

Coffee:

14591

It's really an amazing place and as I said before, it can be quite overwhelming.

But, they have very good prices, excellent customer service and have not only bulk and great pricing but also all the things a traditional grocery store would carry, and in the same range of sizes.

This matters because you can use it as your one and only grocery store, as opposed to some place like Costco or Sam's Club which carry a limited amount of items and almost always in sizes meant for a small army. Or even Trader Joe's, Whole Foods and Sprouts... Good for some things but I still need name-brand soda and other things they just don't stock.

I know when I cook, I often need things I can only find at a traditional grocer. So, that means buying a bunch of stuff at Sam's then making a separate trip to the dreaded Walmart Neighborhood Market to find many of the small things or a particular type of produce.

Now, Winco can just be my grocery store. I'll still shop at Sam's for the big items like pet food and some staples, but Winco fills a big hole.

And with the new Aldi being only a mile away, I'm sure I will stop in occasionally for some of their more unique items, just as I do at Trader Joe's.

Gave it a try mid-afternoon today. Lots of people, but not so many as to be unbearable. As best as I could tell it had all my usual range of products I get from Walmart, so it does look like it could be a replacement grocery store for me.

Went yesterday at about 430p.. was busy but could navigate around ok. Couldn't give it a REAL good look as some areas were congested. I like it the layout is of course different as mentioned but good pricing and can definitely see me adding it to my list. I primarily shop at ALDI and SAMS but I may need less SAMS with this available actually.

We really love when Winco opens a new store because of the grand opening sale they do everywhere. Hit the one up in Moore today. Probably one of the better new stores in the OKC area. I remember when it was first announced and Pete talked so highly on it. He was spot on, it’s been great for our market IMO.

It was July of 2013 that I first reported Winco would be coming to OKC.

Almost 5 years later, I finally shopped in one in my home town!

We really love when Winco opens a new store because of the grand opening sale they do everywhere. Hit the one up in Moore today. Probably one of the better new stores in the OKC area. I remember when it was first announced and Pete talked so highly on it. He was spot on, it’s been great for our market IMO.

Wait...they have the same specials listed in the flyer at the Moore and MWC locations as well?

There is some long term storage type foods and materials back in the corner, including Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers and buckets.

Wait...they have the same specials listed in the flyer at the Moore and MWC locations as well?

I mean I got a flyer for the Moore store and it says grand opening sale for the new one opening. I figure it’s at all the locations.

Sunday 11:30 am was not a good time to go. I only went to walk around. No parking had to park way in the corner. People waiting on shopping carts. Checkout lines 3-4 deep. Walked most of it. It is a huge store. Was at Crest in Moore off 104th on Saturday. I know my prices and Winco is just like any other place. Some things are cheaper some things are not. Their maxwell house coffee was way more than I can get it at Dollar General. Some of the stuff I bought at crest was the same price at winco. A few things were cheaper. A few things a little more. It might become my regular store once the crowds go down as I usually go to Crest on 23rd. However I could see winco being almost too big. I did notice they didn't carry certain brands either. No whataburger ketchup. No Boston Market TV dinners. I'm also not sure how I feel about bagging my own grocery also. If you have a shopping cart full that could be a pain. At crest I just put all my frozen on the belt and refrigerated stuff on the belt so it gets bagged together. After that I don't care how it gets bagged.

Made a trip to Winco on 39th and Portland today. I'll echo what others have said that it was busy, but that is to be expected for opening weekend. The store was packed, but manageable to navigate. The layout and feel of the store is a mix between a Costco and Crest. The "wall of savings" at the entrance had some really good deals compared to other OKC grocers.

Where Winco won for us today was the bulk food section. The prices and selection were great. If you love to make certain foods form scratch, this section is for you. The giant drums of ingredients and multiple aisles of options.

Unlike Uptown Grocery, Winco's concept caters to a different type of shopper looking for large quantities and low prices. They really go head to head with Crest on a lot of their price concepts. We didn't get a chance to really inspect the bakery and deli, but it appears they have quite the meat selection. Like Crest and their in-house brand, the "Winco" brand items are really priced lower than the name brands.

Living in NW OKC, we typically go to Crest. With this being right off of Hefner Parkway/I-44, it takes about the same amount of time to get to Winco at this location, just double the distance. With Winco now having three stores open in OKC, I think Crest will have to "up their game." I'm assuming this will also take a big chunk of the Buy For Less customer base at 63rd and Expressway.

This is great news for those that live in the Integris/Penn Square area with Aldi and Winco being added to this area.

Went to check out today. It is definitely a threat to Buy 4Less. Not really for Crest. crest stores are much nicer. Wilco meat selection was not good, and their beef did not look to be of high quality ...good for quantity though.

Was at the Winco on Saturday and went to the Crest Store on 23rd and Meridian on Sunday. For at least Winco's opening, Crest matched their prices on the specials. Crest has Ribs at 98 Cents Limit one - Shasta Soda at $1.98, Ranch Beans at 48 cents etc. I like Winco, having been venturing to the Moore and Midwest City Locations for the last six months or so -- but for at least this weekend it looked like Crest has the better prices, plus it was a lot easier to get into and out of.

With Winco now having three stores open in OKC, I think Crest will have to "up their game."

Could you expand on this? In what way has Crest been lagging? You probably meant Homeland, in which case I think it's way past that and we're just waiting for them to go out of business, but it's possible they might turn around. Crest is probably welcoming the competition, whereas Homeland is crapping bricks that the metro area has yet another viable competitor (the other one being Crest). According to rumor, Crest is "upping their game" by finally looking at the Mustang/Yukon area and seeing the huge, gaping hole that needs to be filled.

Could you expand on this? In what way has Crest been lagging? You probably meant Homeland, in which case I think it's way past that and we're just waiting for them to go out of business, but it's possible they might turn around. Crest is probably welcoming the competition, whereas Homeland is crapping bricks that the metro area has yet another viable competitor (the other one being Crest). According to rumor, Crest is "upping their game" by finally looking at the Mustang/Yukon area and seeing the huge, gaping hole that needs to be filled.

I think I've stated this before, but the Homeland at Britton and May, which used to be, I'd assume, one of their better stores, is just depressing lately. Uptown is a much better experience, in my opinion. I can't imagine them actually closing, but who knows?

Looking forward to visiting Winco, and really looking forward to their store at Penn and Memorial area in a few years, I'd guess.

This is certainly an observation -anecdotal and not data based - but Homeland on Britton and May seems to always have a decent amount of people in it when I go (which isn't alot). I like their meat counter as one of the people there is most helpful in selection and they often have very good special pricing on a good quality of meat. Their dairy seems priced okay, but basic staples seem very high. I don't know what their traffic count vs. uptown is but Uptown seems to have slowed up a bit there. I think Winco will ultimately hurt these two and the B4Less at NW Expy a lot. If both of them at Britton and May go out in the next couple of years, look for Crest to backfill. They are good operators and that would still be a great corner to be on.

Could you expand on this? In what way has Crest been lagging? You probably meant Homeland, in which case I think it's way past that and we're just waiting for them to go out of business, but it's possible they might turn around.

I don't know if Crest "welcomes" the competition, but yes, Winco and Crest are very similar with who they want to attract for a customer. Winco brands themselves as the Low Cost Leader and Crest is Rock Bottom Prices. As for Homeland, other than a handful of stores, has already given up.

As for Crest, with Winco across the metro, and planning to expand, they will need to remain competitive with pricing and store atmosphere. Depending on what Crest you shop at, they vary in size and offerings. The newer Fresh Market stores hold their ground. The large Crest at 15th and Santa Fe is well protected with no real competition within a radius of 2 miles. Some of the smaller Crest stores that are located near the newer and larger Winco stores may see a drop.

Crest expanding their footprint west is great.

At the end of the day, its us, the customer who benefits from the options and competition.

I don't know if Crest "welcomes" the competition, but yes, Winco and Crest are very similar with who they want to attract for a customer. Winco brands themselves as the Low Cost Leader and Crest is Rock Bottom Prices. As for Homeland, other than a handful of stores, has already given up.

As for Crest, with Winco across the metro, and planning to expand, they will need to remain competitive with pricing and store atmosphere. Depending on what Crest you shop at, they vary in size and offerings. The newer Fresh Market stores hold their ground. The large Crest at 15th and Santa Fe is well protected with no real competition within a radius of 2 miles. Some of the smaller Crest stores that are located near the newer and larger Winco stores may see a drop.

Crest expanding their footprint west is great.

At the end of the day, its us, the customer who benefits from the options and competition.

I prefer Crest over WinCo, but I am desperately hoping that the new WinCo forces Crest to update their store at 23rd & Meridian. I get that they are somewhat limited by the lack of size at that location, but it has to be the worst one out of their eight stores. Even the Moore store and the smaller Midwest City store are better.

Crest stores are a lot more visually appealing if the new Windows is typical.

so amazing the amount of supermarkets and grocery options in the Oklahoma City metro area now. ... Just think a few years ago and it was just Homeland, B4L, and Sams/Walmart, (and SuperTarget to a lesser degree). Now, you have those + Uptown, Winco, Costco (coming), Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Aldi, others. ...

This is certainly an observation -anecdotal and not data based - but Homeland on Britton and May seems to always have a decent amount of people in it when I go (which isn't alot). I like their meat counter as one of the people there is most helpful in selection and they often have very good special pricing on a good quality of meat. Their dairy seems priced okay, but basic staples seem very high. I don't know what their traffic count vs. uptown is but Uptown seems to have slowed up a bit there. I think Winco will ultimately hurt these two and the B4Less at NW Expy a lot. If both of them at Britton and May go out in the next couple of years, look for Crest to backfill. They are good operators and that would still be a great corner to be on.

I really think Uptown and Homeland will be okay at that location. It seems like Winco would do more to hurt the Aldi/Target/WalMart/Sam's stuff that's in the immediate vicinity of the future store at Penn/Memorial. I don't plan on driving down to Winco right now, and when the north (Penn) location opens, I'll likely go there as my first option over the others I've listed in that area. I'm also saying this as a person who has never been inside a Winco (yet), so I don't know if the actual shopping experience will appeal to me. We have a lot of grocery options between Britton/Memorial and Penn/May.

My least favorite, of all the grocery options in or near The Village, is the WalMart Neighborhood Market at Penn and Britton, so Homeland still has that one beat.

Aldi is such a different kind of store, I doubt they will be affected at all by Wilco or Costco. But, between Wilco, Walmart, Sams, Costco and Crest all close together on or near Memorial it will be a stampede of elephants.

so amazing the amount of supermarkets and grocery options in the Oklahoma City metro area now. ... Just think a few years ago and it was just Homeland, B4L, and Sams/Walmart, (and SuperTarget to a lesser degree). Now, you have those + Uptown, Winco, Costco (coming), Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Aldi, others. ...

Most don’t realize it because there was less than a handful of them, and their footprint is quite small compared to others at the time. But Aldi has been a part of the metro for at least 15 years. I think all the facelifts, the recession, and their expansion has finally made the masses aware of their presence.

Really frustrating experience with self checkout this morning.

Not too crazy busy but there were 3-4 people in each line (only 4 were open) so I tried the self checkout.

I got hung up several times by the machine saying 'unexpected item in baggage area; staff has been alerted for help'. The one guy standing there was completely overwhelmed and I noticed 4 of the 6 checkout stations all were flashing red, meaning they were all stuck.

I could not get help and finally kept taking things of the bagging area, putting them back in... Until it finally allowed me to move forward. It took forever and was very frustrating.

It's still tough to shop in there because you have 98% of the people wandering around completely stunned with most of them leaving their carts right in the middle of the aisle.

On the positive side, I quickly found employees to help me find a few items and they were very helpful.

One variable in this is the new liquor laws. It should make the grocery business here much more profitable than it previously was. Hopefully grocers like Crest, Homeland, and B4L are thinking of how to implement wine/beer in a way that's more than just an afterthought.

Really frustrating experience with self checkout this morning.

Not too crazy busy but there were 3-4 people in each line (only 4 were open) so I tried the self checkout.

I got hung up several times by the machine saying 'unexpected item in baggage area; staff has been alerted for help'. The one guy standing there was completely overwhelmed and I noticed 4 of the 6 checkout stations all were flashing red, meaning they were all stuck.

I could not get help and finally kept taking things of the bagging area, putting them back in... Until it finally allowed me to move forward. It took forever and was very frustrating.

It's still tough to shop in there because you have 98% of the people wandering around completely stunned with most of them leaving their carts right in the middle of the aisle.

On the positive side, I quickly found employees to help me find a few items and they were very helpful.

I mean people have no sense of awareness in grocery stores. Walmart, Homeland, Crest, etc people just leave their carts blocking half a aisle or they crown one area for 10 minutes deciding between rice.

This is why I go to the grocery store during the week. On the weekends it is just full on this.

I very strongly prefer not to have a cart for this very reason, it puts you at the mercy of the huge majority of people who pay no attention and completely block passage if you also have a cart.

With a hand cart you can just dodge but at a place like Winco, you usually don't bother unless you are getting quite a few things and therefore you almost always are going to be using a cart.

Funny (at least to me) story, I went the other day (madhouse, complete madhouse) and there was a woman doing the cart in the middle of the aisle thing, just standing and staring at the shelves. The aisles are plenty roomy, so to get around her I went behind her (so as not to block her view of the shelf). Her response was to not move so much as one millimeter and say "excuse me" to me in such a way that the intended meaning was clear, that being that I was the a-hole here. I didn't bother responding, but did internally laugh when immediately after this one of the employees pulling a pallet-jack (I think that's what they are called, not sure...bigger than a hand truck, smaller than a fork lift) returned her "excuse me" with one of his own, said in such a way that the meaning was clear, that being "we're trying to work here, feel free to browse but get out of the way". At this point she no longer found it wise to park in the middle of the aisle.

There's a lack of self-awareness, and then there's crass stupidity. I feel this flirted with the latter.

I got hung up several times by the machine saying 'unexpected item in baggage area; staff has been alerted for help'. The one guy standing there was completely overwhelmed and I noticed 4 of the 6 checkout stations all were flashing red, meaning they were all stuck.


Ever since Target got rid of the scale function in the bagging area, I actually really enjoy the self checkout process there. I usually don't have that much in my basket, the self-checkout is usually not very busy and moves fast, and it's a breeze to slide all my items through the scanner, organize them in the bags I brought, remove one of my bags and put them in my cart while I'm still checking out other things, put the cat litter box back in the cart, and not a peep about "unexpected item" or "bag item before you can scan anything else" or any other error message from those machines. If stores only had self-checkout as an option, I wouldn't go to any other store other than Target.

Really, the only issue I have there is that sometimes the scanner will catch the label on a piece of fruit before I can type in the number and then it gives an error message.

I had the same problem with the self checkout.

The crowds were decent enough that I braved a visit yesterday evening. It was still crowded but there was parking available. My opinion? It's a nice store for the area. It will be really convenient for my wife to swing by after work and pick up stuff on the way home.

From a pricing standpoint, I saw what someone else mentioned. Some things were cheaper, and some things were more expensive than Crest. This wasn't surprising though. It took us a while when switching from Wal-Mart to Crest to figure out the right brands and such that saved us money on our total trip, and it would be the same if we were trying to make a switch here.

I was really impressed with their bulk food section. I was also surprised by some of the items they carried such as grills. They were missing out on a few brands/items I get from Crest such as Old El Paso Taco Sauce though. Their packaged seasonings was also unimpressive in selection, although the availability of bulk seasonings is a decent trade off. I was also pleased to find Ore Ida frozen fries in stock. They've been out of stock at Crest for months due to a shortage.

Since I live right by the Crest in Edmond, this won't be a place I'll visit on any regular basis, but if I had a Winco as close to me, I could see it potentially replacing Crest. Nothing that makes me go wow, but a good, solid grocery store with decent pricing.

Since I live east of I-35 in Edmond, Winco is a hike for me. I usually shop at Sprouts with a few items from Aldi's. I avoid packaged foods and generally eat, fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains and add some meat to the mix. The few prepackaged items I buy are free of presuratives and HFC, msg, etc. I avoid regular grocery stores for this reason. It takes way too long to check the ingrediate list. I don't have to do that with items from Sprouts. (or Whole Foods) I'm wondering on how Winco compares with those items.

New flyer... also comes with a $10 off $50 coupon:

14604

Shopped here (39th/Portland) for the first time yesterday.

Used two separate C.C.s an AMEX Blue and a Chase Freedom...The AMEX was used at a self check-out and the Visa with an attendant.

Made the two purchase because I wanted to see how these cards coded Winco for Rewards points, and then when I got home and did some digging I learned they "don't take credit cards"...This concerns me because I really liked the store, but I would hate to go one time, load up $100.00 worth of groceries and steals only to be told at the counter that credit cards are not accepted.

I searched to see if they had a change in policy, but I could not find anything. I'm wondering if it's something this store is doing for a limited time while they open or if this can be different for every store.

Anyone know why this store would be an outlier to the no credit card policy?

Shopped here (39th/Portland) for the first time yesterday.

Used two separate C.C.s an AMEX Blue and a Chase Freedom...The AMEX was used at a self check-out and the Visa with an attendant.

Made the two purchase because I wanted to see how these cards coded Winco for Rewards points, and then when I got home and did some digging I learned they "don't take credit cards"...This concerns me because I really liked the store, but I would hate to go one time, load up $100.00 worth of groceries and steals only to be told at the counter that credit cards are not accepted.

I searched to see if they had a change in policy, but I could not find anything. I'm wondering if it's something this store is doing for a limited time while they open or if this can be different for every store.

Anyone know why this store would be an outlier to the no credit card policy?


. . . from the NW 39th store web site. . .looks like they accept most major credit cards. . .so an individual
store policy??
·
American Express
·
Cash
·
Check
·
Debit
·
Discover
·
EBT
·
MasterCard
·
Visa

Yeah, that is something that confuses me about WinCo. It was stated early on (I think in this thread) that they do not take credit cards, just debit, but then our locations actually opened and credit cards worked just fine.

How long before the Memorial Rd store opens? Has construction started on it?

How long before the Memorial Rd store opens? Has construction started on it?

They've been doing a ton of site work, as that area has a massive drainage issues.

This is a photo from 5/18, with Walmart in the foreground and the new Aloft in the background.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/winco51818.jpg

Here is the site plan for the N. Penn location.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/winco070118.jpg

New Aloft in the background:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/winco090318.jpg

Oh is that on the road that eventually leads to chisholm creek?

^

Yes

They are really going to need to find a way to put some dedicated left turn lanes on Penn at that light.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/winco100618.jpg

Does anyone know their expansion plans for Oklahoma metro area? Do they have plans to build in South OKC?

Does anyone know their expansion plans for Oklahoma metro area? Do they have plans to build in South OKC?

I don't think they've ever had plans to build more than the 3 finished locations plus this last one.

Thanks for the reply. It is just so frustrating that companies coming into OKC so often bypass south okc. I am beginning to think the entire area is red-lined as far as the chamber is concerned.

Thanks for the reply. It is just so frustrating that companies coming into OKC so often bypass south okc. I am beginning to think the entire area is red-lined as far as the chamber is concerned.

And specifically, inner-city Southside. I mean, the south side of OKC has seen some love from places like Crest, Sprouts, and Natural Grocers, but north of SW 89th St, Walmart pretty much runs the place. I would kill to have a good full-service grocery store close by instead of having to either drive out of my way or fall back to Walmart - and it's not like there isn't land available either; the huge former Riviera Drive-In theater property at SE 59th and Santa Fe has been completely empty for a few years now, to name just one spot.

Doesn't look like this site is moving very quickly.

An Uptown on the South Side would do quite well I am sure...

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/winco122218.jpg