WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – Virginia Crandall lives closer to chain grocery stores, but choses to stock up on spices at Meridian Grocery in Newton, Kansas.
“It’s cheaper here, and I feel like it’s fresher, and I feel like they have a better variety,” Crandall said.
The small, local store is where she stocks up monthly.
“They do fresh apples and peaches and they buy it in bulk so you buy a case at a time at a lower cost,” Crandall said.
So we wanted to know. How is Meridian Grocery offering low-cost options for Newton?
“These groceries have already been to a distribution center, they’ve been out to the retail, to the Walmart or the Dillon’s, whatever, and they come back as a shelf pull, and they get regrouped and sent to us that way in a box,” said Kenton Dirks, owner of Meridian Grocery.
Boxes of groceries come to the store unsorted. They then sort it in-house, and are able to put products on the shelves for a cheaper costs than you would find at the bigger stores.
“Some of our product is what we would call bent and dent,” Dirks said, “Like, it’s got a little bit of damage on it.”
Meridian is an opportunity buyer, but is not immune to price fluctuations, as their freight prices have gone up.
“Our prices are fluid,” Dirks said, “A big contributing factor to our price increases are the truck fuel”.
Still, Dirks takes pride in knowing he is offering products some might not be able to afford elsewhere.
“I take great satisfaction out of selling product to our customers that are here out of necessity,” Dirks said.
All the while, shoppers like Crandall appreciate the deals.
“Their shelf-life is still good, I probably got more expired stuff at home,” Crandall said.
Another draw to Meridian Grocery is their unique variety of products, from local suppliers all the way to the east coast. Dirks says some customers enjoy the surprises that the store offers.
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Dining and Cooking