3 Reasons Why I Like the New Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market at Westgate

Did you know that Westgate Mall, 1600 Saratoga Ave., has a new Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market? This store sells mostly food. It’s on the same side of the mall as Michael’s so it’s not visible from Saratoga Avenue.  

There are a few things I really like about the store and I plan to shop there much more often as a result.

But it’s just a grocery store so don’t go there if you need a pair of jeans or orange neon Nike running shoes.

Of course they have other items that other grocery stores have like magazines, floral bouquets and greeting cards.  

I have rarely shopped at any Wal-Mart prior to this because the other ones are too far from Saratoga.

Also they are usually packed, crazy busy, and just hard to figure out. The last time I went to Wal-Mart in South San Jose I could not find the right checkout stand. I was told you could only buy certain things at certain stations.

In any case, the first thing I did was check prices at the new Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market to see if it was worth my time to drive the extra three to four minutes past my other standard shopping destinations. I already have Rinconada Center’s Safeway, Paseo De Saratoga’s Lucky, Target’s grocery store section, and of course Quito Village’s Gene’s.

I was happy that Silk Soy Milk was priced, on the day I was at Wal-Mart, at $2.88. This is great because when it’s on sale at the other stores, it usually doesn’t seem to go below $2.99. Once in a great while you might see two for $5. And at the higher-end stores, it’s always $3.99.

But we still love Gene’s. It’s a wonderful place to find higher end entree-type foods that are great for dinner parties. It also has some nice perks like for-a-small-fee Saturday wine tasting that my husband has been enjoying for many years.

I then noticed that my favorite brand of Greek yogurt was 10 cents less at Wal-Mart than at Target. Target food prices are generally lower than Safeway, Lucky, and of course high-end Gene’s. The disclaimer is that this is only taking into account items that I buy.  

The challenge with Target is you might get distracted and buy non-food items that you didn’t intend to buy in the first place, like a flat screen TV. This could get very expensive!

Here are the three things I like about the new Wal-Mart at Westgate Mall:

1. Lowest food prices of any grocery store in the nearby shopping area. I live in Saratoga not far from West Valley College. The Wal-Mart prices rock and I plan to shop there as much as possible to get my staples like Silk Soy Milk. Note that I can’t stand shopping at Costco because it’s wicked crowded and it’s just too far.

Everyone tells me all the time, “Just go to Costco for so and so.” I simply don’t like parking or shopping at our local Costco.

2. The self-checkout rocks. If you go to this new Wal-Mart, do the self-checkout. It does not have any of the problems that you probably have had at the nearby stores. Typically store self-checkouts say “unrecognizable item in bagging area” or they don’t give you enough time to put your reusable bags down. This one makes it really easy and is polite and patient about the whole matter.  

Additionally, I set down a bunch of bananas and it didn’t ask me what the item was. It just added up the price. I didn’t have to punch in the code. The last thing I like about its self-checkout is that you get your own private line and conveyor belt.

3. It has a bright, clean and new look and feel. It’s sleek with its ultra-cool slate gray and black architecture and sort of neon green signage out front. See the pretty pictures I took with my new Samsung Galaxy SIII.

Unfortunately it does have one negative. It’s the North Pole of West Valley grocery stores. I used to think Rinconada Shopping Center’s Safeway was the coldest grocery store. But now I’m sure that the new Wal-Mart beats it. When I went shopping there the other day I entered the store and then turned right around and walked back to my car to get some extra clothes. I was fine shopping with the extra layer.

Have you been to the new Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market and how do you like it? If not, where do you like to shop?