Our neighborhood King Soopers had a grand reopening today. They sent out a 10% off coupon to either everyone with a King Soopers card who shopped at the store, or most likely to the residents within a certain mile vicinity of the store. We got that coupon in the mail last Thursday, and I called Kevin and work all excited and told him our weekly grocery shopping trip would wait until today. So, Kevin worked a half day today because he covered the election last night at work, and when he came home we ran a few errands with the last one being to the grocery store. As we drove up, we knew that we were not the only ones with this wonderful idea. The parking lot was so full it quickly reminded me of the mall parking lot around Christmas time. Cars were going up and down aisles, circling around trying to find a spot. We found our spot and joined the other hundreds of shoppers eager to explore the new store, sample the food and drinks that the staff was providing and to get a deal on their groceries, just like us.
It really was a mob scene at the free sample stands. I couldn't help but notice these two girls, who I assumed were sisters jumping from one sample stand to the next one. I also noticed or rather bumped into who I think was their grandmother at the sushi sample stand. There was two pieces of sushi left to sample and there was her and I, so you'd rationally think that there was one for me and one for her. Nope. She looked at me and then at the samples which the two girls had just almost cleared out and said I suppose you want one too. I said yes, but if she was wanting both, it was fine. She grabbed her one very quickly and told me to have the other, which I did and gave it to Brooklyn to try as she didn't miss a beat with interest in having the free samples. As we wandered further into the store, I noticed the two girls were moving very fastly from stand to stand several times devouring all the free samples. So, my thought was the grandmother figure that brought them there clearly was using this grocery shopping experience as the girls after school snack. I just felt sorry for the other people that the girls were running over in their pursuit of a free snack.
Then just a few minutes later, over the intercom, we hear that everyone needs to check their grocery carts to make sure that the cart they're pushing has their groceries in it and not someone else's. I just kind of chuckled to myself and looked at Kevin. He said that there was a man who lost his cart, and was looking for it. After the announcement, Kevin said he saw the man going up and down aisles and when he came down the one we were in, he looked in our cart to make sure the food in there was not his. Okay, first off, how sad and lazy that someone took another person's cart, but then you start to wonder why doesn't the guy just start his shopping over. I realize that yes it would be frustrating and probably a pain in the butt to have to start your shopping again, but I guess as long as you didn't pay for anything, have a kid or your wallet in the cart, it can be done and it will all be okay. The guy did end up having to grab a new cart and start all over, but he didn't look too happy about it. I guess the lesson here is hold on to your cart, you never know who you're grocery shopping with.
When we finally made our way to the checkout lanes, I got to say hi to the very friendly cashier that I always try to go to when I go to the grocery store. She was on the 15 items and under lane, so that didn't work but I did get to say hi and show Tierney to her. We talked a lot when I was pregnant and she asked about my baby before I even had a chance to show Tierney to her. As the checkout lady was scanning our groceries with Brooklyn's help of handing groceries to her, she asked if I had my King Soopers card. I said I did but wanted to wait until the end to put the number in. After the final item was entered, I put in the phone number for the Soopers card, and watched as the amount that was due dropped further and further down. And, then I handed my coupons to her (the 10% off coupon amongst them), and watched the amount drop even more. Kevin got to see it too, and let me tell you that yes, I may be a dork, but watching the amount drop so fast and at the end of the order before you have to pay just makes my day. And, how much did we save you might be asking? Well, we saved 38% of our entire order which came out to $64. That made my day, and it made this grocery shopping experience so memorable that I had to share it here!!
