New grocery store opens in city's old Martin's

View larger image All the registers at the new Sharp Shopper on Berryville Avenue in Winchester were in use Friday. The new store is in a former Martin’s grocery store. Dennis Grundman/Daily

By Josette Keelor -- jkeelor@nvdaily.com

WINCHESTER -- A Sharp Shopper Grocery Outlet that opened Wednesday on Berryville Avenue has residents buzzing with excitement.

"We've been pleased with the turnout so far," said store operations manager Leonard Clymer, who called the number of shoppers so far "a nice amount of traffic."

"Our specialty is closeouts from the grocery industry, so we've bought surplus goods from many," he said.

One of seven individually operated chain stores -- three in Virginia and four in Pennsylvania -- Sharp Shopper is part grocery store, part price club, offering a rotating base of merchandise, Clymer said Friday. The new location moved into a vacant building previously occupied by Martin's.

"We're a bit of a niche grocery store," Clymer said. "Word of mouth is really what carried us during the years."

Judging by posts on social network Facebook this week and comments of customers who showed up on Friday morning, the word is out.

"I was taken two months ago to the one up in Harrisonburg, and I like it a lot," said Jody Abrell of Baker, W.Va.. "Prices are cheaper," she said.

Normally she shops at Costco, but she expects the new Sharp Shopper will only augment her shopping habits.

Winchester resident Vail Henry posted on Facebook Thursday, "Okay. I know I shouldn't get so excited about a grocery store, but OMG, SHARP SHOPPER! I filled my whole basket, like to the top! ... Plus it was just a fun experience! This was the second day they were open, and everybody was wandering around the store going 'oh my god!' and 'that's amazing!'"

Clymer said he does not expect to put the competition out of business.

"You can't buy everything here, and so you'll still have to go elsewhere for fresh meat," he said. The store does have many of the staples though, like fresh bread, eggs and milk.

Sharp Shopper offers most items, but what you find this week might not be there next week, Clymer said.

Its unique set-up might surprise customers on their first trip to the store, but soon the novelty of Oreos and Cheez-Its stored on shelves above open freezers of ice cream and fresh chicken will wear off and instead be replaced with what Clymer describes as a "treasure hunt dimension."

Cashier Lisa Gerwig agreed, "It's like a treasure hunt every day. It's gonna be like an 'a-ha' moment."

Sharp Shopper also will get much of its business from customers comparison shopping.
Early Friday morning Gerwig rang up a shopper who purchased a cart full of items for $59, and the previous day, she said, another shopper filled two carts for $158.

"Normally I shop between Walmart and Food Lion," Gerwig said, but she intends now to spend most of her money at Sharp Shopper, which offers its employees a 10 percent discount, something Gerwig, who worked at Food Lion before applying at Sharp Shopper, said other grocery stores cannot offer because of steep overhead.

"A friend at work told me about it, so I figured I'd check it out," said Scott Hartley of Middletown, who heard other shoppers commenting on the store's offerings while he shopped on Friday morning.

Still, he noticed that the store was lacking in some items he normally would buy, and Gerwig admitted that as of Friday the location did not have peanut butter in stock.

Local products include Shenandoah Pride milk and Route 11 Potato Chips, though Clymer said he doesn't expect many local products at the store until area produce is in season.

Bulk foods like flour, sugar and rice, labeled in clear bags on shelves, are packaged in-store, Clymer said.

Unlike most grocery stores, customers will not find many shelf units at Sharp Shopper, instead navigating aisles formed from shipping boxes reminiscent of setups in price clubs.

Clymer said being able to pull items right out of the box or from freezers without doors makes items easier to stock and more accessible for customers.

Store hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays. The store is closed on Sundays, Clymer said, "Which is really unique to the grocery industry so far, but we feel we want to give our employees a day off and that's worked really well for us."

Following a two-day job fair in October, which brought in over 700 applicants, the store hired 60 employees, Clymer said.

"[The] biggest challenge is always finding staff," Clymer said. "The amount of applications was overwhelming."

"We're happy to provide jobs."