Bulk chain stores striving for individuality

Max Jacobson

Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2001 | 8:27 a.m.

Stores that sell food in bulk, such as membership stores Sam's Club and Costco and the no-membership-required Smart and Final, have sprung up in multiple locations throughout Las Vegas. Each store claims to be almost identical from one location to the next, but is that true? Here are some findings:

Sam's Club

Locations visited: 1910 E. Serene Ave., and 7175 Spring Mountain Road.

Donna Bondi of Las Vegas has been shopping at the membership food and department store Sam's Club for years, but recent changes in the Spring Mountain Road location have made her impatient.

"The bakery has been moved recently," she said, "and there is a wall where it used to be. Now you can't see the cake decorators, and some other things have been relocated as well."

The aisles have been rearranged, but that aside, this store appears to have much more variety than the Serene Avenue location. There is, for instance, an entire section called the International Cheese Festival, where the variety of cheeses sold is much greater than that of the Serene Avenue location.

There is also more in the way of fresh fish and seafood in the Spring Mountain Road store. Yellowfin tuna, fresh shark and stuffed salmon filets were in refrigerator cases in here, and not at the other store. One would think because the demographics change between neighborhoods, that demand for certain items would, as well. How this works is, though, is not so simple.

Pricing isn't supposed to vary, either, although one could find slight variations on a few items if one were looking hard enough. One-gallon containers of Naked Juice, for example, were $4.25 at the Serene Avenue store, and 10 cents cheaper on Spring Mountain Road.

An even more unusual disparity was noticed with regard to Sea-Pak frozen Marinated Grilled Shrimp, in 1 1/2-pound boxes. They were only $9.98 on Serene Avenue, and $13.78 across town.

According to store policy, this is not supposed to be the case, but since there are manager specials, differences in vendors and delivery, items that sell better in one location than the other and other factors, you will find some variances. Said the store manager: "The only way this can happen is when someone " 'price comps' " (in other words, lowers a price on a selected item to compete with a local chain that may be underselling the store) something and forgets to inform a sister store.

The bottom line is that the shopper benefits when shopping at the right store.

Costco

Locations visited: 222 S. Martin Luther King Blvd., and 1080 W. Sunset Road in Henderson.

This huge membership store differs from one location to the next, mainly because of size. The current Henderson store is approximately 15,000 square feet smaller than the South Martin Luther King Boulevard store, but the Henderson store is relocating Aug. 31 to a store that will be even bigger than the MLK store.

The new GM at the MLK store, Kevin Endicott, explained what this means.

"You see these islands?" he asked, referring to the vast deli cases dividing the floor space in the food section of his store. "We have three of them, while the Henderson store only has one. The new Henderson store will have four, though, so while we are way ahead of them in inventory at the moment, they may be catching us soon."

Endicott also said that his store is the only Costco in town with its own gas station. "At the moment, we are selling regular unleaded for $1.26, the lowest price in town." So if it is not worth the trouble to drive across town for a few extra items, at least you won't lose any money on gas if you go that route.

What you'll find is a greater variety of ethnic foods and deli items than at the Henderson store. "We also do a much larger wholesale business than the Henderson store," Endicott said, "so we sell a wider variety of vendor items like candies and soft drinks."

Just a few of the foods you'll find at the MLK store are Evergood Hot Links, 2 pounds for $5.99, Italcheese fresh mozzarella, three 8-ounce portions, $5.59, and Cabot X-tra Sharp Vermont White Cheddar Cheese, a large brick for $8.39. You won't find any of these items at the Henderson store. "Still," Endicott said, "everything is done regionally, so if you know about an item you want, ask the store manager, and he'll get it for you."

Smart & Final

4439 W. Charleston Blvd., and 10050 S. Eastern Ave. Henderson

Unlike Sam's Club and Costco, this is not a membership store, so anyone can walk in and simply buy without a card. This is also primarily a food store, although the store does sell kitchen equipment, cleaning equipment and a variety of other things. When you walk in you'll see huge displays of their "front end" items -- bulk items that are being promoted in ads at unusually low prices. These items are rotated every two weeks.

The variance at Smart & Final is minimal, but there is some, although you basically have to scour for differences. Said Mark Correlli, store manager at the West Charleston Boulevard location: "We all try to have the same stuff, but some vendors don't service all the stores. The Bonanza (Road) and Eastern (Avenue) stores, for instance, don't have the variety of produce that we have, because they don't have the call for it."

In the stores visited, though, meat prices were identical, bakery items, mostly from Dairy-Fresh, were identical, and the produce common to both stores, such as avocados, cucumbers and tomatoes, were priced identically.

"I'd hate to see someone from Henderson drive across town just to get one or two items," Correlli concluded.

That's a call only you can make.