Bingo Trip Report.
Walking around Bingo last night for the first time, I was struck by how happy people seemed to be there. It felt like a giant family reunion with people meeting their friends all over the place. Never experienced that in a supermarket. The sheer number of people there was staggering. Despite that, it didn't feel very crowded (cant say the same about the parking lot though). I think that's partially due to the design of the store. The large aisles, high ceilings, and especially the low freezer/fridges make the place feel very spacious. Even though it was 9pm on a Thursday night, there was zero waiting in line to leave. I interacted with a few employees and all were friendly and helpful. Some of the prices were mind-blowing (Snapple for $1.39?!), others felt on par with other stores. Plenty of stock of everything and there were many people restocking low stock items. I've heard people say that its hard to do a full shopping there due to limited amount of brands - I only had 1 item out of a 40+ item shopping list that I could not buy (they were out of one specific flavor of yogurt and I didnt want to wait for them to restock it). Since its new, there's a lot of meandering around by people who cant find what they're looking for, but I'd imagine that would improve over time. I didn't use the self checkout scanners so can't comment on those. The bakery section is HUGE - so far I had the excellent chocolate babka and decent cinnamon rugelach. The chulent was ok, nothing special.
They really did a phenomenal job. Not looking to disparage GG again, but based on how many people I saw and the experience I had, the immediate and long-term impact on them will be tremendous even if they do come down on pricing.
