Romr123 wrote: ↑June 17th, 2021, 6:29 am
All that really means for this type grocer is that the production facility is close...not that the stores are close. Besides, it's not cool to have your private label available somewhere close to your market area. Grocers these days are pretty "just in time" and that HEB product is as likely a deprecated/superseded label being put on current production as anything. You're seeing that now at Target, where they're clearancing their old Market Pantry cereals at 50% off in the stores rather than diverting them to outlets.
This is what I have seen with Grocery Outlet. In some cases there are just a few manufacturers who make, say, private label dry pasta, for all of the chains in the US. So in some cases Grocery Outlet may have brands from various stores if one of those pasta plants has an overrun and uses excess packaging to push the stuff to Grocery Outlet.
Or those Giant Eagle paper products we were seeing at SoCal Albertsons/Vons last year- now at Grocery Outlet- those were made by a SoCal producer and that is how they ended up where they did. A long ways from Giant Eagle...
I just happened to notice that my Grocery Outlet in PA seems to be selling what I assume are the CA-compliant reusable plastic bags at the checkout counters. Although it puzzles me as to why as standard plastic bags are still free (although a location is opening in Philly, which just enacted a plastic bag ban, later this year, so it would make sense there if these types of bags are allowed for purchase), and more durable reusable bags are available for $1 or so. (I bring my own bag anyway as the cashiers at this particular location are overzealous in offering plastic bags and I have way too many as it is).
Grocery Outlet has always provided bags and bagging service. In the early years out west, they had Food 4 Less and the like to compete against where you bagged yourself but they still provided bags.
Also I believe a number of early Grocery Outlets went into failed or relocated grocery stores and re-used many of the old fixtures (so they may have old checkstands left that would not be designed for self bagging).