New discount store in Amherst passes savings on to customers reeling from slacking economy

By Bryan Gentry

Published: May 4, 2008

With grocery and gas prices on the rise, an Amherst family has opened a store in Madison Heights to help shoppers save bucks in the checkout line.

Anderson’s Country Market is a discount grocery store and deli on Amherst Highway just south of Va. 130.

John and Evangeline Anderson opened it in April, mainly to sell groceries at 20 to 50 percent off the usual price.

Greer Wholesale, a store that closed in Campbell County last year, has opened a section in the Anderson’s store to sell discount TVs, appliances and furniture.

The product selection also includes spices, organic foods and bulk food.

“We want to help the community save money as far as we can,” John Anderson said. “We want to restore service and quality to the grocery industry.”

The discounts can be steep.

A box of Cheerios selling for $2.50 at the Wal-Mart in Madison Heights sold for $1.25 at Anderson’s Country Market. Likewise for jars of Prego Marinara sauce, which at $1.15, are nearly $1 less than Wal-Mart’s price. A 7-ounce box of Kraft macaroni and cheese cost 45 cents. Most canned goods sell for anywhere from 35 to 60 cents, to $1.50 for some Progresso soups.

The prices are lower because Anderson’s Country Market sells products that large retailers get rid of.

John Anderson said Kroger, Food Lion or Wal-Mart might not sell an entire palette of canned goods if one can gets dented.

“They sell them to us for pennies on the dollar, and we pass the savings on,” he said.

Sometimes a box of cereal might pop open. “General Mills is famous for not putting enough glue to hold the top of the box shut,” said Dewey Greer, manager of Greer Wholesale, holding up a box of Cheerios with an open lid.

“The FDA requires that I make sure the bag is still factory sealed. It is, so I put a piece of tape on the top — clear tape — and sell it.”

On Thursday, Greer ripped black plastic off a pile of items he recently bought from Costco. Inside, he found a 12-pack of Bounty paper towel rolls. The plastic holding the rolls together had been torn.

He pulled out individual rolls, writing “$1.15” on each with a marker. Then he divided up a bulk package of toilet paper, pricing the individual rolls at 50 cents. Finding one individual roll that had been torn open, he set it aside.

Greer said he gets other products in similar ways. Some stores discard televisions because the box has been broken, or refrigerators because a manual is missing.

In the back corner of the store, a 42-inch flat screen TV is selling for $550 cash, $600 with credit card.

Greer said stereotypes used to keep some people from shopping at discount stores. But since gas and grocery prices have been rising, that’s changing.

“You don’t have to be poor to shop here,” Greer said.

“Madison Heights was the perfect location for this because the people aren’t poor, but they’re middle class, working for money,” Greer said.

Not long after Greer and the Andersons opened the grocery section on April 15, customers began to respond to the lower prices.

“It’s been good. It’s been astounding,” John Anderson said.

Kay Taylor and Martha Blondino, from the Monroe area, said they have carpooled several times to save on gas and get cheap groceries.

“It’s a no-brainer,” Taylor said. “You come in and stock up on good products at great prices.

“That’s what brings me in.”

She said she especially enjoys the spice selection.

The Andersons divide bulk foods into smaller packages, which is convenient for small families, Taylor said.

Blondino said it seems the store is getting a lot of business. “We hope that there will be more coming, so we can keep it open.”

The other businesses in the shopping center say the Andersons’ store is reviving business in the complex.

“For the first time in a long time, it’s certainly bringing people into this shopping center,” said Jackie Fitzgerald, a stylist at Sylvia’s Hair Salon.

Next door, Old Stuff Upholstery restores furniture. Owner Josh Smith said, “A lot more people inquire about what we do since Anderson opened up. We have a lot of walk-ins.”

He said he’s pleased to see the work the Andersons did to repair and improve the building.

The Andersons have a lot of plans for the store. On April 27, they opened a deli, selling Amish-style meats and cheeses.

Evangeline Anderson said they expect discount frozen foods within a month.

They also hope to eventually sell produce and hormone-free meat.

“We’re taking it one step at a time.”