If you’re buying supplies in large quantities for an institution, Smart & Final sells lots of bulk groceries as well as related items such as paper and plastic tableware. Many of these bulk products are sold under this store’s private-label First Street brand. Basically, Smart & Final is similar to warehouse club membership stores but unlike a few of its competitors it’s open to the public. It’s popular with small business owners as well as institutional buyers. Anyway, here are some more stores like Smart & Final.
Sams Club
This is the warehouse club version of Walmart and unlike Walmart it’s members-only. Like Smart & Final, Sams Club is a discount store and it has low prices. If you’re a member you can get better deals there than you can get at regular Walmart stores. Sams Club also has its own private-label brand, Members Mark. Like Smart & Final’s First Street, Members Mark products are less expensive than brand-name products.
Sams Club also provides several additional services that aren’t available at Smart & Final. For example, it has in-store food courts, eyeglass shops, and pharmacies.
Costco
This popular warehouse store is also members-only and it also carries some premium items that aren’t available at other warehouse discount stores. Additionally, its Kirkland private-label brand is a premium brand and many people say that it’s better than other brand-name products. Costco is another place where you can buy groceries and other products in bulk and it also has additional pop-up stores that provide additional services and amenities. Its food court is known for selling hot dogs for low prices, for example.
Again, one of the benefits of Costco is that a membership there also gets you discounts on other services besides groceries. Smart & Final has low prices on groceries but it’s primarily a grocery store and it doesn’t offer other services.
BJ’s Wholesale Club
This is another major warehouse club store that sells lots of products in bulk and you need a membership to shop there as well. BJ’s, like Sams Club, carries a lot of brand-name merchandise. While Smart & Final and Costco also sell brand-name merchandise, many people visit those stores to buy their private-label products. Like other big-box stores, this store also stocks products that aren’t typically available at grocery stores such as TV sets and appliances. You can also buy gas for low prices at BJ’s.
Again, Smart & Final is basically a grocery store and doesn’t sell many of the other products that you can buy at BJ’s, but you don’t need a membership to shop at Smart & Final either.
Restaurant Depot
This specialized restaurant supply store has stricter rules than other club warehouse stores. You need a membership to shop there and you need to own a business to apply for membership. You don’t need to own a restaurant, though, and any business qualifies you for membership. But if you do own a restaurant, Restaurant Depot sells food for much lower prices than other grocery stores. Restaurant Depot primarily sells products in bulk and it carries many food brands that aren’t sold directly to the public.
If you like the concept of buying bulk groceries that are typically only marketed to restaurant owners for very low prices, you can do that at Smart & Final and the club warehouse stores as well. If you do own a restaurant, though, Restaurant Depot might have the best deals available.
Food 4 Less
This is Kroger’s warehouse-style discount store in Southern California. Like Smart & Final, it has lower prices than other grocery stores and it also has a strong private-label brand because it sells Kroger products. Food 4 Less isn’t a club store and you don’t need a membership to shop there, but it does provide one of the typical club store amenities as well. Its stores have gas stations that sell low-cost fuel. Costco and Sams Club also sell gas but Smart & Final does not.
Like I’ve said in other articles, one of Food 4 Less’ main strengths is that it has a very good private-label brand. I do like First Street products as well, though.