Bi-Rite Markets

Gross. Its just a creepy liquor store with the saltiest people in Sun Valley.

This place was kind of a hub in Sun Valley a couple years back.
Friendly cashiers, fresh produce, reasonable prices.
If you wanted something they didn’t have, they’d get it for you. It was really cool.
Used to be a mexi roach coach outside which wasn’t half bad either.
We always looked forward to going there, or hitting it on the way home for an ice coffee or quick groceries or candy/​ice cream.
This place was always busy, and what was cool about it was people used to say hi and talk to each other; it was kind of a neighborhood contact point, and the cashiers were actively part of making it that way.
Then it was sold, «remodeled» and turned into a just dreadful dump. Now every time we drive by it we just wince. It’s nowhere near as busy as it was, and the layout inside is just awful. They took out the multiple check out lanes because they no longer do the business that required more than one check out. They put the check-​out up on an elevated platform type thing with liquor bottles lining the wall behind it.
The new owners bought a perfect community-​oriented hub that was very busy and nice and functional, and turned it into an ugly inner-​city-​like dump. It’s sad because to them it’s just another convenience/​liquor store. Now with a crappy knock-​off pizza take out store inside it, which is just plain stupid.
This kind of bad business sense is what kills communities. We don’t buy anything there anymore, and from the looks of the traffic, nobody else does, either.