"Follow You Monday" to Alberstons in Portland
As many of you may remember, I was lucky enough to be able to travel to Portland, Oregon over the weekend of October 22nd-24th in order to film a shopping episode at a West Linn, Oregon Alberstons store. Why West Linn, Oregon and why Albertsons you may ask? Angie, Hip2Save’s 3rd “Follow You Monday” winner, lives in Oregon and requested to shop at Albertsons… so off we went!
We had a great shopping experience thanks in part to the wonderful customer service we received, so a BIG thank you to Wayne, the Albertsons manager who welcomed us into his store, answered all of our questions and even gave us more than a few coupons! 🙂 And a BIG thank you to Angie who came equipped with her coupon binder, a great attitude, and lots of patience to deal with me, my sis, and my grandma. …So on to the video!
Enjoy!
*If you can’t see the video, go here to watch it.
Albertsons Coupon Policy
It is always important to familiarize yourself with a store’s coupon policy. Here is a quick breakdown of Albertson’s Coupon policy. Albertsons will accept the following coupons…
(1) Manufacturer Coupons
(2) Store Coupons: These are discounts offered by Albertson’s directly for purchases within their store. Keep in mind that some store coupons will only be valid with your Preferred Card.
(3) Internet Coupons: Keep in mind that Albertsons will NOT accept internet coupons for any item offered free, any coupon redeemable for excess of $5, or any coupon where the UPC bar code is either absent or unreadable.
(4) Catalina Checkout Coupons/Rebates printed from an Albertsons store: Keep in mind that Albertsons does NOT accept Catalina coupons from competitors.
(5) “Twice the Value” Coupons (aka Doublers): Doublers can be used to “double” the value of any manufacturer coupon up to $1 in value. For instance, if you have a 99¢ manufacturer coupon, you can use the doubler coupon to save $1.98 (double the value of the 99¢ coupon). “Twice the Value” coupons are typically only available to be used during certain days and are not available every week (and sadly, they were not available during this filmed shopping trip 🙁 ). They are usually found in the Sunday paper and/or in the store ad.
In addition to a wonderful shopping adventure, I also hosted an awesome reader dinner in Portland on October 22nd. Thanks so much to all the readers who attended… it was so great to meet all of you! Hope you enjoy the pictures below! 😀
*Note: I will not being doing the Hip2Save Holiday Challenge this week due to my hubby having surgery on Thursday. The Final week of the Hip2Save Holiday Challenge will start on Monday, 11/15. Thanks for your understanding.
Collin, I think you meant to put the 11/15 😉 Thanks for the videos, I am off to watch them now.
Thanks for catching that Amanda!
NP!
Hi! Just wanted to add a note that all Albertson’s are not created equal. Can you believe it? 🙂
Ours, along with most others in the Southwest, Florida, Texas, etc. are part of the Albertson’s LLC brand, which varies slightly. The biggest difference I’ve found is that we no longer have Preferred cards. I’m not sure about the coupon policy, though. That may be worth looking into for your readers. (Wish I could find it online for you!)
I have an Albertsons LLC as well. The biggies with their policy are 1) No IPs over $2.00, 2) No coupons over the price of the item (although, I was told they can make an exception if its not a huge difference), and 3) recently they only allow 3 like coupons to be doubled during their doubling weeks, and if they say DND, they can manually “un-double” it at the register. Some of the other things are pretty common like not accepting IPs for free product, don’t accept other store coupons (although, not sure about cats with other store names), etc. I don’t believe its available online anywhere though (their site is albertsonsmarket.com). I got all of this from a phone call with corporate.
Thanks!! I did read that ours wouldn’t double when the coupon says not to, but when they do their “all coupons a dollar” promotions, they still bump them up to $1. Not sure if that’s because the cashiers are letting it go, though….but I love it!
wow great video ! wow how awesome is that manager and i would have to say i think if your manager is coupon friendly then your cashiers will be ! i cant believe he tapes them to his items!!! he rocks!
Agreed, sounds like an AWESOME manager! I bet putting all those coupons out helps with sales, too!
He was amazing!! We had such a fantastic experience and a lot of it had to do with having such a fabulous manager!
I LOVE Albertsons – and I’m lucky we have 2 of them nearby. They are also coupon friendly and I love their doublers – but WOW is Angie lucky to have that manager she has!!!
Fun video. I love your Grandma!
GREAT VIDEO…our Albertsons (Las Vegas/Henderson, NV) are NOT coupon friendly though!! So sad!!
I’m in the NLV area and I love our Smiths here. They are very coupon friendly when I go there. We have an Albertsons down the road, but I go to Smiths because it is closer. Though nothing beats the rocking manager in this weeks video. What a cool cat he is!
Looks so fun – I’m jealous! When are you coming to Virginia Beach?? 😉
Good job to you all at Albertsons! I hope to see Woodmans next. Also I hope your husband gets better soon and has a speedy recovery.
Thanks so much, Janet! 🙂
You guys did really great job as always! Thanks Collin & Angie! I enjoyed it and wish I have Albertsons in my area.
Great Job Collin and Angie on all your savings – that is so exciting!! Collin – next you need to plan a trip to Kansas City! 🙂
I agree with you!! Please come to Kansas City!! 🙂
I have an Albertson’s near me. I was browsing their ad today and they had an ad that they would match prices on turkeys and you get a free turkey if you spend $100! I am checking into if that is before or after coupons. : ) Love the video.
Wayne is AMAZING at the West Linn Albertsons! When the pectin and sugar deal was going on this summer, I spent three solid hours doing a number of transactions to walk away with 99 boxes of pectin and 132lb of sugar for only $30.38! I ordered both the pectin and sugar with him prior to my shopping day and all the cashiers AWESOME while I went through their lines a number of times 🙂 I spend the extra time and gas just to go to his store! Wayne – you rock!
Krista, is that the one off the 10th street exit?
Wayne does ROCK!!! I wanted to pack him in my suitcase and bring him back to North Carolina with me to manage the grocery stores here!
Thanks for the post Collin! I love shopping at Alberston’s in BR,LA….looks like you al had a blast…wish I had been there. Thanks for all that you do Collin!
Sorry I wasn’t logged in….silly me!
Collin, when are you going to come to Texas? ? ?
Where in Texas are you located? I am looking for a Texas Coupon Friend on Hip2Save!
Me too! Austin area here 🙂
Hey, I am from Texas too! Not far from Galveston/Houston area!!
Austin too
I am DFW area, Mesquite!
Albertsons is a great store but there are not many near Vancouver, WA. The double coupons (max $1.00) from Albertsons come every few weeks, but are only good for three days starting the Sunday in which the paper they’re in. I’m thankful we have Safeway double coupons (max $.50) nearly every week. Is there any thought of going to show readers how much money one can save at WinCo Foods? You mentioned you have family in Idaho which is where they’re headquartered at. They are also located in many western US locations. They have the best deals and I feel they are even better than the commissary while not having to pay the 5% surcharge.
Thanks for your sight, from the only male couponer near Vancouver, WA, Tod. At least thats what I have been told by many cashiers.
Jen/Tod – If you checkout a website called grocerysmarts.com they list deals matched with coupons for grocery stores. And it is free! I use them for my grocery shopping at Smiths and then I use Collin’s site for drug stores and the mounds of great deals she finds for us online etc. But I’d be pretty psyched if Collin decided to expand into grocery stores besides Target and Walmart!
If you go to couponsavvyincowlitzco – her hubby coupons too!
OMG, that’s my COUSIN Angie!! Angie, it’s your cousin in Chi-Town. What a small world. 🙂
I like that you used reusable bags and your Grandma is really cute!
By the way, where did the Dannon coupons come from? Does anyone remember?
She said the store manager AKA the magic coupon fairy of that store puts them on the products!
Yep… the manager gave us those awesome coupons! Thanks again, Wayne! 🙂
Oh how I have missed Follow Me Monday’s! Does anyone reading this site live in or around the Houston/Dallas/Austin Texas Area?
Austin here 🙂
Dallas here.
Dallas Here 🙂
I loved the videos. I am still bumbed that I couldn’t attend the dinner while you were here in Portland. I am glad that you had a great time. The weather was actually fantastic just before you came. Wouldn’t you know it!
Our Albertson’s doesn’t have coupons like that on the products…and the cashiers actually rip up the catalina coupons and toss them. They say that if they are printed from on preferred members account another person can’t use them…which we know is a load…
Great savings though!!!
I loved that! How adorable is your grandma! And how sweet is Angie! I am from Portland and was trying to figure out where you guys were eating. Jake’s Grill?
I was wondering that too!! Couldn’t figure out by the decor where they were though. 🙂
We went to the Rheinlander German Restaurant… it was very entertaining to say the least! 😉
A-ha, the Rheinlander. Roll out the barrels..we’ll have a barrel of fun… la la la la 🙂
Thanks for sharing fun video!! 🙂
Wow – what great deals. I’m still so new at all this and it’s inspiring to watch videos like this!
Question: Were all those deals in the newspaper ad so you could plan for them, or does it take walking around the entire store to find the deals? I’m REALLY new at this and mainly find deals using the ads….not walking around the entire store. Thanks! Anna
Hi Anna,
No, not all the deals were in the ad. In fact, lots of them were not. Since the week we went shopping at Albertsons wasn’t a great one, we made sure to print lots of high value coupons and I also had my ginormous coupon binder. We then walked around the store for, well, a very long time 😉 and found lots of fantastic unadvertised deals. Also, Wayne, the manager, gave us lots of great coupons that paired well with lots of items, too!
I wished you would have mentioned doublers in the actual video. That’s how the HUGE savings are made!
I know, Becca…. I was hoping to be able to do that. However, the week we filmed this video, there were no doublers available, so we weren’t able to visually show how they work.
I wish my Albertson’s was that coupon friendly!
I LOVE Albertson’s! I shop there every week and get wonderful deals. In Idaho they will double to DND coupons no questions. We also have gotten a round up a few times, meaning they will round any coupon up to $1.00 no limit. So all of those smaller coupons .25cents make for a great deal….it is like getting it quadrupled!
Off topic, but I just got an e-mail from the Dr. Oz promo saying I got the Target gift card!!! Wahoo!!! 😉
All right all right, I’ll stop complaining about not having a store that auto-doubles. Although that does save a TON of time! Its too bad there weren’t doublers she could have shown you. My closest store lets me use as many as I want in multiple transactions. Not to burst anyone’s bubble, but that store just happens to be coupon friendly and nice about it. Not all of them are like that. I go to one near Portland Oregon, and the manager literally stashes the ads AND the doublers behind the customer service desk!! If you ask for more doublers he gives you a smirk and dirty look and says no. And he’s a younger guy! Oh well…maybe I drive to the West Linn store now 😉
Off topic, but there’s an 8 swagbuck code in the Swagbucks toolbar, good until 8:05 p.m. EST (5:05 p.m. PST).
Got it! Thanks!
I wish there was an Albertson’s here in Texas!!!
when i lived in TX (Denton) i only shopped at Albertson’s. maybe it’s regional? or did they pull out of TX?
Theyre here where I live, I live in Dallas, Texas.
@sarah
i am in denton and we have two albertsons! love shopping there for the most part!
Collin, Good luck with your husband on Thursday. Mine will be having surgery as well that morning. Small world!
I shop at the Alb in Happy Valley, Oregon but it may be worth the gas when we have the really good deals to go to West Linn just to have some couponer love for once! Can’t wait to meet Wayne!
I LOVE my West Linn Albertson’s! Placing the coupons on the packages is pretty unique to the WL store. Best of all it’s less than a mile from my house! The other Albertson’s that is super coupon friendly is the Albertson’s in Lake Oswego off the 43 (not the Lake Grove one).
Wayne is awesome!!!
AWESOME!
If you want a challenge..come to Upstate NY! Price Chopper has no competition so the deals are slim and no double coupons 🙁 They just changed the store policy to take
1 store coupon + 1 MFC
Well, thats a great step in the H2S direction!. Gotta love that.
WOW! What a great store manager to have! A coupon friendly one, also has a drop bucket that everybody can put non-used CAT qs in!! Awesome idea. You know how many of these people throw away? lots. Great way to cut down waste, recycle, and allow customers to match up with CATS they need. Very cool. Oh and how cool was that!, all those q’s attached to items. Tons of them! Wowser!
Ladies, as always, looks like you had a great time!! Awesome.
Great video!
Angie, you are doing super for only doing coupons for 9 months…keep up the good work 😀
I’m so glad you came to Oregon! I don’t shop the West Linn location very often, but I go to the Sherwood location a lot. FYI to the Oregon readers- the Sherwood store is great! I’ve never been given a problem about coupons, they’re very helpful and friendly. I haven’t met the manager, but I’ve always had a good experience there.
have you been able to use a 2 coupons on a BOGO deal like in the video? i wasn’t able to do it at the Tigard store but haven’t tried in Sherwood. wondered what your experience was.
I have, but it’s been a while. I think it was on a Lean Cuisine BOGO coupon, I used a $ off coupon as well. Deborah is my favorite checker at that store, she’s helped me a number of times when a store promo hasn’t come off correctly. She’s awesome! I always do my doublers on Monday mornings when she’s there.
So to answer your question, I’m not sure what their “official” stance is on using a BOGO and a $ off coupon, but I know I’ve done it in the past without problems.
Oh, and I’ve seen a lot of coupon on products in the Sherwood store too! I remember seeing a bunch of those 1.00/1 quaker oatmeal coupons taped to the boxes recently. Lots of peelies and hangtag coupons too.
I love seeing you post about Sherwood. We left there 3 years ago after spending 5 years there. We’ve probably seen each other before!
We probably have seen each other! I see other ladies with coupon binders sometimes and I resist the urge to shout “me too! me too!” because I’m sure I’d look nuts. But I do get excited when I see other couponers in “my” stores! 🙂
I wish all stores was nice as this store manager, taping coupons to the boxes!
Looks like you guys had a great time!! Come visit PA near Philadelphia soon!!
I have a question when you use a b1g1 coupon with a $1/1 coupon does the order the coupons are scanned matter?
That’s awesome! Congrats on the great shop!
I’m in Las Vegas and never have that luck at Albertsons. I saw a few other Las Vegans does anyone local have a favorite spot. I would love a coupon buddy! My email is saracoral16 at hotmail dot com
Loved the Portland shopping trip. I wish we had Albertons here in Georgia.
Wow good for you. Albertson’s is related to Acme and Savon. We tried to do some recording here in PA last year for a contest but was turned down by Acme corporate because of something unflattering which was taped in NJ 2 years ago by someone else 🙁
Nice Job.
We never have good sales at Albertsons in the DFW area. Plus, they are not very coupon friendly. In fact, at least 2 near me have closed down.
Congrats on the huge savings! It makes me feel rich when I can walk out of a grocery for so little and then remember that I have everything I need…food, detergent, paper products, dairy, etc.
Would love to have such a coupon conscientious store manager here. There are no Albertson’s but I can’t remember the last time I saw a coupon taped to a product. I used to see it every so often, but these days it’s fellow couponers leaving presents!