Sharp Shopper

For any student at JMU, this is the place to do your shopping. Hands down. This is Harrisonburg's secret to good shopping if you haven't heard it yet.

What is it? Sharp Shopper was started by the Mennonite community in Pennsylvania and has traveled down to Virginia with only a few stores. Why are they so cheap? They take dented and damaged packages that aren't acceptable for selling in regular stores, but are still good to buy. They also take goods that have passed their sell by date - meaning they haven't actually gone bad, the store just can't be liable for selling that product. So, instead of throwing perfectly good food away, Sharp Shopper takes it and sells it for an incredibly discounted price.

The best bargains here? Cereals, sandwich meats and deli cheese, frozen foods, canned goods, sodas and canned beverages, chips and bread and candy (sometimes fresh fruits and vegetables).

Not-so-good bargains? While there are indeed some great prices, there are also other items intermingled that are just normally priced but you think you're getting a good price because everything else is cheap, so hey, why not buy the whole store? Watch out for fresh produce, teas and baking products.

The biggest perk? I have genuinely left the store on multiple occasions with my cart overflowing with good food for all under the price of $30. Yes, it's shopping heaven for students.

For more information and hours? Visit their website! http://www.sharpshopper.net/Sharp_Shopper_Harrisonburg.html