Shopping at this Fort Worth store can split your grocery bill in half. Here’s how
If you don’t already grocery shop at Town Talk Foods, what are you doing?
In this economy, every consumer needs a deal. But most times, shoppers don’t have the time to search for the deal.
Well, that’s where Fort Worth’s Town Talk Foods comes in.
“A full cart at Town Talk might cost $50, whereas anywhere else it would cost, literally $200,” CEO and owner Tom Brown said.
As of April 2025, American consumers face a combined tariff rate of 28 percent, according to the Yale Budget Lab. This directly impacts food prices at grocery stores, as the Food and Drug Administration reports that the U.S. imports about 15 percent of their food supply.
These tariffs will increase food prices 2.6 percent in the short run and remain at 2.8 percent higher in the long-run, according to Yale. Produce is the biggest impact, with prices 5.4 percent higher than before.
At Town Talk, you can get your groceries for a minimum of 50 percent off, tariffs or not, and “that’s honestly a pretty conservative number,” Brown said.
Here’s how.
How does Town Talk Foods offer such low prices?
This 70-year-old Fort Worth grocer is able to offer prices unlike any other store in town because they are a “salvage grocer.”
How this happens is distributors from all over the continent contact Town Talk and let them know which products they cannot put on their shelves. This could be anything from produce, to condiments, to beauty products to fresh flowers. Sometimes there is even clothing, toys or holiday decor.
“What we’re doing is, we’re buying a product that is different from what it was originally intended for,” Brown said.
Examples include products with dated packaging or wrappers that cannot be sold with older brand packaging. Sometimes there is busted packaging, or almost expired, or expired but still edible, products.
“You’ll see beer in the grocery store that’s a holiday pack that has Santa Claus on it. Well, as soon as that date passes, a conventional grocery store is not interested in trying to sell that anymore,” Brown said. “So, it comes straight to us at a discount.”
And some items may be time sensitive, like produce, which gives Town Talk more incentive to mark down the price because “people will buy anything at the right price,” Brown said.
Because of this business structure, the grocer sells different products on a daily basis.
One day you may see Coca-Cola cans on sale for 39 cents a piece, or maybe even Chobani Greek Yogurt for $2. The next time, it may be Sprite or Yoplait Yogurt.
How to shop at Town Talk Foods
Brown says the best way to shop at Town Talk Foods is to:
Create a grocery list.
Go to Town Talk (Saturdays are “market days” where shoppers get great deals on special produce. The three stores get so busy that a police officer is there to direct traffic– but the deals are worth it and the supply is limited).
While shopping at Town Talk, try to cross as many items off your list as possible.
Then, shop the remainder of your list at another big brand grocery store.
Sometimes, Town Talk doesn’t carry specialty items (e.g. a specific cake mix) so they can’t promise a shopper’s whole grocery list will be fully stocked. However, that’s where other big brand stores like Kroger, Walmart or Aldi come in, because those stores guarantee that they will have those basics for customers.
And no matter what, doing a fraction of your shopping at Town Talk is guaranteed to save you money.
What local shoppers say about Town Talk Foods
What keeps a business running successfully like Town Talk Foods, is the dedicated customers. This grocery store has generations of families who regularly shop there.
Bawo Bodunrin has been shopping with her two daughters at the Fort Worth store for more than 21 years.
“The thing with Town Talk is it’s not like a regular grocery store, it’s a family store,” she says. “You come for your treasure hunt. This is my Central Market.”
General Manager Juan Cerros has been a Town Talk employee since he was 16 years old. He began as a cashier, making $5 an hour and then moved his way up to managing all three Town Talk locations.
He considers all customers to be family.
“We have a lot of customers who feel like they are a part of the company,” he said.
Town Talk Foods in Fort Worth is located on 121 N. Beach St. The store is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
There are two other locations with the same hours– one in Weatherford located at 106 College Park Dr #200, and another in location in Arlington at 2320 S Collins St. All stores are closed Sundays.
This story was originally published April 24, 2025 at 10:56 AM.