(COLORADO SPRINGS) — Each aisle at My BargainMart is filled with reduced-price grocery items ranging from coffee to pasta to vitamins. On Monday morning, Oct. 30, customers filled their carts up with the items of their choosing.

One frequent customer, Emma Williams, expressed the immense impact the store has had on her life by offering affordable items to help her cook for her big family. “This is chili time,” Williams said. “So, I usually come and get me a couple chili packs, I cook goulash too.”

As a regular customer, a big smile appeared on Williams’ face when she described her relationship with the staff and her appreciation for them. “They call me ‘honey,'” Williams said.

One customer shopping on Monday morning was Emma Williams, who picked out a box of pasta.

What sets this store apart from others is that items are significantly lower than those found in neighboring stores, all to help benefit their customers.

“Majority of times they’ll save well over 50% — snacks especially,” My BargainMart Owner, Jim Krug said. “They’ve gotten so expensive, like all of our chips and stuff are [15 to 25 cents] an ounce… and even like rice for instance, we’re seeing $2.30 a pound at other stores, [while] we sell it for less than $1 a pound on that stuff.”

The motivation behind these low prices comes from Krug’s compassionate heart, hoping everyone in the community has access to food.

“I guess the simplest way to [describe] my motto is: “I never want a kid to go to bed hungry at night and we’ll do whatever we can to help them out,” Krug said. “We support some of the food pantries around town with our excess food, but our customers — I don’t know how they make it some days with all the bills.”

Loaves of bread filled another aisle with rye bread listed for 50 cents.

The inventory comes from big grocery store chains that either are close to the expiration date or are without the newest packaging.

“We’ve been doing this for so long,” Krug said. “We know how long it’s good after that and then a lot of it also can be what they call ‘resets,’ when they change the packaging. Then, there are certain things that the buyers for these stores buy, but the customer doesn’t really go for it, and sometimes it’s just overpriced, especially in today’s economy, that they just don’t move enough of it.”

One aisle was filled with a variety of pasta, one box of De Cecco pasta marked for less than $2.

Furthermore, Krug shared how the pricing on the grocery items is the same as when he was a kid with candy bars costing 50 cents.

“I’m kind of stuck in the 70s, so I kind of take a look at ‘what were the prices several years ago,'” Krug said. “We really have not raised our prices very much over the last couple of years.”

Customers fill the aisles at My BargainMart filling their carts with the items they need.

The store welcomes all who are in need of affordable items whether it be groceries, clothing, or even vitamin supplements.

“We have a wide span of people,” Krug said. “We have some people that come in every day because they don’t want to miss something because we’re putting new stuff out every day. [For] some people we’re kind of like their entertainment for the day to come through and some people I don’t even know how they eat as much as they buy.”

Salad dressing at the market is listed for 25 cents.

At the checkout counter, employees eagerly greeted customers and checked if they were able to find the items that they came in for.

“We have people that come in and buy food in order to give to families or coworkers,” Krug said. “Or a lot of people come in and buy snacks to take back to their office and stuff like that.”

The store is located at 2841 East Fountain Boulevard in Colorado Springs. Krug recommended checking out their Facebook page for updates on their hours of operation.

“We are actually expanding our hours starting on Wednesday,” Krug said. “We’re going to be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and on Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.”