Contest winner carts away winnings in supermarket spree
A lot of competitors go for the gold. Vincent Mihalek, of Slippery Rock, was going for the T-bone steaks and pork loins.
The retired motorcoach driver was the winner of a five-minute shopping spree Wednesday morning at the Save A Lot store, 300 Pullman Square. He bagged groceries that cost nearly $2,000.
Sarah Griffin, Save A Lot director of public relations and community engagement, said Mihalek’s email was randomly chosen out of 113,000 entries nationwide for the chance to load up as many shopping carts as he could in the five-minute span.
“He signed up for our email club,” Griffin said. “We have 850 stores in 32 states. We have a big pool of customers who are passionate about saving more, so the fact he was chosen makes it even more amazing.”
Mihalek would have a chance to grab as many groceries as he could before time ran out. When he filled a cart, he could switch it out for an empty cart, one of many strategically placed around the 12,00-square-foot store.
Mihalek, 65, conferred with his cheering section before the start of the spree. He brought his wife, Debbi; his mother-in-law, Charlotte Hipp; his sister, Sharon Fleeger; Bev and Ed Rieland, his brother and sister-in-law; and his stepson Reed Pritchard.
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A view from Vincent Mahalik's cart during a shopping spree at the Butler Save A Lot grocery store on Wednesday. Mahalik, 64, of Slippery Rock, threw groceries into the cart as quickly as possible. Cary Shaffer/Butler Eagle
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Winner of a nationwide contest for a shopping spree at your local Save A Lot, Vincent Mihalik, 64, of Slippery Rock, checks out his four shopping carts of groceries from the Save A Lot in Butler on Wednesday morning. Mihalik was aided by Katie Cothron, of St. Lois, where the grocery store chain is headquartered, while cashier Kristyn Simunich, of Warren, OH, tallies the items. Cary Shaffer/Butler Eagle
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Vincent Mahalik, 64, third from left, grins after hearing his total is $1802.14 from a shopping spree at the Save A Lot in Butler. The Slippery Rock man was cheered on by his family while he filled a total of four shopping carts. Cary Shaffer/Butler Eagle
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In the freezer section of Save A Lot, in Butler, Vincent Mihalik, 64, of Slippery Rock, blindly tosses groceries into his cart. Cary Shaffer/Butler Eagle
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Vincent Mihalik, 64, of Slippery Rock, fills his cart with bacon during a shopping spree at Save A Lot in Butler on Wednesday morning. Cary Shaffer/Butler Eagle
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Vincent Mihalik, 64, of Slippery Rock, dumps a case of salted butter on top of several packages of mild cheddar in his cart during a shopping spree at Save A Lot in Butler on Wednesday morning. After, Mihalik said he was surprised at how much a case of butter weighs. Cary Shaffer/Butler Eagle
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Vincent Mihalik, 64, of Slippery Rock, hastily drops some frozen pies into his cart during the final seconds of a shopping spree at Save A Lot in Butler on Wednesday morning. Cary Shaffer/Butler Eagle 08/31/22
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Vincent Mihalik, 64, of Slippery Rock, loads New York Strip steaks into his cart during a shopping spree at Save A Lot in Butler on Wednesday morning. Mihalik said his strategy was to load up on meat, shrimp, and coffee. Cary Shaffer/Butler Eagle
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Vincent Mihalik, 64, of Slippery Rock, handles a pair of pork loins during a shopping spree at Save A Lot in Butler on Wednesday morning. Cary Shaffer/Butler Eagle
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Vincent Mihalik, 64, of Slippery Rock, plots his course during a shopping spree at Save A Lot in Butler on Wednesday morning. Mihalik filled his first shopping cart with a majority of proteins. Cary Shaffer/Butler Eagle
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Left to right, Reed Pritchard, Charlotte Hipp, Sharon Fleeger, Bev Rieland, Ed Rieland, Vincent Mihalik, and Debbi Mahalik. Vincent's family showed up in force to cheer him on during the 5 minute shopping spree at Save A Lot at Pullman Square in Butler. Cary Shaffer/Butler Eagle
“I’m a regular shopper here,” he said. “I come in a couple of times a month. It saves money. I can save money here rather than buying at the Giant Eagle in Slippery Rock.”
As a regular customer, Mihalek signed up for the email newsletter from Save A Lot and entered the contest through that.
“They let me know by email about two months ago that I’d won,” he said.
Asked if he had a strategy going into the contest, Mihalek said he had made a trip to the store just to familiarize himself again with the its layout.
“I’m going to hit the meat. I know this is the most expensive part of the store. Then I’m going for coffee and bacon,” he said.
His wife said she wasn’t offering any shopping advice.
“I told him it was his race, get what he wants and have fun,” she said.
When the timer started, Mihalek followed his strategy pushing his cart immediately to the meat section down the left side of store, piling in steaks and pork loins.
His cheering section yelled and rattled cowbells and a clock countdown was shouted to him at every minute mark.
At the three-minute mark he had his cart completely full. He grabbed an empty one and started shoveling in lunch meat and bacon.
At the two-minute mark, he started dumping cheese into the cart. When Mihalek filled a second cart, he switched to his third and started dumping in whole cartons of butter and frozen food.
At the 20-second announcement, he switched his attention to desserts and spent his final seconds loading up on frozen cheesecakes.
In the end, Mihalek had two overflowing shopping carts and a pretty hefty amount of groceries in a third.
His sister Sharon Fleeger said, “I think he did awesome, awesome for his age. He turned 65 on the ninth of August.”
“Everybody’s freezers are probably going to get full. He’s very generous,” Fleeger said.
Mihalek wasn’t overheated from his exercise, just the opposite.
“I’m cold. I believe that’s from dealing with cold meat,” he said. He also wanted to know how many pounds a case of butter weighed, because he seemed to have a little trouble lifting them to dump into his cart.
All eyes then turned to the cash register where Mihalek’s carts were unloaded and the prices tallied. The total came to $1,802.14.
“It’s the biggest spend we’ve had on a shopping spree yet,” Griffin said.
Mihalek said while he planned to keep most of the food for himself, he also planned to help out a relative as well as donate what he can’t store or freeze to the Feed My Sheep food bank in Slippery Rock.
“I have to be realistic. I’m not going to be able to store it all. I have some freezer space, but not that much,” he said.
Butler Mayor Bob Dandoy was on hand to witness Mihalek’s dash down the store aisles.
“It’s just great knowing them as part of the community,” said Dandoy of Save A Lot. “It’s good food and a great store for the residents of the community, and, of course, we’re up for a bit of fun like we had today.”
Harry Nemenz of Youngstown, Ohio, owns the store with Elaine and John Kawecki as part of the Horizon Group which owns 21 stores in northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania.
“We just got lucky that one of our customers won,” he said.
Nemenz said Horizon Group bought the Butler Save A Lot from corporate 18 months ago.
“As corporate puts it, independent owners can be more community-oriented. We can customize and specialize,” Nemenz said.
