Which Modesto stores have the cheapest Halloween candy? Here are 6 offering deals

Dominique Williams
·4 min read

Almost every major holiday requires you to spend money, whether you’re buying gifts for loved ones, hosting a gathering or passing out candy.

With Halloween around the corner, you may be deciding whether it’s in your budget to purchase novelties and treats, but there are ways to be festive and frugal at the same time.

We visited six Modesto discount and bulk stores to comparison shop Halloween candy and other distributable treats. At these stores, we found the most budget-friendly deals.

Which Modesto stores have the best Halloween bargains?

We visited six Modesto discount stores, including Dollar Tree, Costco, Smart & Final, Walmart, WinCo Foods and Grocery Outlet.

Other options if you’re looking for a deal: Dollar General Market, Cost Less Food Company and Food 4 Less.

Here are the best candy deals at six Modesto discount stores:

Costco

3801 Pelandale Ave.

The discount on Costco’s Funhouse Treats bag of candy ends on Halloween.
The discount on Costco’s Funhouse Treats bag of candy ends on Halloween.

Note: Costco is a membership-only warehouse club. These are the deals we accessed with a membership.

Costco’s Halloween displays can be seen directly when you enter the Modesto store, close to the checkout stands. Some of the candy on display is on sale through Halloween.

Three options at Costco stood out to us for the amount of candy you get for the price.

  • Kirkland Signature Funhouse Treats- $15.99 on sale; 5.75-pound bag

  • Kirkland Signature All Chocolate- $19.99; 5.6-pound bag

  • Dum Dums Original Mix- $17.99; 500 pops

Dollar Tree

2225 Plaza Pkwy. H

Money-saving tip: Candies and toys that aren’t brand names typically have the best price per unit.

While Dollar Tree did have a shelf full of candy options left, we felt the novelty “tricks” were a better deal there than the treats.

Small toys like “eyeballs” and spider rings were among what was left as of Tuesday morning. The eyeballs come in a 12 pack and the rings come in a 50 pack, for $1.25 each.

Grocery Outlet

1800 Prescott Rd. Ste. 8

Grocery Outlet on Prescott Road has bulk candy and snack deals that would be fun for trick-or-treaters.
Grocery Outlet on Prescott Road has bulk candy and snack deals that would be fun for trick-or-treaters.

Tip for making your treat stand out: Several stores have bulk items besides candy that would be fun for trick-or-treaters, like popcorn, cookies, fruit snacks and small toys.

We found a variety of deals at Grocery Outlet, some explicitly Halloween themed and some not.

Some items were in the Halloween display near the entrance, and others were found throughout the store.

  • Small toys- Pack of 12 rubber bats with suction cups $1.99; 12 count fangs 99 cents

  • Oreo cookie two packs- $6.99; 60 packs

  • Pirate’s Booty white cheddar popcorn- $13.99; 36 bags

  • Nerds Rope- $12.99; 24 full-size ropes

Smart & Final

2900 Standiford Ave., Ste. 15

The 300 count bag of Charms Mini Pops is the best bulk candy deal at Smart & Final.
The 300 count bag of Charms Mini Pops is the best bulk candy deal at Smart & Final.

Money-saving tip: Look for bulk bags in the regular candy aisle, without Halloween-themed packaging.

We didn’t find as many deals at Smart & Final as other stores, and the best one was not near any of the Halloween candy displays.

We looked in the regular candy aisle and found a 300-count bag of Charms Mini Pops for $9.99.

Walmart

2225 Plaza Pkwy.

Colombina Fun Mix, found at Walmart on Plaza Parkway, is what we found to be the best bank for your buck.
Colombina Fun Mix, found at Walmart on Plaza Parkway, is what we found to be the best bank for your buck.

Money-saving tip: We noticed that chocolate was the most expensive candy option at each store. Suckers, gummies and other non-chocolate candies were cheaper.

Walmart had candy displays at the entrance of the Plaza Parkway store, near the registers, in the walkways between aisles and in their own aisle.

The best bargain, in our opinion, was the 250-piece Colombina Fun Mix of lollipops and hard candies. The 4-pound bag is $6.98.

WinCo Foods

2200 Plaza Pkwy.

The best bulk treat deals at the Plaza Parkway Winco weren’t found near the Halloween candy displays.
The best bulk treat deals at the Plaza Parkway Winco weren’t found near the Halloween candy displays.

Tip to getting the best value: Calculate the unit price by dividing the price of the bag by the weight (in ounces). Multiply this number by 100. Compare to other unit prices to determine the best value.

WinCo was another store where we found the best deals in the regular treat aisle.

In the Halloween treat aisle, we found a 135-piece back of name-brand chocolates for $19.98. In the other aisle, we found a nondecorated 125-piece bag of the same and similar name-brand chocolates for $12.29.

We thought a 40-pack box of Welch’s Fruit Snacks for $6.98 was unique and a better bargain than other products we saw.

Summary of best Halloween deals in Modesto

To summarize our outing, we highlighted some of our favorite finds:

Overall best deals: Grocery Outlet, Prescott Road

Best chocolate deal: Kirkland Signature All Chocolate, Costco

Best bang for your buck: Colombina Fun Mix, Walmart

Best full-size candy deal: Nerds Rope, Grocery Outlet

Prescott Road Grocery Outlet wins The Bee’s vote for overall best deals for Halloween tricks and treats.
Prescott Road Grocery Outlet wins The Bee’s vote for overall best deals for Halloween tricks and treats.

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