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If you want to join the "club" by shopping at the new Super Dollar grocery store, you're going to have to get used to a couple of things.

First of all, much of your food is going to be either "Food Club" or "Valu Time." In some cases these are offered as alternatives to the main brands, in other cases the name brands haven't been invited at all.

According to the store's own comparison, the benefit of shopping at Super Dollar can be a savings of 12.7 percent over Wal-Mart and 32.4 percent over Kroger.

But you'll have to make your own shopping trip to see how much you save on your shopping list and then you'll have to compare the quality of the nonname brands. (I found the Food Club version of Dr Pepper, Dr. Wow, to be OK. The Valu Time BBQ chips were excellent.)

But the point is that this could become your new grocery store. By this I mean that it is not another cost-cutter "pantry" where you can buy a few bargains and then head to a real grocery store for the rest.

This is a real grocery store with a produce area, dairy, meats and, even, a health food section.

And, unlike some discount stores, this one holds its head up high -- it's a bright store with bold colors and the Superman-like Super Dollar logo to promise pork, beans and the American way.

And when's the last time a new kind of grocery store moved to town? Was it the opening of the Wal-Mart Supercenter? And that changed everything, did it not?

I don't know whether Super Dollar will have that kind of impact, but it does bring change.

It also brings the Northgate Village shopping center close to full capacity. Some folks, myself included, might have written this place off a long time ago. But look at it now.

Bottom line: If you're looking for "valu," the Super Dollar may change the way you shop.

Directions: The Northgate Village is at the intersection of U.S. 460 business (North Franklin Street) and Cambria Street, just across the road from the Christiansburg Recreation Center.