The "other" grocery aisle

[QuikSand]

So, baby and I were out shopping this weekend at a newly re-designed (gentified?) grocery store in our area. Seems like a nice place, overall.

As I'm wandering around, I come across a short aisle, I happened to notice the aisle marker and its list of items included there. Cracked me up, and with the aid of the ever-present cameraphone, I bring it to you:



Not sure if this begs for a caption contest... or even if anyone else will see the humor that I did. But I honestly can hardly imagine a more disparate grouping of items to possible be included on a tiny, 30-foot grocery aisle.

[cuervo72]

lol.

And I see they got to your Food Lion, too. Damn that bloom. Just an excuse to raise prices and otherwise muck things up.

[Peregrine]

It's a clever marketing strategy, knowing that guys have to run to the store from time to time to pick up feminine products, now they'll be able to come home with bags of charcoal and motor oil too! "But honey, it was in the same aisle!"

[wade moore]

I guess for me the funniest part of it is the potential for multi-use items.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by wade moore

I guess for me the funniest part of it is the potential for multi-use items.

She'll probably survive if you put insecticide on that...

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

lol.

And I see they got to your Food Lion, too. Damn that bloom. Just an excuse to raise prices and otherwise muck things up.

Yeah, Food Lion ==> bloom, and prices go up. But all told, I like the store a bit better now (the overall appearance if far, far better) and they carry more things that we'd be inclined to buy. So, if that means we pay an extra 10 cents for our can of peaches to pay for the snappy aisle signs and wooden floors, I can live with that. They had 37 kinds of mustard, for heavens sake!

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

lol.

And I see they got to your Food Lion, too. Damn that bloom. Just an excuse to raise prices and otherwise muck things up.

Just be glad your closest grocery store isn't a Whole Foods, like mine is.

Peapod is my solution.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

Yeah, Food Lion ==> bloom, and prices go up. But all told, I like the store a bit better now (the overall appearance if far, far better) and they carry more things that we'd be inclined to buy. So, if that means we pay an extra 10 cents for our can of peaches to pay for the snappy aisle signs and wooden floors, I can live with that. They had 37 kinds of mustard, for heavens sake!

We often shop at the "expensive" grocery store in town (Ukrop's - a chain only in Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Williamsburg) because Food Lion just doesn't do it for me. Too often they don't have what I want and their meats just don't do it for me (and I don't mean the old "they bleach their meat" issue)

[cuervo72]

Hmm. In ours, it seems like they have sacrificed some shelf space in the process of making the aisles wider and shorter, hence cutting down product selection. It is cleaner, but at the same time everything seems condensed, if that makes any sense. I had the hang of our store, and now I need to go and relearn everything. Nevermind the fact that they took the last couple of aisles (the left side of the store being the "end") and replaced them with a number of ultra-short horizontal aisles.

[QuikSand]

It turns out that our home is something of a perfect economist's petri dish as far as grocery shopping -- we live in a spot such that our travel time to five different grocery stores is almost exactly the same. We have a Giant, Safeway, SuperFresh, Weis, and bloom all about six minutes away.

(FYI - many economic models try to eliminate things like transaction costs, making assumptions that each of the multiple sellers in a marketplace are equally available to the buyer -- when we know that really isn't likely to be true. For us, it pretty literally is -- the cost of gasoline and time/effort is virtually identical for us to travel to any of these stores)

It's interesting what drives decisions of grocery shoppers. Well, it's interesting to me, at least. But I'm one of those weirdos who actually think about these things.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

It turns out that our home is something of a perfect economist's petri dish as far as grocery shopping -- we live in a spot such that our travel time to five different grocery stores is almost exactly the same. We have a Giant, Safeway, SuperFresh, Weis, and bloom all about six minutes away.

(FYI - many economic models try to eliminate things like transaction costs, making assumptions that each of the multiple sellers in a marketplace are equally available to the buyer -- when we know that really isn't likely to be true. For us, it pretty literally is -- the cost of gasoline and time/effort is virtually identical for us to travel to any of these stores)

It's interesting what drives decisions of grocery shoppers. Well, it's interesting to me, at least. But I'm one of those weirdos who actually think about these things.

Oddly enough, so am I.

When we are making a big trip and know we want to save money, we actually bypass the closest Grocery Store (not counting the super-high end, almost butchery called Fresh Market) which is Food Lion (about 2 miles away), Ukrop's (about 4 miles away) to go to Wal-Mart (about 10 miles away).

I just REALLY despise Food Lion's meat and produce selection. It is just horrendous imo.

[Drake]

Am I the only one here freaked out by the idea of Quiksand and his baby alone in a grocery store?

[Ksyrup]

Food Lion...I didn't realize they were still around after ABC's hidden-camera investigation caught them bleaching bad meat to kill the smell and all sorts of other hideous, disgusting things. It spawned an interesting court case against ABC, though...

[bosshogg23]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

It turns out that our home is something of a perfect economist's petri dish as far as grocery shopping -- we live in a spot such that our travel time to five different grocery stores is almost exactly the same. We have a Giant, Safeway, SuperFresh, Weis, and bloom all about six minutes away.

(FYI - many economic models try to eliminate things like transaction costs, making assumptions that each of the multiple sellers in a marketplace are equally available to the buyer -- when we know that really isn't likely to be true. For us, it pretty literally is -- the cost of gasoline and time/effort is virtually identical for us to travel to any of these stores)

It's interesting what drives decisions of grocery shoppers. Well, it's interesting to me, at least. But I'm one of those weirdos who actually think about these things.

Im in nearly the same situation with store selection. 2 Pathmarks, 2 Shoprites, 1 SuperFresh, 1 Acme and 1 Shop-N-Bag. I tend to go where I know they will have the self checkouts. I avoid Whole Foods and Genardis when I can because their employees tend to move like molasses.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Food Lion...I didn't realize they were still around after ABC's hidden-camera investigation caught them bleaching bad meat to kill the smell and all sorts of other hideous, disgusting things. It spawned an interesting court case against ABC, though...

It's still one of the more successful Grocery Chains out there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_Lion

Food Lion is an American grocery store chain with over 1,220 stores found in 11 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states, including Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Side note: Reading this I didn't realize Bloom as still the same company, thought some of the Food Lions were bought out.

I'm thinking that would only succeed in places where there are a lot of other grocery stories at a competitive level to Food Lion. Around here I think Food Lion has a pretty dominant hold on the "low-price" market so that a Bloom wouldn't make sense.

[cuervo72]

Our former Food Lion is located such that unless we take a back route out of our development, we will pass it whenever we go out. So it is by far the most convenient store for us. My assumption is that what once was a bit of an outpost (that or a store primarily for folks living on-base at Ft. Detrick) is now a much richer location given the new construction (and new money) of the past 7+ years. So they're deciding to upgrade the store, to keep folks from driving that extra mile if looking for more upscale choices. I'm not a real upscale kind of guy where it comes to food (much less than Quik, that's for sure), so I'm kind of disappointed with the change.

As far as meat and chicken go, I'll admit that it is a little better now, though I'll typically buy my meat at Sam's.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Our former Food Lion is located such that unless we take a back route out of our development, we will pass it whenever we go out. So it is by far the most convenient store for us. My assumption is that what once was a bit of an outpost (that or a store primarily for folks living on-base at Ft. Detrick) is now a much richer location given the new construction (and new money) of the past 7+ years. So they're deciding to upgrade the store, to keep folks from driving that extra mile if looking for more upscale choices. I'm not a real upscale kind of guy where it comes to food (much less than Quik, that's for sure), so I'm kind of disappointed with the change.

As far as meat and chicken go, I'll admit that it is a little better now, though I'll typically buy my meat at Sam's.

I have used the strategy of buying stuff at Food Lion and then making a seperate trip for meat.

I'm a bit of a snob with meat and will also only buy my steaks at the previously mentioned high-high-end grocery store where I pay $15-$20/lb for my steak.

[Malificent]

The Food Lion is the grocery store closest to our house (about 10 mins out). We routinely skip it to go to the Kroger about 17 mins out. Food Lion's selection and customer service has been hideous.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by wade moore

It's still one of the more successful Grocery Chains out there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_Lion



Side note: Reading this I didn't realize Bloom as still the same company, thought some of the Food Lions were bought out.

I'm thinking that would only succeed in places where there are a lot of other grocery stories at a competitive level to Food Lion. Around here I think Food Lion has a pretty dominant hold on the "low-price" market so that a Bloom wouldn't make sense.

They all but disappeared in several areas of Florida after that ABC investigation. The couple of stores I can recall in Tallahassee closed years ago. I guess they turned themselves around over the past 5 years or so. We never shopped there, but all Ican remember about that store is the dorky-looking President of the company in those stupid-ass commercials. At the time, they were an ACC sponsor and he was all over the TV (and I'm not sure why they thought that was a good idea).

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Hmm. In ours, it seems like they have sacrificed some shelf space in the process of making the aisles wider and shorter, hence cutting down product selection. It is cleaner, but at the same time everything seems condensed, if that makes any sense. I had the hang of our store, and now I need to go and relearn everything. Nevermind the fact that they took the last couple of aisles (the left side of the store being the "end") and replaced them with a number of ultra-short horizontal aisles.

Sounds like an improvement to me. When I used to shop at Food Lion they had lots of shelf space, but all of it was empty.

Originally Posted by QuikSand

It turns out that our home is something of a perfect economist's petri dish as far as grocery shopping -- we live in a spot such that our travel time to five different grocery stores is almost exactly the same. We have a Giant, Safeway, SuperFresh, Weis, and bloom all about six minutes away.

For me everything is magnified. I don't have a car and live in the city. I can walk a block and a half to Whole Foods (which is also on the 1.5 mi walk home from work), 5 blocks to Giant, or 6 blocks to Safeway. For a large grocery trip walking is pretty much out of the question. That means I have to get a zip car (~$8.75/hr), so it's easier/cheaper to just pay $5 for Peapod to deliver it to my house.

Originally Posted by wade moore

I have used the strategy of buying stuff at Food Lion and then making a seperate trip for meat.

I'm a bit of a snob with meat and will also only buy my steaks at the previously mentioned high-high-end grocery store where I pay $15-$20/lb for my steak.

I solve that two ways:

1. Vegetarian Fiance
2. I mainly eat chicken

[Subby]

Food Lion was created for the others. It is unappealing in every single way.

[Subby]

dola

Of course we shop primarily at Costco, so I don't really have a whole lot of room to talk...

[terpkristin]

I'm so glad that Wegman's is close to me. Great produce, great meats, lots of cheeses, a nice prepared foods section...

And prices aren't bad (about same price as local Giant and Safeway). Have never gone into local Food Lion.

/tk

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

They had 37 kinds of mustard, for heavens sake!

Counted?

[Draft Dodger]

we have 3 grocery stores.

- the closest (Shaws) is by far the cheapest, both in terms of sale items and regular items. It also has one of the worst checkout departments - slothlike cashiers and baggers who spend more time talking to each other than the customerm and self-checkout registers that only work half the time (and the person "helping" on them is almost always not around). Product availability is probably the best of the 3, and the perishable departments are overall pretty decent. Stock level is inconsistent - it's not uncommon to find important stuff (toilet paper or dr pepper) out of stock, as well as big ticket sale items. This store uses those stupid keychain things to get sale prices, which is annoying, but even worse they do have all kinds of dumb promotions (like spend $8 zillion dollars to get a free turkey) that also make me crazy (more so at the stupid lemmings who think it's great, rather than the store).

- 2nd closest, Hannafords, is a bit more expensive than store one, and has almost no sales to speak of. checkout department is excellent, with very short wait times and generally friendly staff. I almost never find anything out of stock, and the perishables are pretty decent. For a while, store A was giving out $10 coupons, which this store cleverly began accepting until store A caught wind of it. No keychain scan to get sale prices - basically a no-frills store.

-store C (Price Chopper) is brand new, built just outside of town. It's not really convenient, and I suspect much of it's business comes from people coming in from outlying towns (and especially people from VT looking to save on sales tax). They double coupons, have the best flyers by far, and pretty good perishables. The also have a bizarre layout, some VERY narrow ailes, and, most importantly, severely jacked up prices on non-sale items. If you were the type of person to shop the ads, or cherry pick the three stores, you could really save money here. Even though it is much bigger than the others and they have lots of stuff the others don't, several items I normally buy they don't carry, which is odd.

I go to store two. My goal is to get in, get my stuff, and get out. There is nothing that drives me crazier than going to Shaws, spending an hour going through the store...and then stand in line for 30 minutes while my dipstick cashier tells my fucktard bagger how the party was last weekend. I will gladly pay 3-5% more (my guess) and drive a mile farther to not have to endure all that. I don't need to be coddled - just don't slow me down.

[Subby]

Of course, if I was fabulously wealthy I would go to Whole Foods to shop. They have the best produce of any store I have ever been in....

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

There is nothing that drives me crazier than going to Shaws, spending an hour going through the store...and then stand in line for 30 minutes while my dipstick cashier tells my fucktard bagger how the party was last weekend.

I think this is a problem with Shaws everywhere, as the one I go to when I'm in New Britain, CT to see my grandmother has the same problem. Maybe Shaws just attracts the idiots..

/tk

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

Maybe Shaws just attracts the idiots..

/tk

considering I worked there for 10 years, I can confirm this.

btw, great pic, QS.

[ctmason]

Back home in GA I was used to shopping for groceries at the local Super Wal-Mart or the very clean Kroger nearby. And for those of you in some of the transition areas of Atlanta, you know that a clean Kroger is a rarity, and should be held close with the fury a mother would protect a small child.

Out here in sunny Phoenix, I am surrounded by Grocery options. All within 8 miles of the house are a Whole Foods, Frys (Kroger), Albertson's, Super Wal-Mart, AJ's (waaay too pricey), Safeway and Costco.

While I find each has its desirables (AJ's Deli/Bakery is far superior to any grocery store) I find myself going to Fry's mostly. In terms of the tacky "card savings" and other specials they seem to strike the best balance of cleanliness, quality and price. I have a Costco membership I rarely use, and probably should get rid of, but you just never know.

Living by myself, I've rarely found usefulness in Costco over the long haul, and this debate has long been raging among frugal living advocates (i.e. whether buying in bulk is "worth it" for the single person).

One thing's for sure, I miss Publix a lot.

[Buccaneer]

Aren't all chain grocery stores either owned by Kroger or Safeway? That's probably an exaggeration but in all of the regions I've lived (east, west, southeast and midwest), the most popular chain was a Kroger-owned store.

Just be glad your closest grocery store isn't a Whole Foods, like mine is.

Hey.

[RPI-Fan]

We only have two options in the entire Capital Region!

Price Chopper and Hannaford.

Draft Dodger's description is pretty accurate. I kind of equate Hannaford to Target and Price Chopper to Wal-Mart. Hannaford happens to be closer to my house so if I have to go the store I go there. But the dilemma comes when I'm anywhere other than home, which almost always means PC is closer. Then, I usually go to PC even though Hannaford is just an extra few minutes out of the way.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

I think this is a problem with Shaws everywhere

Yeah, we have occasional problems with our Shaw too. Though now and then we will get a hot deal out of it.

[Crim]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

But I'm one of those weirdos who actually think about these things.

I can't tell you how many times I've read a post by QS and thought,

He's one of those weirdos who actually think about these things.

I'm pleased to see my all-too-frequent assessment confirmed by the bot himself.

[Crim]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

Counted?

edited for redundancy

[Crim]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

Counted?

You kidding? He not only counted the mustard in its present configuration, but ran 1000 simulations each with a demographic emphasis of 9 vs 1 for hamburgers, 9 vs 1 for hot dogs, and 9 vs 1 for sandwich meats, and all permutations. Yer damn right he counted.

[Crim]

Originally Posted by Subby

Of course, if I was fabulously wealthy I would go to Whole Foods to shop. They have the best produce of any store I have ever been in....

yah, I was just in Denver during Raider weekend for the game and went into Wild Oats and Whole Foods for the first time. Was very impressed with both stores' produce. I'd give the overall edge to Whole Foods based on service and the huge prepared food selection throughout the store.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by Crim

You kidding? He not only counted the mustard in its present configuration, but ran 1000 simulations each with a demographic emphasis of 9 vs 1 for hamburgers, 9 vs 1 for hot dogs, and 9 vs 1 for sandwich meats, and all permutations. Yer damn right he counted.

I think this requires a diagram.

[Crim]

I suck. The rare chance at a legit triple-dola ruined by a rookie-ass double post. I feel like Lamont Jordan.

[General Mike]

There's no food stores here. No good ones at least.

[stevew]

I hated Food Lion when I lived in virginia. It was always dirty and expensive. Now I primarily buy from 3-4 different stores, Super WalMart, Aldi's and a local family type place. As well as a giant eagle sometimes too. It just really depends on the mood of the day, and how many days I am buying groceries for.

[Daimyo]

I wish I had a Whole Foods nearby... they have the best produce and meats (for a chain at least). I have a Dominicks (Safeway's brand in Chicago) literally right across the street from my apartment so I almost always shop there although I refuse to buy meat there.

[vtbub]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

considering I worked there for 10 years, I can confirm this.

btw, great pic, QS.

Two words for you on the crap list. Grand Union.

[Izulde]

Here in Lax, we have a mini-Quillin's a few blocks from the house (where I do most of my daily shopping), a bigger Quillin's further away and then over in Onalaska, there's two Festival Foods, a Wal-Mart, and a Woodman's.

The one Festival Foods sucks. Very limited variety.

The other Festival Food is where I do my shopping when I can get a ride over there because it has the best selection in town and a great organic aisle.

The mini-Quillin's is more like a glorified convenience store than anything else, but it's close enough to where I can walk back and forth with no trouble. Selection is nothing like the bigger stores obviously, but it's got enough for one of its size.

The bigger Quillin's I just started picking stuff up at this past weekend. Not quite as wide a variety as the better Festival Foods, but it's a lot closer and I'd probably rank it #2 overall out of the area stores.

Walmart is...Walmart. I never buy food there if I can help it.

[CamEdwards]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

I'm so glad that Wegman's is close to me. Great produce, great meats, lots of cheeses, a nice prepared foods section...

And prices aren't bad (about same price as local Giant and Safeway). Have never gone into local Food Lion.

/tk

Do you go to the Wegman's in Fairfax, or is there one closer to Ashburn? We'll drive the ten miles or so to go to Wegman's once a week. The prices are much cheaper than the neighborhood Giant, and the selection is a whole lot better.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

So, baby and I were out shopping this weekend

This part of the quote disturbed me more than anything and I have yet to see a comment about it. Who overwrote the grammar engine of QS so he could say "So, baby and I were...{anything}" without doing significant permanent harm to his circuits?

SI

[Warhammer]

They need batteries on this aisle.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

Aren't all chain grocery stores either owned by Kroger or Safeway? That's probably an exaggeration but in all of the regions I've lived (east, west, southeast and midwest), the most popular chain was a Kroger-owned store.

Definately not true in the Mid-Atlantic..

The most popular grocery stores are Giant Food (now oned by Ahold in Europe), Food Lion (owned by themselves), Safeway, and probably next at this point is Super Wal-Mart. I don't have exact numbers to back this up, but my mother has worked in an office position in Giant Food for years and I know that in some NJ, some PA, MD, and VA they are the dominant chain. And just from my experience, Krogers isn't even around in many places and where this is a Safeway it is usually the 2nd or 3rd option.

[Ksyrup]

In Florida, I don't recall any Kroger's. Publix was the biggie (based in Lakeland), followed by Albertson's (although they recently got bought out and are closing stores), Winn-Dixie, and Super Wal-Mart and Target Greatland, of course.

Here in Kentucky it is primarily Kroger's, and Meijer's replaces Target as the "competitor" for Super Wal-Mart (we have a Target, but it isn't a full grocery). I'm sure there are a couple of others, but I haven't been here long enough to notice them.

[Drake]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

This part of the quote disturbed me more than anything and I have yet to see a comment about it. Who overwrote the grammar engine of QS so he could say "So, baby and I were...{anything}" without doing significant permanent harm to his circuits?

SI

Originally Posted by Drake

Am I the only one here freaked out by the idea of Quiksand and his baby alone in a grocery store?

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by Daimyo

I wish I had a Whole Foods nearby... they have the best produce and meats (for a chain at least). I have a Dominicks (Safeway's brand in Chicago) literally right across the street from my apartment so I almost always shop there although I refuse to buy meat there.

Having acquired a quite brown ribeye at Dominick's once, I completely concur with this statement. Dominick's is not a bad grocery store, except for the meat.

Have to hit a real butcher for steaks around me. Grocery stores consist of Jewel (of which I have never seen a non-shithole Jewel) or the aforementioned Dominick's.