I noticed the other day in Price Chopper that the Customer Services section calls itself "Guest Services". Do you think of yourself as a "guest" at your local supermarket? To me it suggests "overnight guest", though I'm sure they wouldn't want me to make up a bed on the shelves. Or "be our guest" as in "what's ours is yours so help yourself" - and I don't suppose they want me doing that either.
I was chatting to a woman last week at the Farmers' Market who gave the advice that the best way to shop in a supermarket is to stick to the edges. In other words, shop for the fresh goods and avoid all the highly processed stuff in the middle. A reasonable suggestion as far as it goes, though rice and olive oil are in the middle, and have you looked at the list of ingredients on a pot of flavoured yoghurt (an outer edge product) recently?
The Man's main complaint about supermarkets here is the illusion of choice. Shelves groaning with dozens of brands of...identical products. The same things with different names. Like calling customers "guests", it doesn't add any pleasure to the experience of shopping. It's just confusing.
I much prefer shopping at supermarkets for the very basics when necessary, and mosly using the non chain grocery stores in the area (ethnic markets, Honest Weight Co-Op, farmers markets). We don't really have a lot of competition up here compared to other areas. I like to shop all over, so it works just fine for me.
ReplyDeleteI always mean to shop more at Honest Weight, but somehow never manage it. The road to Price Chopper is paved with good intentions...
ReplyDeleteThey're really nice for bulk products, and when they have sales on certain items it can be a good deal, but overall the Co-Op can be expensive for daily shopping. (Still, I wouldn't buy my cornmeal any other place!) I still haven't made it over in a month or two since it's not really in my steady routine.
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