Here in my part of SoCal ‘ethnic’ is separated into Asian, Hispanic, and Kosher… but theIr dry goods sections are near each other… so I called it the ‘ethnic’ area.
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Everything in one aisle?
I have aisles that seem similar in three of the five places I shop.
I can find panko and coconut milk in all of them, but each store seems a little different in how they define ethnic.
And then there is the “Mexico Meat” Markets and one “Asian market”, where I have a different set of expectations
I’d love to understand how each of them carve their market within five miles of each other.
I’m born and raised in Queens , and met my husband at a Yeshiva University in the Bronx, but don’t usually bother with my local Kosher.
I did enjoy a recent pop
(upload://zLdCubh81gMQGGklkZ4l2SoHJEs.jpeg)
Not the rugelach of my dreams, but whatever. Still good, I think. Husband ate it all, and I don’t think he can spell it.qqq
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At my grocery in Annapolis MD the matzo is in the Mexican part of the International aisle.
… and THIS doesn’t trigger a rant from you?
Or maybe lots of Mexicans keep Kosher in Maryland?
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The kosher section in my stop and shop is with the paper towels. The Mexican is with the chinese. The British- yes British- is with the tomato products and the Goya is on its own. The organic tomatoes are not with the non-organic but in the organic section marked “nuts.” Some refrigerated pickles are with the dairy, some are in the deli, which at least makes sense. And they are constant moving things around, so as soon as you figure it out, hunting season begins again.
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And THAT is designed to get customers moving around the store to ensure there are more impulse buys. Same as end caps stocked with sale items. You didn’t think you needed pasta and sauce, but when it’s 4/$2.50, your brain says “Oooh! I should stock up!” and into your cart they go. LOL
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How weird - ya gotta wonder how that happened… Are there other “kosher” products somewhere else in the store, too?
Actually, I kinda like that the clearance section isn’t totally obvious. Mine gets stripped pretty quickly as it is, but if it were in a more obvious spot, I’d have to get there at < 10 am to ever find anything worth grabbing, which can’t happen on weekdays…
I do wish they actually entered the clearance prices based on the “regular” UPCs though. Late last night, I saw some stuff I might’ve been interested in (huge Pyrex pie pans, some Mason jars) that had been wheeled into the area but not clearance-labeled yet and, of course, it was showing up at the regular prices when I tried scanning a couple of things… The store is too far away to just “swing by” on weekdays, and whether any of it’s left the next time I’m there will depend a lot on how far down it’s marked. (I suspect the pie pans won’t move all that quickly no matter what, but if the Mason jars - in what-they-misjudged-would-be-popular light blue - get marked down far enough, those’ll be gone in a heartbeat…)
Are you disappointed? grin I’ll try to be more entertaining.
Matzo in with the Mexican food makes me no more nuts than any of the other stupidities I listed. Oh, add that paper plates are in aisle 21 rather than in aisle 24 which is marked “PLATES AND CUPS” on the sign hanging from the ceiling. sigh Matzo meal is with the baking supplies which at least makes sense. Other kosher goods and historically Jewish foods are scattered around the store with the items they are most like, which actually makes sense to me.
@LindaWhit’s comment is the conventional wisdom. I remember an HBR study when I was in b-school. There is at least one customer (me) who buys less. If I can’t find something I need for planned dinner on say Thursday then everything else needed for that dinner goes back on the shelf.
What’s the antonym of peeve? At my grocery store the staff is really helpful. When I’m done shopping I flag someone down with the few things I can’t find. They walk me from place to place to find them, sometimes back and forth between alternate locations. On a recent trip I ended up with three staff trailing me behind as they hunted for things that showed up in inventory but were not to be found. I have no regret about taking their time as maybe eventually someone will come up with better organization.
Sometimes I flag down another shopper. That’s been helpful a few times. “Excuse me ma’am - my wife let me out without adult supervision. I’m looking for X and it sure seems like it should be here.” There really is a difference between girl-looking and boy-looking. So ladies, please help the chromosonally disadvantaged.
Now where is the ladies’ shaving gel in a pink can?
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Oh yes. I look forward to seeing whatever you’re PO’ed about each day.
Quite entertaining.
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LOL!!! I’m one of those shoppers who must look like the helpful type, as I get asked by both men and women who are looking for products. Or more often, their question is “what should I buy if I want to make X - is the Y cut of beef better, or the Z cut?” Neither - you want to use the Q cut, and I explain why. Then I usually get asked “Do you have a favorite recipe I can find online?” so we spend a bit of time looking for a recipe I remember. LOL
And the ladies’ shaving gel in a pink can is best found at CVS. 
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Oh I remember the days of the “international aisle” (sounds better than ethnic). It was always one row of shelves packed with everything from taco shells, to matzos, Goya goods and then 1-2 random La Choy product (complete with chopstick lettering on the label!). But you could never have more than 4-5 items from one country or you wouldn’t fit them all in that one aisle
Nowadays, it seems like most supermarkets here have grasped that the newer generation is usually open to a bit more variety in their cooking and eating. My local market is in an Asian hub, so we see a lot of Indian, Chinese, and now even Korean sauces pop up. Our local Stop & Shop even stocks the Chinese Spaghetti factory locally made dumplings in their freezer section.
Mexican foods - or I should say Tex-Mex foods - now can co-exist peacefully next to Italian foods, which is usually not far off from pastas and tomato sauces, so they’ve been booted out of ethnic aisles. We also now find Irish oatmeals and Hobnob biscuits blended in with their regular goods. So I guess we are finally making some progress!
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Where is the panty hose section? I don’t know how much money I spent on the ex only to have her tell me she snagged them and needed a new pair.
I’m glad those things are gone.
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The life of a contrarian.
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If you ever visit Annapolis we’ll feed you.
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Keeps my blood pressure low to watch someone else take one for the team and get angry on behalf of all of us.
Living vicariously.
I don’t yet yell at the television. I guess it could be worse.
This thread digression together with an inconsiderate neighbor does have me thinking about a sign out front that says “The dog poo fairy does not live here - clean up after your dog” but that’s pretty long. Maybe the classic “Get off my lawn” would be better. I will report back - anything to add to the entertainment value! grin
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Okay - here you go. I am not alone.
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And that’s a guarantee that poop bags will be put in the trash cans of those who use this label.
I composed an answer to this and then thought to myself, “Self, this thread is really veering off-topic.” Can we return to supermarket pet peeves?
Mine is the moving of merchandise during daytime hours. I get that they move it, but they’re open 24 hrs–do this disruptive work at 2 am!
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