Supermarket Pet Peeves

I believe my biggest gripe . Not enough checkers to take care of the crowd . I find the best time to avoid this is . 2:20 pm

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I never thought about it that way, but you are so right! I have to go down every aisle now where I used to be able to run to exactly where I needed to go.

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I didn’t hit the local Stop and Shop for the last two weeks (did the local Asian grocery store instead) and I finally went in this afternoon. Their transformation is now complete and wow, it’s different! I do like the overall more modern look and the biggest difference is that their produce section is now not so cramped. Organic goods and healthy foods now mixed into the aisles with their regular items, but with different shelf placement (which I think makes much more sense). It’s still takes getting used to and I do think it will be better in the long run. I still have to look for things which is annoying, but for some reason they decided to move all the digital scales where you can way and get a self-scan tag for the produce and fruit. Kind of defeats the purpose of making self-check out easier. :confused:

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Agreed, kobuta. It is a much nicer feel and I like that organic and non are mixed together. Mine has a beer section - probably to compete with DeCiccos, a more upscale market in the area that has an amazing beer section. And the best part is they got new carts! They still have that bloody robot thing,

Do they have what I call “granny carts”? Those are the smaller carts with a higher top section for those of us who don’t have orangutan arms. :slight_smile: They are also easier to push and maneuver around all the in-aisle displays. I love them, although these days fewer trips means more groceries per trip and they are not always large enough.

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Mine doesn’t have granny cats which is a bummer. I don’t like the unwieldly giant ones either.

And yes, @winecountrygirl, that creepy patrolling robot is still running around scaring customers where I am too.

Yes, they do but they are hard to find.

We have this problem at our Grocery Outlet. Apparently the small carts are the current favorite of the bum contingent.
They keep disappearing.
:frowning:

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They need to get those wheel locks where the cart won’t roll beyond a certain point, which creates another pet peeve of mine is when the lazy shoppers who try to roll their groceries to a home nearby and leave the cart there. If you’re going to take the shopping cart off premises, for the love of all that is good, roll the stupid thing back. Not only is the abandoned cart a hassle, but why do people feel like it’s ok just to take that cart away for personal use?? That’s what most people call “stealing”.

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Carts are expensive. I tried to order some for Best Buy and at over 100 bucks each we ended up with four.

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I :100:% agree

I don’t, respectfully.

Having done the job of relaying stores it is a necessary evil and much is done overnight for ease of shopping. New product lines come out all the time and they need space.

Then there’s this, with Congress lobbing hand grenades across the aisle people that do this job are losing jobs and will lose more. Many of my co-workers at Best Buy got affected. I took early retirement before it hit the fan luckily.

We’re adults here. Surely we can adjust after 2-3 visits.

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Yep . I never use them . I’m a no bag no receipt guy most of the time . Get in get out . I do enjoy going to the grocery store almost every single day . Living the single life .

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When curbside pickup became available we were very early adopters for everything except produce. We’ve dipped our toes into produce as well and are impressed with the pickers’ choices. We’re now totally curbside for groceries at Giant Food and at Sam’s Club. I do NOT think going inside stores is safe and curbside makes it possible to be completely contactless. It has also allowed us to safely return to our old shopping schedule of weekly groceries and monthly warehouse store.

Marginally related is that Ball/Mason jars and authentic lids are starting to show up in stores again. In TrueValue (curbside pickup!) and Ace last week and Giant this week. Our TrueValue has even started pick-up and delivery for refilling propane tanks - another way to avoid people. Humbly this was my idea a couple of years ago that has been on the owner’s to-do list ever since. Some DOT permits and a custom rack in a van later and it lined up nicely with the pandemic.

What is the opposite of a peeve? I don’t care about carts or store layout anymore. I pull into a labeled parking spot and call in with my name and spot number and my groceries appear. Drive-through at our pharmacy. Even our local library is doing curbside pickup. This is the silver lining of a pandemic.

As long as you are moving your body in other ways, toning your muscles and reading daily-which I assume you are-then in the short time, the convenience factor for day to day to pretty cool.

For my money, I want to tip well, hope these types of jobs are secure, hope live entertainment continues to evolve safely and move my body everyday.

Too much sitting and reliance makes me edgy.

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There’s a difference between making room for new products or new product lines and re-arranging the entire store. Moving the juice from aisle 7 to aisle 5 and the cereal from aisle 5 to aisle 9 and the organic jams to five aisles away from the inorganic jams(yeah, I know it’s “non-organic”, but I like “inorganic” better :slight_smile: ) and the cheese singles from the cheese section to back with the hot dogs doesn’t strike me as really necessary or useful.

And Congress has nothing to do with this.

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I don’t disagree with you at all, @eleeper. But it’s yet another marketing tool for the stores to get us to wander the aisles and buy more shit from them.

Frustrating as hell. But it is what it is.

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Seems like you’re adapting.

Congress and the President lied to the American people promising help by election day but partisan politics put an end to that. Folks are losing jobs including the ones making it so challenging for some people to grocery shop.

I made those numbers up. There are still things I can’t find.

And Congress didn’t tell the supermarkets to re-arrange everything so shoppers have to spend longer in enclosed spaces. If anything, people will buy less (if I have to spend an extra five minutes looking for baked beans, I just won’t buy baked beans).

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That’s my thinking. The entire store was completely rearranged and I’m still looking for some items!

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