What do you know about them?

The one in Savage on County 42 is now open and I stopped yesterday to
have a look and perhaps pick up a couple items. It was an interesting
experience.

First thing I noticed was that peple were getting their shopping carts
from outside the building, not inside. Whatever. I knew that I had to
pay in cash and I knew that they charge for grocery bags if I didn't
bring my own. I'm not crazy about the cash only, but that's how they do
it and they've got an ATM inside and they do take SOME debit cards (mine
would work). I didn't pick up a cart because I wanted to keep my
spending low and limiting it to what I could carry seemed like a good
way to achieve that. :-)

I spent $6.34, most of it in the produce department. I didn't plan to
buy grape tomatoes, but they were 99 cents for a pint (very tasty they
are, too); I didn't plan to buy mushrooms but they were 99 cents for a
pint and looked good; I needed fresh garlic and two heads for 49 cents
seemed reasonable (I'll see how fresh it is, I couldn't check there and
haven't yet); a bunch of celery was 89 cents -- that seemed reasonable.
A gallon of skim milk was $2.19 and a can of chili con carne was 79
cents. Oddly, it's the chili that interests me most because Rob loves
it for lunch. Hormel has now taken to packaging their chili in boxes
for $1/box on sale -- same quanitity. Thought I'd have My True Love try
this stuff and see how he likes it. (And don't talk to me about making
homemade for my man, ok? Taking a package from the freezer and heating
it seems to be too strenuous for him--he likes the canned stuff.)

The first thing I noticed about their bare bones operation is that they
have their own brands that are packaged remarkably like the national
brands of the same products. Colors and styles -- enough so that I
looked at the peanut butter and figured it was either Skippy or Peter
Pan (can't remember which, but it was very familiar). Their queso dip
sure looks like Tostito's or Frito-Lay -- but it was $1.49 for a jar
instead of $2 or $2.50. Might have to check that out another time.

The next thing I noticed was that the ground meat in the fresh cooler
looked fresh -- sorry I don't remember the prices.

Then there was the strange little section that looked like it could have
been Sam's Club -- there was a lounge chair (in a box) for sale, along
with some other non-food stuff. Seemed very out of place.

When I checked out and paid, I asked the cashier if I could assume that
since the packaging on so many things was so similar to the national
brands, that they were in fact made by the same folks. She said I can
assume that. Swell. The other thing I noticed was that that shopping
cart outside could be procured for use for 25 cents - but you get your
quarter back when you check out. Cool. They do it to keep carts out
of the parking lot, I guess. I have no problem bringing my own bags --
I usually do that at other stores -- I can carry four cloth bags of
groceries in two hands without fear of breaking the bag.
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> 2005 Pirohy Marathon pics added 1-23-05.
"I read recipes the way I read science fiction: I get to the end and
say,'Well, that's not going to happen.'" - Comedian Rita Rudner,
performance at New York, New York, January 10, 2005.