Are Upscale Super Markets Suffering in this Recession?

Our Whole Foods is crowded every time we go there, but it's probably for the same reason: yuppies with $$$$$.

or perhaps its just people who want to know what they are buying.

Some folks have more dollars than others. I've been on the low end of that for quite a while, but I still like places like Whole Foods existing. I like my old local co op for existing, though there was a certain amount of you-can't-have-that pain when I shopped on the way home from work.

I live on tiny money - soc security minus my bills, prime for laughter.

This thread, on how upscale supermarkets are doing...

what can I say.

As a food sort of esthete, I care - I worry, re good food ----

as a human trying to get by, I laugh.

Whole Foods here was busy as hell today (day before Thanksgiving). Went to the usual super for most stuff, but they were out of fresh thyme (for the turkey cavity), so we stopped in at yuppie central -- whatever the motivation, that's what Whole Foods is here.

Am seriously considering re-joining the co-op we went to when we lived on the other side of town. Can't be beat for produce, and much of it is local. And usually no late-model Audis in the parking lot...

I passed a Genuardis (our local upscale chain). It prepares all sorts of high end side dishes for Thanksgiving, like Sevruga and Chincoteague arster canapes. PArkin lot was packed and full of All sorts of higher end SUVs and Lincoln Pickups.

What surprises me about Whole Foods is the stock of produce, fish, and meats, they carry, and it always seems to be fresh. I assume people are buying; and it ain't us. We go there to buy one bowl of soup to share for lunch.

Go for the co-op and maybe get on the board - I didn't go there re trying to get onboard. I just like their being close to my house, past existing at all.

The co-ops in Eureka and Arcata were primo. BBB had some background in all that, long before my showing up as a customer.

The one here, on Rio Grande, had a display of semi dead vegetables the day we ventured to check it.

I suppose I should give it another chance, but it is a batch of miles away.

There is some sort of deal re commercialization and Albuquerque, that every human on the west side is some sort of bot. F'king annoying. There are seemingly endless new houses, and one or two grocery stores on Coors -

but of course, crossing Coors on foot is tantamount to some internet game.

kroger stuff sucks, maybe they have tiers, but i had some mayo that tasted like pure cheap oil of some sort. i was disappointed.

Yeah, that's what my daughter said about Albertson's brand mayo, "it tastes like bad oil." I think that's how they keep the price down; they skimp on the eggs. In the end it's not cheap when you don't want to eat the generic stuff and end up throwing it away.

So, do you make your own mayo?

It seems easy enough, but no. It's either Kraft or Best Foods for us.

I made my own mayo once and it was terrific.


Tried it again on some rainy day in late november and managed to throw away a bunch of olive oil and eggs. Perhaps there is some mayo performance dependent on the barometer.
I've no idea, except that when it works, it beats Hellman's/Best.

Goodie!

They're the folks who buy a Pepsi and pay for it with a credit card.

I'm not a yuppie, but I like whole foods for certain things. especially their bread.

I find myself going to central market (an upscale version of HEB) for my produce. It costs a little bit more, but I can definately see and taste the difference in quality, plus it is organic.

Some weeks that's the only place I stop at, even if I'm getting other things, since the extra bit of money I spend is worth not having to make another stop and go through the entire process again.

Other weeks, when I need "regular items" from HEB, I'll still make the extra stop at whole foods or central market. I don't buy exotic items, so it's not gonna make or break me.

Oil/fat tends to retain the flavor so the extra fat in a steam pressure cooker tastes better than lean meat. To get the same flavor oil the lean meat before placing in the pressure cooker. The pressure cooker is really a high pressure steamer. Steam dilutes the natural flavor of whatever you are cooking. It could be the leaching of the biochemicals in the food.