I just want one damn cookie.

sales tax.

Grocery stores...supermarkets, in particular...ought to be required by law to sell EVERYTHING...EVERY GODDAM THING...in units of one. If I want one pork chop...I should not have to buy two or three...or even goddam four. Asparagus should be sold by the goddam stalk...so I do not have to buy enough for four people when there are only two of us, Nancy and me. I throw out too damn much food because I cannot buy in the correct volume for just two.

Oh...yeah, you should be able to buy on cookie.

Failure to sell items I'd buy. For example, dashi for japanese cooking. Semolina for pasta and breads (yes, I asked nicely). Course polenta corn meal (except those tiny packages by Red Mill, pfft.). Real parmigiano reggiano, or pecorino romano cheeses. Well, many cheeses at all, from europe or california - this area is cheese bereft in ways I, spoiled person, have never seen except maybe when I was a kid. Lamb - I don't think I've seen lamb in a market since I've lived in New Mexico. My immediate market doesn't carry fresh fish, but I've adapted to that, wrong place in space.

Miserable selection of breads. Poor selection of wine. Poor re beer, though I don't drink much of it anyway. In comparison, say, to the beer selection at my grocery in Arcata, CA, Wildberries, which had a good long wall of local and near local beers. Well, that market also had locally made soaps, locally made jams/preserves. But here, poor selection most of the time of possibilities in produce or, barring that, frozen vegetables.

I wish the international market here in Abq was anywhere at all near me. I like it almost as much as I liked the international market in Santa Monica - but they're both great in different ways. Talin in Abq is bigger. I could probably spend a good four hours wandering in there, and rack up severe expense. The produce is excellent... or was last I was there.

There's another goodie market, also too far for me to go on any routine basis -
Ranch Market. I've only been there twice, but they have all sorts of mexican and new mexican food related items, plus a terrific produce section.


Why do I go to my nearby market? I like the people, and they've actually improved since I first came here, plus the end all be all, they're close. There are good aspects besides the crew who works there - lots of mexican and new mexican ingredients.

I have a few bitches. Firstly, the store where I shop manipulates your buying habits. If a cheap costing item becomes overly popular, they simply quit selling it. The Snaps treats made by Alpo is one example. I have given my dog a couple of these little biscuits every morning since she was a puppy. They quit selling them. My dog turned her nose up at the Milk Bone products, which were more expensive. So, now, I drive to Kroger to get the Snaps. Dish detergent. Same story. Other items.
None of this store's biscuits (such as Pilsbury Grands) are without hydrogenated oil. So I drive to the Safeway owned store for something better.
Overall, I get decent products for a good price. But they could do better with just a little effort.

I'm not sure you can even buy a single hammer. Blister pack of three.

You can buy 1 cookie, but you have to pay more than you'd pay for a bag of cookies. I occasionally buy a bag of cookies, take my cookie ... and put the rest out at work.

Around here, I can get a single chocolate chip cookie at McDonald's anytime. But it costs a buck, I think.

One cookie? That's what nongrocery store sited bakeries are for. Yum!

Favorite cookie purveyors -

Ramone's - http://www.ramonesbakery.com/


Nannini, Siena

from http://www.baronesstapuzina.com/2008/12/15/

Massimo's Delectables
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=13222+W+Washington+Blvd+Los+Angeles,CA+90066

Hear hear!

I have found that the butcher will usually repackage things if you ask nice though. Costco is great about packaging things how you want it in their meat department. But yeah... vegetables.... forget about it. A lot of times they won't even price them by the pound but only by the bunch. I understand why they won't sell me half a tomato but what if I don't want 30 grape tomatoes?

Oh no! If I go into a bakery I want cake. And cake slices are HUGE. A cookie is my default sweet but I'm too tempted by cake if I walk into a bakery. I LOVE LOVE cake so I try to stay away from it. Even though I'm really not a big sweet eater I could eat a whole damn cake if the baker has any skill at all.

(sigh)

There's something about cake.

If someone opened a petit fours bakery near me I'd be as big as a house.

Don't you have corner grocers?

We can walk down to the Danforth here and there are 3 or 4 fruit/veg markets/corner grocers within a 15 minute walk. We can buy 1 tomato, 1 stalk of asparagus ... if we want.

Oh yeah!

I go to this for for that and this place for the other and another place for that. It's crazy making.

It's like trying to find okra in Oregon. Forget about it. On the rare occasion that you DO find it it's about $15 a pound. Idiotic.

That's just crazy.

I know the profit margins at grocery stores is tiny but if you've got a product that brings people in it really has to be worth it. Chances are they aren't just going to buy dog treats or dish soap but maybe some milk or eggs or SOMETHING.

I do most of my shopping at one out of the way place for one reason -- they sell most of the things I buy PLUS they sell the milk I like. They get 90% of my shopping dollars because of milk.

My cat, however, likes a certain kind of dog treat, so I drive to a different place to buy dog treats. (I think they might be the Alpo ones!)

Unfortunately we don't. Our good neighborhood grocery closed last October.

Being an agricultural area there are many green grocers around but none are close enough to walk to. I try to plot out my weekly errands to take me near one of them each week.

Are their cookies good? I'd pay a buck for a good cookie when I'm in the mood for a cookie!

I like McDonalds coffee. Most of them serve Seattle's Best here and their coffee is always really hot (yeah).

I think I had one of their cookies once when I wanted something to nibble on with my cuppa java. Nothing wrong with the taste, as I recall. (But, then, I also like their apple pie which gives you a hint about my taste-buds.)

Well, we don't have that problem here.
Either, supermarkets have a bakery 'attached' or within the market area. (The larger supermarket has both, our local supermarket has a large bakery outside the cashier area, Aldi has one inside.) And fruits, vegetables, meat/beef/etc can be bought by pieces (not at Aldi) at the butcher's corner inside.)

randomly pricing some things many times too high hoping to snare those not paying attention....like in one store 4 packs of one brand of soda are 2.74, except grape which is 7.94.

Safeway refusing to sell any 12 packs of major brand soda at a reasonable price.....you must buy 3 or 4

Costco constantly rearranging the store so that you need to walk the whole store often to find what you want

all stores placing the most purchased items to maximize the time and amount of walking required to collect them.

refusing to teach the help bagging basics

refusing to collect carts in the parking lot

placing tons of crap in the isle making hard for people to get around...Walmart stores can get dangerously clogged on purpose