Even though I am exclusively shopping at Costco this year, when I ran across an article about the way grocery stores are trying to win back people’s business after years of bigger, bigger, bigger, I had to weigh in.
Apparently, MASSIVE one stop shop grocery stores, lined with 300 cereals, and 80 different kinds of olive oils are starting to suck the life out of people. Over the past few years, people have started giving their business to online retailers, farmer’s markets, etc. all in an effort to get back in touch with their food sources and to avoid have to park in a lot the size of a football stadium. Grocery stores have taken note, and in response, have decided to make grocery shopping more of an experience.
Some stores are bringing in specially trained personnel, like butchers, bakers, {the word is still out on the candlestick maker}, chefs, dietitians, etc., all in an effort to improve the food buying experience. Some stores are even opening up full-fledged restaurants. You can grab a bite to eat, do your shopping, head home…call it a day. Even better, some stores are experimenting with SMALLER buildings–focusing on quality instead of quantity.
I have to admit, I LOVE the idea of smaller specialty stores cropping up. In fact, one of my favorite things about Europe is the specialty markets. I would LOVE to see more of that here. Delicious pastries one place, meats in another. Ideally, they would all be on one {cobblestone} street so that you could walk from place to place…but one step at a time {literally}.
To me, smaller stores means better customer service, more attention to detail, more scratch baking….remember that?! It means you can ask your butcher what the best cut for a particular recipe would be and…wait for it…they would KNOW! I think it would totally put us back in touch with our food.
Now every big box store is pretty much the same. I guess there is some comfort in that, but it takes away from experiencing one of the pleasures of life: fresh food.
What do you think? Would you trade in your weekly one-stop-shop for a smaller store, packed with higher quality? In the end, would the potentially higher costs drive you back to the super-stores?
~Mavis
Melinda says
Hi Mavis,
That was one thing I noticed very quickly when living in Bosnia – the pekara (bakery) was on the corner, not far from the mesnica (butcher). The cell phone store here, radio shop there. Lots and lots of different shops. There was a bigger store that was comparable to WalMart but on a much smaller scale that we went to when we needed pots and pans and toiletries, but the one thing they didn’t have was curtains. Due to the war, nobody had opaque curtains, only lace, and we had floor-to-ceiling windows in our bedroom, making it hard to sleep because we were still in the city. We had to ask many people on the street where to find curtains (we literally walked up and down streets), and several blocks from our apartment, we found someone who could make curtains for us. I found the cheapest fabric I could, and a week later, I had gorgeous celadon green curtains! That was one time I wished for a bigger box store, but that’s been the only time and I like the idea of making stores a bit smaller again. Coming back to the States, I had to leave the store empty-handed because I couldn’t decide on which toothpaste to buy – so many choices! In Bosnia I had 3.
Linda says
I do buy my bread at a bakery. I would love to buy my meat at the butcher but it’s too expensive. I do like the idea of going to a smaller shop for specific things.
PattyB says
I watch the weekly ads. I like to buy my produce at Sprouts because they seem to have fresher product. I’ll usually shop at King Soopers (Kroger) because I can earn gas rewards that can save us about $10 on a fill up. They also have almost everything I need and I don’t have to go to another store to find my items. I’ll go to Costco for paper products, cat sand, some bulk purchases and meat. Love Costco’s meat. But I know that at Costco you have to watch their prices to make sure that you aren’t paying more for something you can get at the grocery store on sale. In addition, I have a few prescriptions that the [evil] insurance won’t pay and I can get it for a rather good price. In the summer I like to buy product at the Farmer’s Markets.
Cheryl says
I have been buying organic since before it hit mainstream stores, so for awhile I had to shop everywhere under the sun. I stopped eating processed food a long, long time ago when I noticed how much it affected my digestive system. When money grew on trees, I shopped at Whole Foods a lot especially for meat and I needed high protein foods without all the added chemicals masquerading as fillers. I do a lot of my shopping at King Soopers as well for the very same reason as PattyB…X amount of money off my gas. And there is a protein drink put out by Lucerne that I have to go to Safeway for as well. Now that Monsanto seems to be more prevalent in folks lives, once in a blue moon I will hit the organic farmers for fresh produce as money no longer grows on trees nor my wallet for that matter. I miss the days of having butchers in the grocery stores or being able to actually find a butcher as I always seem to need something not on the shelf. I would like more personalized services as I could then be more assured of not having certain ingredients in my food that my body cannot handle.
Tina P says
I’m in total agreement with you Mavis. I would absolutely LOVE to see smaller specialty businesses. Some of my fondest memories as a child were of going to the local dairy with my Grandfather to buy milk (NON pasteurized) and he always bought us an ice cream as a treat. Or to the local market with my parents and and grandparents to purchased bologna and cheese, cut from huge loafs. I know those two may seem simple but compared to today’s bologna and cheese from the big super chain stores it’s like comparing filet mignon to soy burgers. Just the thought of meandering along store to store or being able to pop in a specific store for a specific item and not having to walk 1/2 mile to find what you need is wonderful indeed. Could you imagine the quality of goods we could potentially be purchasing? My taste buds and going nuts!
Jeanette says
I remember going with my grandmother to our local City Market. This building housed local farmers, bakers, butchers, crafters and their products. Each had their own area. Similar to farmers markets. Alas, it is no more – they have made it into an elementary school, The Downtown School, geared to parents who work in the city. Good way to recycle an old building, but I miss the market, especially since it is harder for me to get around as I have gotten older! Would love to see the smaller specialty shops in a building dedicated to their use. My husband does most of our shopping now and he prefers the big box stores, but when I go I will usually go to a smaller market and a few speciality markets in our area. We also have a large farmers market fairly close that I like, but it is spread out over a large area which is a problem for me. Our small town has a local farmers market in a parking lot (15-20 farmers or so) that I enjoy in the spring and summer months one morning each week.
Marie says
Hey Mavis! Why not adjust ur goal of Costco for 6 months this year & small shops for 6 months. Then compare the big vs small experience? Ha know, spice it up a little!
Ellen in Clackamas says
When I was a kid we were on a small farm and grew our own beef and chickens but didn’t have pork and I can remember going to the butcher shop for sausages and links and pork chops. Was an adventure for us. I would love to go to a butcher shop to get my meat but there is not one close to me and by the time I add gas, time and the added expense of the meat I can’t justify it. There have been a few local farmers bringing meat to the summer market and I do buy from them. Oh so good!
Lisa says
I haven’t been in a regular grocery store for years. I’ve been going to Costco for most things and my local natural food store for things Costco doesn’t have (raw milk and a few odds and ends). There’s not much at a grocery store that I can even buy, since we gave up eating anything with HFCS, aspartame and MSG.
That said, I love the idea of going to speciality shops. I had a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Germany and loved how you could go out and buy fresh bread for the day each morning. My sister-in-law (native German) took me shopping to what she called, “the German Store”. I was so excited. We parked in a Walmart parking lot. I thought, okay, well, maybe we park here and walk to the “German store”. Nope. She walked me right into Walmart! I guess that was when Walmart was set up in Germany (I believe they are no longer there), selling German products. But still, I was sooo disappointed, I didn’t come all this way to shop at Walmart, lol.
Rochelle says
UC Davis Meat Lab (CA) runs in a small butcher shop on Thursdays and Fridays. They sell the beef, pork and chicken that their students butcher in class. Good prices and fabulous meat. I wonder if any other unniversities have anything similar.
Diane says
I recall the heavenly experience I had in Barcelona, Spain in 2001, visiting their huge marketplace, La Boquería. The vendors all had stalls under one roof, and you could get any and every kind of food there. It was busy, but unlike busy grocery stores, it was FUN.
Some of the Portland, OR farmer’s markets are a bit like that, nowadays, but it would be wonderful to have a permanent, centralized public market for shoppers who want to buy from local and small producers. I thought Portland was working on that, but haven’t heard anything about it in a while.
Bottom line is, I’d pay more when I could (which is not always) for locally sourced foods that I can’t grow myself. Our local New Seasons market chain is pretty good for that, but it’s STILL a grocery store. Bring on the public markets!
judy says
Growing up in the 40s and 50s of course we didn’t have big box stores. I would love to be able to go back to the small independent grocer or baker. The economy is a huge factor though, especially on SS. I have heard about the produce at Sprouts and we have one opening this fall. I will not shop at WM. The little guy has so much trouble simply existing these days but they keep trying. Thank goodness. Maybe some day the little guy will win!
Linda says
Mavis, I would have sworn I saw you at the Lacey Costco today! I nearly ran over someone that looks so much like your pictures, I almost asked her if her name is Mavis…but chickened out. If you weren’t in the Olympia/Lacey area today, I think you have a twin there!
Mavis Butterfield says
Ha! I was not in the Olympia/Lacy yesterday. 🙂
Jen Y says
I live in Walmart country just a few miles from the original mom & pop store that grew into the company that exists today. (They started out as the little guy who won – so what’s supposed to happen after they succeed? Do they go back to the bottom & start over again? Just something I’ve never understood when WM gets bashed.)
So we see a lot of their new ideas early on in our area. They recently opened two very different Walmart stores here. They’re both small, one is much like the corner grocer without the butcher. It also has a pharmacy. It was opened in a small town that hasn’t been able to support a grocery store for years. Others came in & failed.
The other is a little bigger & more upscale like the grocery stores I saw when we traveled out west.
I’m still for convenience. I don’t want to go to a lot of different stores when I can take care of everything with one or two stops.
Melinda says
Jen Y,
I have family that worked for Sam’s Club HQ for years, and while I understand what you’re saying – he is the little guy that won – the store today has changed from its earlier roots. They hire lots of people but then those people only get to work 20-30 hours when they would prefer 40 for the benefits. Work less hours = no benefits. I don’t know if that’s what Sam envisioned.
judy says
This is the kind of thing I was talking about. Your corner baker is not out there to be everything to everyone.
Lana says
We do not have many options for small specialty shops in our town but the in and out smaller store is why I love Aldi. Small parking lot and store and I am done in 20 minutes on and on my way home.
Lisa Millar says
Around here we don’t have the massive big Costco – like stores.
I have been in them and they are fun to experience, but I would mostly prefer the smaller shops. (Altho the discounts would be hard to resist)
I grew up in a town that was made up of individual shops and businesses that lined the streets.
We have the variety shops, like K-mart etc, but what frustrates me in a lot of bigger shops is that not so many of the staff seems to be able to help out, answer questions or even find things!
I ran an independent retail shop for years in Canberra, and it was always a struggle against the big departments stores with their massive buying power.
It wasn’t food based – it was in processing and printing film along with custom picture framing and retail items related to them both. We did quite well considering our competition. How do you compete on price when the big chains are printing under cost price photos? Or when they offer film for a price that is less than what you can buy it from your supplier wholesale??
By being really good at what we did. We had great customer service and all our staff were very knowledgeable about our business. We had countless repeat customers and fabulous word of mouth advertising … But its still tough to be small.
I remember a time I went shopping in a bigger chain shop once and it was the most ridiculous string of insanely hopeless staff that between 4 of them, they couldn’t work out a refund that they overcharged me. It was like a Faulty Towers episode (if anyone is familiar with that) Totally 30 minutes of unrecoverable life right there! ***The funniest thing about it all was at the end of all the fussing about and refunding the total cost and re charging me the right price the girl looked at me and asked (I kid you not) “So… do you still want the 30% discount?” ??? Seriously?? No – please charge me double because this has been SOOOO much fun!! (Never shopped there again!)
So I tend to try to buy from ‘the little guy’ where I can to support local business and land owners. I enjoy speaking to the people that make, cook, produce or grow the products I get….
Diane says
EXACTLY our experience, Lisa! We will pay a bit more (when we are able) for REAL customer service and the chance to chat with someone who knows what s/he is talking about and why it matters.
Ronnica, Striving Stewardess says
I was thinking the same thing when I was walking the streets of the outdoor mall adjacent to my apartment complex. I love walking by all the stores…but they are by and large completely useless to me (jewelry stores, sports stores, gift stores, etc.). But what if they were more useful stores?
That said, there are some usefulness (a Farmer’s Market on Sundays in the summer) that I hope to soon be taking advantage of.