by Pa Rock
Consumer
The small Ozark community in which I live is home to twelve thousand people, and it serves as the shopping mecca for a large swath of southern Missouri. My town feeds the rural masses with just four grocery stores.
We have, of course, the odious and evil Walmart Super Center which is the only local grocery that is open twenty-four-hours-a-day and seven-days-a-week. There is also one store that is a member of a nationally recognized chain and has a nice selection of food. This particular store is known for having the highest prices in town, a fact that some predict will eventually bring about its closure.
A third grocer is the largest of all, in floor space and selection, and operates on a gimmick. That store advertises that all of its stock is priced at cost (though it isn't) and that ten-percent is added at checkout to provide the store with its profit. Customers get comfortable looking at lower prices and feeling as though they are getting bargains, and then just sort of unconsciously absorb the extra ten-percent when checking out. Even with the gimmick, prices are generally lower at that store than at Walmart and the other well-known retailer.
The fourth store is Aldi, a "global discount supermarket" based in Germany. Aldi is known for its limited brand selections and as "no frills" marketing experience. Aldi saves money on upkeep because it has less floor space. The store also does not waste money on grocery-baggers because the customers bag their own purchases - either with bags that they bring or with paper sacks for sale in the store at seven-cents each. (There are also bins of empty cardboard boxes which shoppers may take for their own personal use.) Shopping carts are locked together outside, and it takes a quarter to free a cart for use. When the customer is finished, he or she returns the cart back to the line and gets the quarter back - a situation that results in the store not having to hire people to roam the parking lot collecting shopping carts.
Like most of America, I shopped at Walmart for years, until the day about thirty years ago when a fourteen-year-old store manager in Neosho and I had a disagreement over a store policy. I told him as I was leaving that I would never be back. Pimples looked smug and probably thought I was referencing just his fiefdom in Neosho, but I was a universalist and determined then and there to not shop at any Walmart - and with one exception due to a medical emergency, I have kept that vow.
Upon arriving in my new town four years ago, I initially tried all of the groceries (except Walmart) to find the best fit. I eventually wound up becoming a customer at the gimmick store because of their reasonable prices and large selection. I also liked the large aisles and ease of navigating through the store. That grocery suffered from technology issues that seemed to often result in clogged lines at checkout. My last shopping experience ended when I had to take a hundred dollars worth of groceries off of one checkout stand and physically take them to another. That was the crowning indignity of several that I had suffered over the years, and I determined that store would be added to my no-shop list.
That left the expensive store and Aldi. I gave the expensive store a couple of tries and quickly determined that their service was no better than the one I had just left - and the prices were too high.
So now I am shopping at Aldi. It is the least expensive store around - and the only Aldi within miles in any direction - it is also a challenging shopping experience, one that requires careful study and patience. I have made several trips there lately primarily just to acquaint myself with the store and its unique practices. (For instance, I didn't figure out the grocery-bags-for-purchase until I happened to see a woman doing it during my second or third visit - and I had to ask a stranger for help in figuring out how to "rent" a shopping cart.)
Aldi saves floor space by carrying a very limited number of brands - almost all "store" brands. Most of what I have tried so far are as good as or better than the name brands available in the other grocery stores. Some stock rotates in and out. I asked about gallons of tea yesterday, and the checker told me that they offer them "sometimes." Shredded cheese is also on the missing list, but other than that I have been able to find my basic food needs.
I am learning new ways of shopping. The Aldi here is compact and always crowded, so I have discovered the easiest way to shop is to park my cart out of the way and then walk around and find what I need - making frequent trips back to the cart.
Aldi is a singular experience, and I hope that I can master the challenges of shopping there. It's my last chance, and if it doesn't work out I am going to have to put in one helluva garden!
Consumer
The small Ozark community in which I live is home to twelve thousand people, and it serves as the shopping mecca for a large swath of southern Missouri. My town feeds the rural masses with just four grocery stores.
We have, of course, the odious and evil Walmart Super Center which is the only local grocery that is open twenty-four-hours-a-day and seven-days-a-week. There is also one store that is a member of a nationally recognized chain and has a nice selection of food. This particular store is known for having the highest prices in town, a fact that some predict will eventually bring about its closure.
A third grocer is the largest of all, in floor space and selection, and operates on a gimmick. That store advertises that all of its stock is priced at cost (though it isn't) and that ten-percent is added at checkout to provide the store with its profit. Customers get comfortable looking at lower prices and feeling as though they are getting bargains, and then just sort of unconsciously absorb the extra ten-percent when checking out. Even with the gimmick, prices are generally lower at that store than at Walmart and the other well-known retailer.
The fourth store is Aldi, a "global discount supermarket" based in Germany. Aldi is known for its limited brand selections and as "no frills" marketing experience. Aldi saves money on upkeep because it has less floor space. The store also does not waste money on grocery-baggers because the customers bag their own purchases - either with bags that they bring or with paper sacks for sale in the store at seven-cents each. (There are also bins of empty cardboard boxes which shoppers may take for their own personal use.) Shopping carts are locked together outside, and it takes a quarter to free a cart for use. When the customer is finished, he or she returns the cart back to the line and gets the quarter back - a situation that results in the store not having to hire people to roam the parking lot collecting shopping carts.
Like most of America, I shopped at Walmart for years, until the day about thirty years ago when a fourteen-year-old store manager in Neosho and I had a disagreement over a store policy. I told him as I was leaving that I would never be back. Pimples looked smug and probably thought I was referencing just his fiefdom in Neosho, but I was a universalist and determined then and there to not shop at any Walmart - and with one exception due to a medical emergency, I have kept that vow.
Upon arriving in my new town four years ago, I initially tried all of the groceries (except Walmart) to find the best fit. I eventually wound up becoming a customer at the gimmick store because of their reasonable prices and large selection. I also liked the large aisles and ease of navigating through the store. That grocery suffered from technology issues that seemed to often result in clogged lines at checkout. My last shopping experience ended when I had to take a hundred dollars worth of groceries off of one checkout stand and physically take them to another. That was the crowning indignity of several that I had suffered over the years, and I determined that store would be added to my no-shop list.
That left the expensive store and Aldi. I gave the expensive store a couple of tries and quickly determined that their service was no better than the one I had just left - and the prices were too high.
So now I am shopping at Aldi. It is the least expensive store around - and the only Aldi within miles in any direction - it is also a challenging shopping experience, one that requires careful study and patience. I have made several trips there lately primarily just to acquaint myself with the store and its unique practices. (For instance, I didn't figure out the grocery-bags-for-purchase until I happened to see a woman doing it during my second or third visit - and I had to ask a stranger for help in figuring out how to "rent" a shopping cart.)
Aldi saves floor space by carrying a very limited number of brands - almost all "store" brands. Most of what I have tried so far are as good as or better than the name brands available in the other grocery stores. Some stock rotates in and out. I asked about gallons of tea yesterday, and the checker told me that they offer them "sometimes." Shredded cheese is also on the missing list, but other than that I have been able to find my basic food needs.
I am learning new ways of shopping. The Aldi here is compact and always crowded, so I have discovered the easiest way to shop is to park my cart out of the way and then walk around and find what I need - making frequent trips back to the cart.
Aldi is a singular experience, and I hope that I can master the challenges of shopping there. It's my last chance, and if it doesn't work out I am going to have to put in one helluva garden!
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