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Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jkgourmet
Which is part of the reason that Aldi and Lidl have HUGE expansion plans for the US.
I think that you have a Lidl open in your area now. Have you been, yet? Neither of my nearby Lidls have opened, yet, but the remodeled Aldis are great.
We have precisely the number of stores suggested by the economics of grocery stores. And tomorrow if 500 new ones open or 500 close, I would say the same.
Well the economics are rapidly changing, as we have seen from the closures of many many retailers. Grocery stores may be next.
I doubt it. I don't see the majority of people ordering groceries online and having them shipped to the house.
That's exactly what people said 10 years ago:
"Nobody's gonna buy shoes or pants or weedeaters or paper towels or XXXXYYYZZZZ online"
Today Amazon is the Number 1 seller of apparel; they sell more clothes and shoes than any other retailer in the U.S.
Today we have gazillions of people who prefer to shop online in their sweatpants at 3 a.m.,
or from work when nobody is looking,
instead of going to a store
Today we have people who prefer getting something delivered than schlepping to a store
It's very interesting what is happening with retail
I know that I don't care for many of the big box grocery stores. They seem to sell the same stuff: different name/different price, and the quality is just ... meh. I would love to see some of the small specialty stores that would sell just artisan bread and pastry, or just meats and deli, or fruit/veggies stands etc. But there is no hope that they would come back anytime soon...
It's a shame your area has limitations for groceries. It definitely depends on where you live. We have wonderful small shops as well as a huge amount of large chain, big box and warehouse stores. The variety would seem to keep all types of shoppers here happy.
We have small Italian markets with specialty deli, onsite butcher and bakery with the best bread and rolls! We have farms with fresh produce and their own milk and baked goods/preserves. We still have butcher shops/meat markets, family owned bakeries and a variety of ethnic shops. I've lived in two counties outside of Philadelphia all my life (less the first 22 months), and I think shopping choices for groceries have improved over the decades. The small family owned shops we go to do a thriving business and have been here for many decades. As long as there is a demand for such quality, it doesn't matter how many supermarkets are around. Our area is proof of that.
"Nobody's gonna buy shoes or pants or weedeaters or paper towels or XXXXYYYZZZZ online"
Today Amazon is the Number 1 seller of apparel; they sell more clothes and shoes than any other retailer in the U.S.
Today we have gazillions of people who prefer to shop online in their sweatpants at 3 a.m.,
or from work when nobody is looking,
instead of going to a store
Today we have people who prefer getting something delivered than schlepping to a store
It's very interesting what is happening with retail
I agree with you to a point. I've shopped Amazon for many items, but when I crave ice cream and cookies or need milk, eggs, bacon and English muffins, I doubt I'm going to turn to the internet when a two minute drive any hour of the day or night takes me to all I need and want. When my family wants breakfast I can't tell them the ingredients will be here the day after tomorrow. Well, I can, but it wouldn't end well! LOL
That is not the only reason they are popular. They are also popular b/c they are 20-30,000 sq feet, half the size of a traditional grocery store. They are a quicker shop. Most of the new grocers are following this smaller store model: Fresh Thyme, Sprouts, Earth Fare. Walmart is now building smaller stores, so is Meijer.
The trend is smaller, unless you are Wegmans. Wegmans seems to be the only one bucking the small store trend.
But Aldi doesn't have everything so then you need to go to yet another store to get what they don have. I'd rather go to a bigger store that has everything and save time!
When I was working in San Francisco I had my pantry items delivered by Safeway. I would build a list over a week and then just select a delivery time. I lived within 2 blocks of local produce markets with meat markets inside. I would shop about every other day on the way home from work for fresh veggies and meats. I loved the fact that I could get just the right amount of what I needed.
Now that I'm retired in South Carolina I live within 3 miles of 4 major groceries. During the summers there are fairly good farmer's markets, but I am struggling to find a cost effective meat market. Packaged meats in the stores are for serving a family of 4 or more, I end up having to either eat the same thing for a couple of nights in a row, or freezing the excess.
We do have a Publix that will split a package of meat for you, but it's about 30 minutes away, not really convenient.
In my area, I love Harris Teeter, that is my store. There are others to chose from. But I like their sales, quality, customer service, selection ,etc. I do think there are too may selections to meet my needs as far as grocery stores go. Aldi has a good quality but a limited selection, which I like as well. Who needs an entire aisle of chips? They have one selection of each flavor, not 25.
Hey thanks for letting us know about the Cornucopia site, it's awesome!
My pleasure. I love the site. It's great to see that there are quality farms around the country, with farmers who really care about their livestock and chickens and also about producing superior quality products.
I'm hoping they will include orchards in the future.
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