Category Archives: shop

Aug2

climbing out of the rabbit hole.

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follow-up and resolution to yesterday’s post-

after a long spiral down the rabbit hole

in a journey to procure

a throw pillow and a rug

purely on a whim

that i didn’t really need

i went to sleep.

–

when i woke to a new day

i headed over to pick up my goods

determined to make it work

when i arrived at the store

 shared why i was there

we, as a group

the only three employees and i

discovered that:

my pillow order had been cancelled and refunded

as they were never able to locate it in the store

next up:

they seemed genuinely stumped

when i showed them

the ‘your rug is ready for pickup’  e-mail

sent to me by their company

they each asked my name

looked at my confirmation

typed the order number in their computers

muttered some stuff

looked at each other quizically

and off they all went on the hunt

each in a different direction

when they returned

it was determined that

no one could find it

they discussed it again

one finally looked up and said-

‘oh, i remember finding it last night and putting in the pickup area!’

who knew?

i was not going to leave that store without my rug

so i actively began helping them find it

(do they only carry one of each item?)

they were all looking for a rolled up rug

but i found it folded on shelf instead

in –

‘the pickup area!’

so lucky i am a hobby detective

(even though i have a strong startle response)

with my refund for the pillow they never found

and the discount i battled with ai online to get

my rug ended up extremely well priced

making it even more of a treasure

 last night

i laid on my new rug

without a new festive throw pillow nearby

proud of my crack detective work

exhausted and amused by the crazy process

tomorrow –

who knows what will happen

when i go to the post office and the movies?!!

 

—

“the only way out of a hole is to climb out.”

-cherly strayed, american author, wild

 

 

 

 

 

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image credit: psyschology today

Jun27

dignity.

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i went shopping

for two very different gifts

the first 

 a bit of fancy lingerie for a soon to be bride to be

the second 

a book about animal art for my granddaughter’s soon to be birthday

all went well at the first shop, i found a beautiful gift

 at the second shop, i found the perfect book

but when i looked down

i noticed that the lingerie has spilled out of my bag

right onto the floor

smack dab in the center of the little indy bookstore

i casually picked it up without too much fuss

laughing to myself

but when i tried to put it back in the bag

i discovered that the bag had torn

which led to it falling out in the first place

when next trying to quickly stuff it in the bag

it kept getting worse

 falling to the ground a couple more times

so i finally 

had to scoop the whole mess up in my arms

and clutch it to my body

 carrying it to the register to buy the book

leaving one arm free to pay

no one said a word

but they did offer me a small chocolate and a smile as i left.

—

“i left the room with silent dignity, but caught my foot in the mat.”

-george grossman

Feb26

shopping and dropping.

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three out of three are down for the count.

everyone enjoys the ‘shopping experience’ in their own way. 

 

—

“shopping is always fun for those that enjoy it.” 

-auliq ice

Aug25

*rudolph.

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a white-tailed deer startled shoppers

after it wandered in and strolled the aisles in a dollar general store

it seems even mother nature can’t resist low prices.

—

Shoppers were joined by an unexpected patron Friday when a female white-tailed deer wandered into the Dollar General store in Jackson, Michigan.

“I was shopping and I heard a commotion coming from the front of the store,” said Connie MacGuinness, a customer in the store at the time. “I heard people calling out ‘Oh no!” MacGuinness turned around to see the deer walking straight toward her down the aisle, she said. “I was stunned for a quick minute, then got out my phone.”

A report of the animal’s escapades reached the Jackson Police Department. Police and Fire Services Director Elmer Hitt said within a few minutes, officers from JPD and Jackson County Animal Control arrived to help lead the doe back out of the store. “It seemed as scared as we were, but it didn’t run around or seem upset,” MacGuinness said.

Another shopper told MacGuinness they saw the deer walk into the store through the open sliding door at the front of the building.The deer was in the building for about 20 minutes before police guided it outside an open door by barricading the aisles with boxes and carts.

*note: my personal theory is that rudolph had a lot of shopping to do,

hoped to beat the black friday crowd in november,

wanted to fly under the radar, and stock up on some good deals.

unfortunately rudolph is now such a celebrity

that it’s hard to be out in public

without being noticed and posted about on social media. – beth

 

—

“i’m like rudolph the red-nosed reindeer. if i’m not ready, the sled isn’t going to go.

-kevin garnett, nba championship player

 

 

—

credits: photo – connie macguinness, mitchell kukula, mlive.com, jackson police and fire

Jan11

aisle of shame.

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Aldi shoppers are not birds, but they sometimes sound like they are.

meet the proud shoppers of aldi’s ‘aisle of shame.’ this aisle has its own subculture and fan club.
(the ‘caw’ sound you may hear is one fan calling to another)

The “Aisle of Shame” is the unofficial name Aldi enthusiasts have given the store’s middle aisle, home to a weekly rotation of curious edible and non-edible products available only while supplies last. We’re talking everything from vegan lasagna made from lentils to a churro maker and apple cinnamon latte-flavored dog biscuits. The recipe for the Aisle of Shame’s surprising cult status combines the joy of a bargain, the thrill of discovery, the allure of the unusual, and the satisfaction of snapping up a limited-time offer.

“It’s something that you can use to express yourself and add fun and joy to your grocery shopping,” says enthusiastic  shopper Brenna Bazemore of its odd assortment of products. “I hate grocery shopping, but I love to go to Aldi and shop, because I know I’m at least going to get something that I can use outside of food and that’s always exciting to me.”

Plus, she can share her excitement with a million other AOS fans in the Facebook group where members share more than recipes, reviews, and Insta-worthy pics. With an evolving lingo, hashtag trends, and a propensity for random acts of kindness, the Aisle of Shame community is a unique food culture inspired by a grocery store. The Aisle of Shame’s edible advent calendars contain beer, cheese, and more. “It started as a fan group and it has become so much more,” writes Stefanie Fleming, the creator of the  Aisle of Shame website and Facebook group.

While each week’s AOS items can often seem like a compilation of randomness, a method exists. Since Aldi keeps prices low by stocking about 1,400 products (mostly staples) compared to a conventional grocery store’s 40,000, the AOS introduces more excitement and variety for shoppers. The aisle, which each week is split 50-50 between edible and non-edible items, often has a theme, whether seasonal (pumpkin foods in the fall; pool products in the summer) or regional (many AOS enthusiasts plan meals of schnitzel, spätzle, and strudel around the aisle’s German Week). Nils Brandes, a retail consultant who has co-written a book on Aldi’s business strategies, estimates that 20 percent of all yearly sales come from these products.

The Aisle of Shame is also where the grocers test new products to gauge their popularity—the vegetarian and vegan Earth Grown and gluten-free LiveGfree product lines, for instance, advanced from the AOS to the main aisles. “It’s crazy to think this is a grocery-store community,” Bazemore says.

After some thought, McKillip observes that Aldi shoppers might be more down-to-earth, their need to make a dollar stretch giving them both a healthier perspective about the products and more joy when they have room in their carts and budgets for the AOS’s more quirky products. Ultimately, though, she offers a simpler explanation: “It’s fun.”

—

“you’ve got bad eating habits if you use a grocery cart in 7-eleven.”

-dennis miller

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credits: gastro obscura, sara murphy, photo: stella murphy
Nov16

mixed message.

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fashion fad: mittens are the new shoes.

 

—

“organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.”

-a.a. milne

Jun30

let (a few of) them eat cake!

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when reading the day’s news online

there were the expected headlines/updates/graphs:

scotus decision

virus numbers updates

calls for mayor’s resignation

protest marches continue

doctors’ opinions

iran’s decision

cruise ship passengers awaiting refunds

election polls

presidential tweets

to wear a mask or not?

europe’s reopening

and then in huge letters:

COSTCO STOPS SELLING HALF-SHEET CAKES

what?

why is this a story?

why is this a bigger-font-size-worthy story?

what is the story?

here’s the story and it’s an odd logic.:

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The past few months have been chaotic for Costco customers, with product shortages, long lines and the temporary elimination of free food samples. Now, it appears there’s another change for devoted shoppers: Costco has eliminated the iconic half-sheet cakes that are the centerpiece of graduation and birthday parties.

Costco has quietly stopped selling the $20 half-sheet cakes across its US stores for the past month, instead pointing people toward its 10-inch round cakes and other assorted baked goods.

“To help limit personal contact and create more space for social distancing, Costco has reduced service in some departments,” the company explained to outraged customers on its Facebook account. 

Costco confirmed to CNN Business it’s not selling the half-sheet cakes anymore and it has “no immediate plans” to bring it back. A spokesperson added that its 10-inch round cakes “seem to be resonating with our members.”

The decision also coincides with a recommendation from several US states and health agencies to avoid or prohibit large gatherings in light of Covid-19. Half-sheet cakes feeds around 50 people, while its 10-inch round cake serves around a dozen.

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my interpretation: apparently the thought is that if you don’t have a big cake, you will not have a big celebration, where people will gather around the big cake in a big group. if you have more pieces of cake, you will then invite more people to go with it. what if you just bought a few round cakes, couldn’t you invite the same amount of people and just cut from the round cakes, or would that discourage you from inviting more guests as you’d have to then open more than one box? what about people just deciding to socially distance themselves without the cake being the deciding factor? just wondering, or is this that devil math at play once again? does it come down to having to match ratios, person to piece, and not have any leftover cake to eat for breakfast? i  knew i should have listened in school. 

—

“cake is happiness! If you know the way of the cake, you know the way of happiness!

If you have a cake in front of you, you should not look any further for joy!”

-c. joyBell c.

 

 

 

—

credits: cnn business

Sep24

playing chicken.

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as merely an observer of the event

I’d have to guess

that she when she arrived at the store

 perhaps with the intention

of buying a tea towel

she did not plan to leave

with a giant metal chicken

and may have even worried

that if she did not buy it today

someone else might come along

and find

they too could not live without it

one day longer.

life is funny that way.

 

—

‘buying involves decision-making.

it’s a performance activity, like sports or acting.’

-mark goulston