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
Feb26
Category Archives: shopping
Feb3
driftwood.
a piece of driftwood
mixed in
among the vases and mirrors and tchotchkes and other home decor items
and while i’m a fan of natural found materials
i was not really motivated to spend $39.99 on this
but i do now have an idea for my summer job –
beachcomber.
—
“i imagined your stick, washing in the waves for hundreds of years,
turning to driftwood
smooth and hard like stone.
i imagined a little girl finding it on a beach so many years later.
saving it on her shelf,
where she put the things that made her feel like the world was magical.”
– ava dellaira
Aug25
*rudolph.
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.
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
Oct19
stuck.
while shopping at target recently
i found myself in a long, slow, self-checkout line
behind a family of three-
a tired after a long day looking mother
a perky tween daughter
and a high-energy young son
who was clearly bored and restless.
needing to create something to do
the young son
somehow found a way to
push his head through the middle of the skeleton wreath
that they were waiting to purchase.
due to the crazy universal law of
‘on is easier than off’
he could not get it
back over his head to take it off again.
first he tried to get it off himself,
then his sister joined in,
when she heard his yelping
mom turned around, sighed, put her things down, and proceeded to help
looking at her wits end
as they patiently worked their way toward the front of the snaking line
continuing to struggle with the skeleton wreath removal project.
when they finally were in the front
mom asked the store clerk if she could scan the wreath while he was still wearing it
and deal with getting it off after they purchased it
she got the go ahead, scanned it on his neck, along with all her other items
and moved out of line.
employees quickly jumped in to help
with one holding his ears flat,
another tilting the wreath in a variety of positions,
his mother putting lotion on his face
moving his head up and down,
and his sister trying to keep him calm.
when they were finally able to free his head from the wreath
he stopped crying
mom quietly pushed her cart out of the store
her son carrying the wreath
his sister holding his hand
looking like they were all more than ready to head home.
—
“there is no panic like the panic when you momentarily feel
when you get your hand or head stuck in something.”
-peter kay
Jan5
else.
so much going on
if nothing else
you might never need
to shop anywhere else
so many options
none really appeal to me
maybe because i’m in the
‘& everybody else’ category
maybe it’s something else.
—
“marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department.”
~ david packard
Nov16
mixed message.
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
Sep21
to market, to market.
as i was scanning my groceries
in the self-checkout line
this unusual impulse-buy display was sitting next to me
a combo of giant candy bars and mini bottles of tequila
someone thought this marketing idea
would be a good fit for the market
the perfect mix to send you on your way and start your day off right!
it’s 2020 – what could possibly go wrong?
—
“market like the year you are in!”
-gary vaynerchuck
Jul7
at long last.
at last, at long last
after many days of waiting
with no pending arrival date
once called ‘non-essential’
my glitter shoes have arrived
balance is restored.
—
“a little glitter can turn your whole day around.”
-barbara park
Jun30
let (a few of) them eat cake!
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.:
—
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.
—
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
I didn't have my glasses on.... 