All That (and a bag a chips)

The other evening I realized we were out of the critical groceries for our upcoming week. Two types of milk, carrots, some fruit, some afternoon snacks, some summer sausage, a bit of cereal and spread for my toast ;). Being a morning person, I decided to wake up early the next morning and hit the grocery store… and the question arose – which one? Which store would supply my needs for this grocery run? I made the decision to wake up and then decide… though in the back of my mind, I knew which one I was headed to.

I did wake up early (6:20am). I got on my horse and rode it… to what we consider to be the all out grocery store. The bigger one, that surely has all our grocery needs, pretty good store brands, at good prices and no other stuff. The only issue being their quality – sometimes the stuff around their outer perimeter, the stuff we really need (like fruit, veggies, meat, dairy and donuts bread) aren’t up to snuff for our picky tastes – but this week we don’t care.

It was a pleasant experience, not only did I get up and get the shopping taken care of before the day got too hot – but also the store was all mine – there weren’t many customers there then. Within this store the produce guy was laying out his spreads with new stuff, one of the aisle guys reminded me to grab an immediate coupon for the sports drinks, and I was able to use rewards on our account – to be used towards getting gas at a discount. I did get donuts too, though they were only ok (as expected).

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An other option would have been to go to the bigger super-store which had food plus all the other stuff, greeting cards, toys, beach gear, home furnishings, clothing. I am not a regular at this type of place in regards to groceries because – it doesn’t feel like a grocery store. Therefore the food seems less… fulfilling? Less tasty? I don’t know, it just seems less, probably because I think of this store as a retail place rather than a grocery store. But, it seems this type of store is the future… sort of. Perhaps our boys would relate better to these stores - once they are grown.

The other option would have been the quasi-local grocery store. Smaller, closer, descent parking, better quality foods – meaning fruits, vegetables, meat and baked stuff. And of course higher prices. The price we pay to have more convenient, better quality food – that still gets bagged for you, if you like. This option almost made the cut, being that this was a short-list grocery run, however I just wasn’t sure that it would be open so early and didn’t want the higher price stigma (on this day). Check it.

The final option was out of the question, Costco wasn’t open this early, isn’t really convenient and I didn’t need the bulk quantities they supply.

The reason I bring this up, is that grocery stores are changing. As the big behemoths move in with retail stuff plus groceries, they are seemingly driving the middle sized all out grocery type stores out of business. Case in point - our local Supervalu, now struggling to figure out how to stay relevant.

As mentioned earlier, we personally, do not use the large retail places. This is primarily because we can purchase bulk from Costco (and feel somewhat good about their brands and how they treat their employees) and then in the end hit the local place for those smaller grocery runs… I am afraid our all out grocery stores are in trouble as they strive to compete. Competition brings prices down, until one leader throttles the others and shuts them down.

There are other choices too, corner drug stores, stores like Trader Joe's, Aldi, the Midtown Global Market, gas stations, etc.. And the choice of course is all dependent upon your means of travel (auto, bus, bike, walk), how much you want to pay, and your quantity and quality thresholds.

Other interesting choices these days for really good organic foods are Whole Foods, the farmers’ market or local co-ops. Good food, though pricier at Whole Foods and sometimes less choice at co-ops, and farmers markets may leave you wondering where their food really comes from.

In the end, I would relate the grocery business to some of the other change that is happening in the U.S. Larger health exchanges so far sound like the retail/grocery stores, while the local clinics struggle to stay relevant, unless they have a specialty status. Costco and Co-ops seem to offer better offerings to labor satisfaction with minor caveats like hours and convenience. The middle (all out grocery stores, "middle income people") is getting thinned out and must make tough budgetary decisions.

The need for food stays constant though the market changes… as the world turns... and drought hits the breadbasket.

All that, (on my trip to the grocery store) and a bag of chips as well.