Tuesday’s column: The November reader mailbag
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Buying groceries and voting are two of life’s universals, more or less. They were also the focus of a lot of reader reaction in the past month.
The first concerned my Nov. 4 column on the irritating practice by supermarkets of moving products around their stores to confuse customers and earn more money.
Although the technical term is a “reset,” I dubbed it the “supermarket switcheroo.” Many others find it infuriating.
Ted Towles of Fincastle got fed up with that practice. So just about a year ago he struck back in an email to Kroger.
Before changing stores, “I wanted Kroger to know what they were losing and why. I actually went back through my checkbook register for the previous two years and calculated that losing me would cost Kroger about $300 a month (for one adult human and two cats),” he wrote in an email.
“I could not be happier. The Food Lion is maybe 25 percent of the size of the Kroger store, and I have had to give up a lot in product variety and size choices. But the store has that old Mick-or-Mack feel.”
Kathy Shaw of Hardy adds, “If I have to stop for an item I do not want to have to search the whole store for it. There have been times where I have walked out without buying anything because I got so fed up with trying to find the few things I wanted.
“Did you know that, in Walmart, coffee filters are not with the coffee? They are with the coffee makers. Like I’m going to buy a new coffee maker every time I need filters. Go figure.”
READ THE REST OF THE COLUMN HERE.
December 4, 2012 - 6:00 AM
The reason why the coffee filters are with the coffee makers is so that you will check out the new ones and maybe buy one. Same as with the milk being in back of the stores, you have to go through the aisles to get there. Hopefully, you will buy something else. The “reset” is all a ploy to get you to purchase on a whim.
My Kroger is still in the middle of a remodel and it is making me CRAZY! They continually move things around, which of course sends me scrambling around the store looking for things. The latest switch-er-roo was when I went in on Friday to pick up some OJ for the kids. The OJ is now where the flower cases used to be (?)! Cheese is now where the OJ USED to be.
My biggest concern regarding the store resets is the potential to inconvenience the 48 million people on food stamps. On the other hand, if they complain enough, the Obama Administration might get involved and make the stores change things back to the way they were. Those damn capitalists are just plain mean. Help us Barack!
An annoying practice I’ve found in nearly every grocery store is putting temporary displays up in the middle of aisles. Typically, they have nothing to do with what is in that section of the store and they hold up traffic of shoppers moving one way or the other. I’ll give my local Kroger store some credit. It has a refrigerated display cabinet containing milk, butter & eggs in the front of the store. So if that’s all you are after you can get it, check out and leave without much hassle.
Every Holiday season I watch the clerks at Kroger change the pricecards–ice cream that was $1.99 becomes $2.99; veggies that were a dollar are now $1.69, and so on–and those prices don’t go down nearly as much as they went up when the season is done. It’s pretty discouraging when you’re living on a fixed budget so that when others are feasting, you’re fasting!
#3 I just hate it that you’re so short of stuff to whine and snivel about that you have to make up crap like this, AC. Tough life.
AnotherChuck, it takes a really big person to invent stupidity like your post at 10:07 for no other purpose than to slam people down on their luck and in need of some help to feed their kids. Must make you feel like a really big guy…I bet your family would be proud of you!
My Kroger isn’t the best one and just went through a reset which I’ve adjusted to, but my only gripe with if is why they think 9am on a Saturday morning is a great time to roll a bunch of huge dollies into the middle of the freezer sections to restock the cabinets. Aren’t they open 24/7? Wouldn’t it be smarter to do it when most working people aren’t doing their weekly shopping, maybe at 3am? Some aisles I just give up on completely.
In this economy, with wages stagnating and jobs disappearing for well over ten years, we are lucky that only 15% of the nation is on some SNAP assistance.
gdad, this entire post is whining. I can’t believe it is even blog worthy to complain about grocery stores resetting their stores. Don’t you think the stores do this to better server their customers? Don’t you think that they want to keep their customers and add new product lines? Don’t you think they make the evil profit for their shareholders?
I used hyperbole to make an analogy that Obama might want to help out the folks who voted for him. Mitt Romney lost the election when he “threatened” he was going to put people back to work. Many Obama supportors didn’t like that idea.
“gdad, this entire post is whining. I can’t believe it is even blog worthy to complain about grocery stores resetting their stores. Don’t you think the stores do this to better server their customers?”
Another Chuck,
If you define confusing their customers and creating an environment in which their customers will make more impulse buys as better serving customers, then yes, by all means, they’re doing to to “better serve” them.
But no sane person would define it that way.
Actually, Another Chuck, the electorate recognized that Romney had absolutely zero idea how he was going to “put people back to work”, and responded appropriately.
Okay then, retailers such as Kroger, FoodLion and WalMart all stay up at night and scheme how to merchandise their stores to confuse shoppers. Wow, those theories make a lot of sense,,in lieu of customer satisfation and loyalty, let’s anger our consumer base so they will not shop here anymore.Balderdash!!
All retailers and especially grocers remerchandise their respetive stores as an effort to offer their customers more variety, selction,and vast opportunities of new items and segments,,such as organics.
Maybe in lieu of all the presumed not needed resets, lets just have the grocers stack it out on the sidewalk and have every shopping day like black Friday.
Come on shoppers, it really is not that hard to shop for groceries,,really!!
Some of y’all need to read the original column about the Supermarket Swicheroo. There’s been professional research done on this subject.
It is not about confusing or confounding the customer, it is, as always, about keeping the customer in the store as long as possible hoping for those impulse and brilliant idea purchases it might inspire. The RISK the ire, but I bet the sales make up for it.
I spent 28 years in the grocery industry as a Sales and Marketing Business Manager, aka Food Broker-I read that article and the comments on your blog and the professiaonal research is comical and unbelievable.I have called on headquarter levels managers for chains and independent grocers and this switcheroo is nonsense. Why would a profitable grocer purposely want to anger their consumer base?? Answer ,, they do not,,why do you think Kroger and Food Lion have loyalty cards? To find out more about their shoppers and to target experiences to make their shopping experience more pleasant..The manufactureres new items and new entries into select caregoried make it much needed for retailers to reset their product and promotional mixes,,
Kristen, of course I care about people that are in legitimate need of programs such as food stamps. My “slam” was intended for Obama, and I think you know that. I think Obama is very unfriendly towards business in general. Examples include Obamacare, which is another tax on businesses and individuals, that is and will cost us jobs. Addtionally, his latest promise to raise taxes on the wealthy, which is projected to cost the country 200-700K jobs. Almost all economist are against any tax increase in this fragile economy. Obama is raising taxes out of spite towards the rich and no other reason.
Dan, I don’t like having to learn new store layouts either. But I do because I need products. Furthermore, I take personal responsibility for any purchase I make, even if it is an impulse buy….so should everyone else, without people making excuses for them.
“My “slam” was intended for Obama, and I think you know that. I think Obama is very unfriendly towards business in general.”
Another Chuck will invent any reason, even supermarket resets, to criticize Obama.
“Almost all economist are against any tax increase in this fragile economy. Obama is raising taxes out of spite towards the rich and no other reason.”
–Comment by Another Chuck
This is a flat out lie. Most economists have called for tax increases.
“NEW YORK (AP) — Economists say a combination of higher taxes and lower spending is the best way to reduce the federal budget deficit.
A survey on economic policies conducted by the National Association for Business Economists released today also forecast that short-term interest rates would remain at current levels for at least another year.
The economists say the Federal Reserve should not buy more bonds to support and stimulate the economy as it has in the last few years, even though the policy has been effective. The Fed began buying Treasury bonds during the recession after the 2008 financial crisis to try to lower long-term interest rates and help jump-start the economy.
In an election year, the growing U.S. federal deficit has drawn heightened partisan debate in Congress over spending and taxes with not much resolution in sight. The deficit is on pace to exceed $1 trillion for the fourth straight year. The gap worsened during the Great Recession, when tax revenues plummeted after millions of people lost their jobs and corporate profits fell.
An overwhelming majority in the NABE poll — 87 percent — said higher taxes should be considered along with less spending to reduce the federal budget deficit.”
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2012/mar/26/economists-support-tax-increases-to-lower-deficit/
Moreover, while higher taxes on the poor and middle class (which is what some Republicans wanted) WOULD hurt the economy, raising marginal rates on the top 2 percent is unlikely to.
So, AnotherChuck, you’re using people going through a difficult time in life as a vehicle for your unhealthy obsession with nitpicking Obama. All righty! That makes it much, much better.
As for your follow-up rationales in which you blame Obama for everything but your toenail fungus, give it up.
Dan, I agree that some tax increases could be part of solving our fiscal problem, as long as the increases are targeted towards the debt and not thrown into the general fund. My statement was in regards to the fragile state of the economy right now. IF we are out of the recession now, we are barely out of it and we could easily drift back into it. I believe almost all economist and Obama himself are on record as saying, we shouldn’t raise taxes in a recession.
I stand by my statement that the increase on taxes on the rich is based in spite Obama is a social justice warrior! The amount of increased revenue with his proposed tax hikes Vs. the risk of losing 200-700K jobs could only be based upon his ire for the rich. Otherwise, he would already have a plan in place to deal with the big entitlement programs and defense spending where the real problems lie.
“I believe almost all economist and Obama himself are on record as saying, we shouldn’t raise taxes in a recession. “
–Comment by Another Chuck.
Another Chuck, do you also believe that 2 + 2 = 5? I hope you realize that, no matter what YOU BELIEVE, that equation and you statement about what “almost all economist” believe are easily verifiable or disproven. Whether you believe them or not, btw.
I love you guys. Probably a modest tax rate increase on the 2 percent highest earners won’t change your tax bill at all. But you stand on “principle,” arguing against tax increases on people who behind your back are laughing and quietly trying to get a tax increase put on YOU. It’s amazing.
Another Chuck, do you think President Obama reads this blog? Maybe someone will forward your slam.
What economists are against is spending cuts.
Okay, Another Chuck, your erudite and persuasive examples have convinced me to reconsider what the President’s doing to the country, After all, Smith Mountain Lake was never this low when Bush was president…
Dear Santa, please help me to stop shopping the grocers that are playing wheel of fortune, hollywood squares, swicheroo,and jeopardy with my shopping dollars. It is difficult enough for me to make a cogent decision on how to shop without schematic changes to where my products are usually located. Also, please help the store clerk who has been trained to be rude and ignore my requests for finding products. Should I still select the wrong product in my decision making hierarchy, I will blame the retailer when and get home and no longer shop there,,
DC, I agree that taxing the top 2% (I’m not one of them) is fine as long as it is part of a comprehensive solution to recuding our debt. Spending, and the fact that our powers that be have ignored the easily predictable drain of the entitlement systems from the aging of the baby boomers is where I have a problem. Please be aware that my fiscal disdain is not only for Obama, but for Bush 41 and 43, and mainly for Congress. The system is broken.
The feeling I get is that you liberals really don’t feel that repairing our debt, credit rating or fiscal responsibility is imperative to our survival. I could be wrong about that but I seen no evidence on this board to the contrary. However. the current proposed tax increases does little to nothing to solve the problem. But, I do sadly predict that if we do not address our deficit spending, we will all feel significant pain…regardless of class, no one will be laughing.
Mike 3, thanks for your input and a professional voice of reason. It appears as if the the liberal mind wants to make everyone a victim of for profit endeavors, including the hapless folks that need to acquire groceries.
I agree with Robert Creamer, the real question for America is: “Will the 1% of Americans who had the party that caused the deficit be asked to pay the bill“? It does sound simplistic but the bottom line is that teachers, firefighters, police officers, clerical workers, construction workers, bus drivers, low wage workers, and virtually all of the rest of us, did not create nor gain from the financial shenanigans of the last decade. Why should we then be asked to “bail them out” of their folly? “Wall Street gamblers who don’t make anything of value should no longer be allowed to pay a smaller share of their income in taxes than” many of the workers and true job creators, risk takers and broad shouldered Americans actually making this nation work.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-creamer/budget-battle_b_2189553.html
Hold Strong President Obama.
When in doubt, look where people who should really know what they are doing are buying for their investments or talking about for the future. Seems like a good rule of thumb for anyone. It is especially interesting if you look at this information in the face of the current “fiscal cliff” with its “jagged rocks” and serious pitfalls for all Americans…Whoa, scary stuff!
Turns out…not so much. “Global demand for U.S. securities is still strong,”
http://buzz.money.cnn.com/2012/09/18/china-us-debt-tic/
http://www.bondbuyer.com/issues/121_187/foreign-investments-in-united-states-municipal-bonds-has-exploded-in-years-1044376-1.html
And this sets the stage: “Q1-2010 marked the first time in history that corporate profits exceeded business fixed investment. Unlike prior cycles where an increase in corporate profits led to faster investment growth as cash was reinvested in plant and equipment, business investment has increased very modestly since 2009 even as corporate profits have nearly doubled as a percentage of GDP. Were businesses simply to reinvest cash flow at historic rates, fixed investment would add nearly 4% to GDP ($695 billion) by the end of 2016 and more than offset the fiscal drag from reduced disposable personal income.
…While removal of uncertainty should not impact the spending decisions of liquidity-constrained households (i.e. those households for whom desired spending exceeds disposable income), greater clarity could induce higher-income households to spend more of their disposable income and shift more of their wealth out of cash and government bonds and into productive assets (stocks,corporate bonds, etc.). If tax increases come through tax reform that reduces economic distortions introduced by the current tax code and lowers marginal rates, the positive economic impact could be even greater”
http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/115301244?access_key=key-mcke6qi8vizyerfvypb
http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/12/03/fiscal-cliff-stimulus/?iid=SF_TS_Lead
Re: the grocery shopping:
Anyone else take a very detailed shopping list and stick to it?
I think it shows the heights of ignorance and bitter partisan angst for Another Chuck to say that “Romney lost the election when he “threatened” he was going to put people back to work. Many Obama supportors didn’t like that idea“. Do you really suppose that we like shouldering the ever growing load? Of course we, and almost all of the unemployed people, want jobs created and an income that is more than a pittance that keeps them from homeless and hungry! What an asinine statement for you to make! 62 million Americans did not believe Romney was capable of creating those jobs and millions more people just stayed home, so they must not have believed it either.
This nation has bled jobs for over a decade and it has taken a toll. We also had the hacks on Wall Street convince the Congress that their weapons of financial destruction were just what we needed. The clods forgot the lessons from the Great Depression or the S&L debacle. Most of those cheerleader were the Romney supporters this time around. Stop blaming the poor and the unemployed for a house that the TP/R Party helped mightily to build!
DaveH, no. Grocery shopping is my favorite version of guilt free shopping. I love the spontaneous finds.
Dave H, I usually have a list of things I really need, but I still buy other things. I share Kristen’s attitude. I love grocery shopping.
No one can help the “feeling” you get Another Chuck. But I can tell you that you are wrong. Liberals, Democrats and Progressives of every stripe “feel that repairing our debt, credit rating or fiscal responsibility is imperative to our survival”. What we disagree on is how we do that. Making the people who have already lost so much, lose more is just not how we see a recovery happening. Down home we call that “trying to get blood out of a turnip”.
The increased taxes on the truly wealthy, who have made out well even in this economy, is to share the sacrifice and solution. What the current proposed tax increases do, is to make sure that the entire nation participates in this recovery and the reforms needed, why would anyone think that is unfair?
No one item solves the problem on its own, but taken in their entirety, increased revenue and spending cuts, reforms and new initiatives are the best way forward. That is not just according to Dems/Libs/Progressives either. It is sound economic policy. Something that has been in very short supply long before the crash or Obama.
#30 Sometimes yes, Dave H. But often more like Kristen.
Especially at this time of year, it’s fun to browse around. Fresh Market is full of lots of fun holiday treats.