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Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

economist.com

11–20 of 530 posts

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#12
This seems like a very simplistic analysis, I'd expect more from the economist. They compare huge chains like Walmart, Aldi, and Whole Foods to Europe's Tesco. Yet we have lots of regional options in our small city and very rarely go to these big chains. Kind of disappointed I created an account just to read this tbh.

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#13
post #5

With the emergence of dark grocery stores, there will be major opportunity in the space of personalized nutrition. Shoppers will be more connected with a mobile app when it comes to their grocery store experience, and those apps have the potential to steer you toward an optimal diet that saves money and improves health. I strongly believe personalized nutrition and shopping experiences will have major impact on non c…

What's a dark grocery store?

Dark stores are physical stores only used for online shopping. I remember hearing about "dark kitchens" which are restaurants doing deliveries, but not accessible/visible from the outside.

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#15
post #5

With the emergence of dark grocery stores, there will be major opportunity in the space of personalized nutrition. Shoppers will be more connected with a mobile app when it comes to their grocery store experience, and those apps have the potential to steer you toward an optimal diet that saves money and improves health. I strongly believe personalized nutrition and shopping experiences will have major impact on non c…

What's a dark grocery store?

Small grocery warehouses used by Instant delivery companies. From this post[1] by Tanay J

A. Dark Stores / Fulfillment Centers Instant-Delivery Apps operate their own dark stores / fulfillment centers, typically one per neighborhood they operate in. Since these are not meant for consumers, space can be used more efficiently and typically the cost to operate these (at scale) as a percent of revenue is lower than rent space for grocery stores.

https://tanay.substack.com/p/understanding-the-instant-deliv...

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#16
post #13
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's a dark grocery store?

Dark stores are physical stores only used for online shopping. I remember hearing about "dark kitchens" which are restaurants doing deliveries, but not accessible/visible from the outside.

Are those the same as ghost kitchens?

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#17

Unless it's Trader Joes, in which case I leave noticeably happier than I was pre-grocery shopping.

Their food is whatever, but their long, slow checkout lines that obstruct other shoppers and generally customer-hostile layout often pushes me to the border of rage. The only thing that keeps me level are those dark chocolate peanut butter cups.

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#19

Unless it's Trader Joes, in which case I leave noticeably happier than I was pre-grocery shopping.

Their food is whatever, but their long, slow checkout lines that obstruct other shoppers and generally customer-hostile layout often pushes me to the border of rage. The only thing that keeps me level are those dark chocolate peanut butter cups.

I don’t understand, can you elaborate?

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#20

Unless it's Trader Joes, in which case I leave noticeably happier than I was pre-grocery shopping.

Probably an unpopular opinion––and I love TJs––but I feel like the quality and type of things you can buy there is akin to a Dollar General. The produce is often covered in plastic and subpar quality. The selection isn't great. Honestly, its greatest perk is the frozen food section and snacks.
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