Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores • Hacker News Board

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#41

Post by stevenwoo » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 9:28 PM UTC

sbf501 wrote: post #9

jordanmorgan10 wrote: post #4

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

Opposite here: I dislike Trader Joe's. I call it "bougie safeway". Trader Joe's is great if you like boxed, prepared food, but it isn't much better for anything else. Their produce is meh and overly wrapped with packaging.

The local paper did comparison shopping and found Safeway to be about the same price for a weekly trip as Whole Foods. Trader Joes was significantly cheaper in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#42

Post by jkubicek » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 9:28 PM UTC

thehappypm wrote: post #19

tengbretson wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

The dark chocolate peanut butter cups are really really (really) good

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#43

Post by lr4444lr » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 9:28 PM UTC

assttoasstmgr wrote: post #28

What exactly are the clear conclusions from this over-worded drivel? Inflation aside, if you're paying too much for groceries, you don't know how to shop. Part of the problem is people are willing to pay $6 for bananas at Whole Paycheck, and the obsession with organic foodstuffs. When the same products are available at Walmart or Costco for 1/3 the price. I think we have an entire generation of people who never learn…

Whole Paycheck has certain products they can't find anywhere else easily. The higher price for the bananas is the price you pay for one stop shop convenience. The whole concept of the gas station convenience store is built on this concept. And you know what? Convenience had value. As for an $8 organic loaf of bread, that's easily the cost of a glass of cheap wine at a restaurant, or two ice cream cones. Seems like a good deal for a premium, healthier item.

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#44

Post by floren » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 9:29 PM UTC

reducesuffering wrote: post #30

sbf501 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Opposite here: I dislike Trader Joe's. I call it "bougie safeway". Trader Joe's is great if you like boxed, prepared food, but it isn't much better for anything else. Their produce is meh and overly wrapped with packaging.

TJ's is significantly better value and less margin than Safeway. The opposite of "bougie."

I'm not convinced that the value is better. Most of the stuff at TJ's is reasonable quality, but the prices are often lower only because there's less product in the package. I'd have to sit down and compare unit prices before I could be assured you were getting a better value for your money.

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#45

Post by colpabar » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 9:29 PM UTC

tengbretson wrote: post #17

jordanmorgan10 wrote: post #4

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've only been to a handful of their stores, but every single one just feels way too small. It also feels like the majority of the people there are employees restocking shelves and just generally being in the way. They are friendly and it's nice there's always someone I can ask if I need help finding someone, but it can be annoying to always have people in your way.

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#46

Post by assttoasstmgr » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 9:29 PM UTC

tengbretson wrote: post #17

jordanmorgan10 wrote: post #4

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.

Try ringing the bell next time the lines are slow. That'll get their attention.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbafXjG9ROA

I'll also add their slowness is partly due to their clientele (moreso that standard stores) bringing their filthy reusable grocery sacks, which throw off the flow of the line.

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#47

Post by bowsamic » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 9:30 PM UTC

fredley wrote: post #32

UK supermarkets are crap, and have got noticeably crapper in recent years. At even large mid-tier supermarkets you will find a paltry range of fruit and veg, and a maeger selection of almost entirely prepackaged meat and fish. I have noticed many things are routinely out of stock and it can be a lottery shopping for a specific recipe. I recently visited Portugal, and in a small city supermarket there was a bakery, me…

UK supermarkets are far better in terms of fruit and veg selection than anything we have here in Germany. It can be much worse trust me. UK is also way cheaper

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#48

Post by floren » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 9:30 PM UTC

thepasswordis wrote: post #35

jordanmorgan10 wrote: post #4

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

Trader joes is basically just a larger version of the "grocery" aisle at a drug store wrapped up in some nice marketing. Hard pass.

Trader Joe's originated as a spin-off of the Rexall drugstore chain, so you're closer than you think.

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#49

Post by AmericanChopper » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 9:30 PM UTC

bragr wrote: post #27

algoatecorn wrote: post #3

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…

>I strongly believe personalized nutrition and shopping experiences will have major impact on non communicable diseases. What about all the poor people without smartphones? We have such an unequal distribution of wealth and technology in this county that (particularly on site like this with mostly digital natives) it is easy to loose sight of the fact that the poorest ~20% still don't have basic smart phones, or mayb…

> What about all the poor people without smartphones?

Poor people have smartphones. Even poor people in developing nations are likely to have smartphones. Basic smartphones are ultra cheap commodities.

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#50

Post by robonerd » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 9:30 PM UTC

lapetitejort wrote: post #21

sbf501 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Opposite here: I dislike Trader Joe's. I call it "bougie safeway". Trader Joe's is great if you like boxed, prepared food, but it isn't much better for anything else. Their produce is meh and overly wrapped with packaging.

I concur. I can't find anything other than all purpose and wheat flour. No bread flour, or anything more obscure like rye, spelt, etc. Similarly, they sell a single sea salt, alongside tons of trendy mixed salts. Want iodized salt? Go find a big grocery store. I do find tons of snacks and TV dinners, which I enjoy. But if I'm stocking up on essentials, I'd rather go to a big store. And yes, I do find obscure flours a…

It's not just food either, trader joes is lacking many of the non-food goods that other grocery stores almost universally have. Need aluminum foil or parchment paper? You can't buy those at trader joes.