George > wrote in message
...
[snip]
> Marketing is a powerful thing. They are told about the
> wonders of big box and believe it is the only way. I
> have mentioned the large family owned store we buy
> most of our food from to people and get comments
> like "it must be dirty", or "I stopped there and the
> deli meat was stale". The senior family member is
> extremely anal about cleanliness and the deli has a
> minimum of three people working it (and typically
> more) because of the huge volume they do that it
> would be next to impossible to have stale product.

I get similar comments, especially regarding "pricing" of the
staples. There's just no getting through to the sheeple that
quote $afeway's Club Prices and Lucky's "Deal Busters" as
cheaper nor of similar quality. The two family-owned grocery
stores I hit weekly not only _save_ me money on most items
(because I am aware of price between stores) but also carry a
wider selection of product because a Suit hasn't run his
numbers and gotten his bonus check off reducing my selection.

The comment that really set me off on my BIL was when we
compared deli products. He was so proud of the "smoked turkey"
he got for $5.99/lb. It was one of the worst deli products I'd
ever had; gummy/mushy, falling apart, soaking wet with injected
water, and the "smoke" was oozing from the meat. I gave him a
slice of the smoked turkey I'd purchased from the grocer I use,
for $6.99; more firm, definite smoke flavor, and no standing
water. "Yeah but it 'tastes' funny."

Enjoy your savings there bub... Food as fuel.

The Ranger