Retail Watchers

I was recently in a store and saw something I've never seen before. At the pharmacy waiting area was a small table with a thermos, cups, sugar, creamer (shelf stable liquid or powder), stir sticks, and also a round aisle display with bottles of store brand bottled water. The signage invited pharmacy customers to enjoy a beverage while waiting in line.

At first. I thought this was a rather nice idea.

Then I thought of flu season, and people waiting in that line breathing on all this stuff.

storewanderer wrote: ↑April 14th, 2019, 10:05 pm I was recently in a store and saw something I've never seen before. At the pharmacy waiting area was a small table with a thermos, cups, sugar, creamer (shelf stable liquid or powder), stir sticks, and also a round aisle display with bottles of store brand bottled water. The signage invited pharmacy customers to enjoy a beverage while waiting in line.

At first. I thought this was a rather nice idea.

Then I thought of flu season, and people waiting in that line breathing on all this stuff.

Hmm...maybe they ought to offer the free coffee after you get a flu shot.

But seriously, it is kind of, oh, unusual.

rwsandiego wrote: ↑April 15th, 2019, 6:59 pm

storewanderer wrote: ↑April 14th, 2019, 10:05 pm I was recently in a store and saw something I've never seen before. At the pharmacy waiting area was a small table with a thermos, cups, sugar, creamer (shelf stable liquid or powder), stir sticks, and also a round aisle display with bottles of store brand bottled water. The signage invited pharmacy customers to enjoy a beverage while waiting in line.

At first. I thought this was a rather nice idea.

Then I thought of flu season, and people waiting in that line breathing on all this stuff.

Hmm...maybe they ought to offer the free coffee after you get a flu shot.

But seriously, it is kind of, oh, unusual.

This store was the Raleys in Yreka, CA. I get the impression the place is really, really trying... (shares a parking lot with a Wal Mart Supercenter). It wasn't very busy on Saturday afternoon (Wal Mart had a full lot), but had some customers. The store looked very, very good, especially the fresh departments. Store management was also visible and active on the sales floor helping customers, looking over the departments, and arranging displays. I cannot stress enough how much better executed this store was than most of the Nevada Raleys are. Center store pricing is on their "lower" price scale, despite this store being very remote geographically from the rest of Raleys Stores. That scale is still pretty high, compared to the stuff 30 minutes up the road in Oregon. The only other grocer in town is a Grocery Outlet since Ray's Food Place/Shop Smart closed its two stores there (one of which was refilled by Grocery Outlet).

If they are trying to hold their own against Walmart and do local pricing, I can see why the Yreka store would have prices on the lower end of the spectrum. When I still lived in Chicago and was more sensitive to prices than I am today (amazing what 20 years and a move to a lower-cost state can do) I found the prices at the Jewel and Dominicks near my office on the NW side of Chicago were 10% - 15% lower than the ones near me in Evanston. Even not-so-price-sensitive-me-of-today would buy his groceries near the office if it meant saving 10% - 15%.