Safeway is a retarded store – this is what living here for three weeks has taught me.
Safeway buys in bulk; lots and lots and lots of bulk. They make their own products, cutting out a middleman. Their staff is terrible and paid badly. Thus, by all logic, they should be the cheapest store for most things.
Not even close. My apartment is at Cesar Chavez aka 26.5th and Mission. Between it and one block past the 24th and Mission BART station there are three produce markets/general bodegas and two meat/fish markets. Cristi comes from that BART station every day coming home from work. Safeway is at 28th and Mission – there’s another produce market before you get there. Across the street from Safeway is a Big Lots. The meat markets have cheaper and better fish and meat, the corner stores have better produce for much cheaper (and groceries for about the same price), Big Lots is cheaper for anything it has. I don’t get it at all. The difference cannot be entirely because the staff at the local stores speak Spanish as their native language – what do you think causes this discrepancy? I’m a pretty good judge of quality, and the produce is top notch, and the meat is about the same as what Safeway has.
Is it the added costs associated with the brightly lit store with a parking lot? Paying health insurance? Stocking a larger inventory? Just being asshats who take money from the customer who doesn’t comparision shop? I will still go there for the items it has cheapest, like milk, ice cream, and eggs, but a one-stop-shop it ain’t. Hell, it ain’t even a Stop&Shop.
And that’s my third post, and with that I’m going to lightly publicize this blog. If you read it, PLEASE comment at least once on something you see.
July 30, 2008 at 6:46 pm |
You write the way you talk. I like it.
And way to look at the economics behind the issue–I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if you were paying for the “nicer” experience of a more aesthetically pleasing store and workers who speak your language.
July 30, 2008 at 10:24 pm |
BTW, when you come to Cambridge, we have a contractual obligation to show Wass a good time.
July 30, 2008 at 10:47 pm |
I agree with Baird – but then why is Wal-mart cheaper, AND cleaner/more aesthetically pleasing AND speaks my language? There’s some balance at work here.
July 31, 2008 at 12:58 pm |
I don’t know what sort of high-end Wal-Marts you go to, but most of the Wal-Marts that my paths have taken me by have been cheaper, but they have not been cleaner nor have they spoken my language. And I think those two factors explain their lower prices, in addition to the fact that they function on colossal economies of scale and that they bought out the companies in China that produce their goods in the first place.
There are a lot of reasons that Wal-Mart is cheaper and they all piss me off.
August 16, 2008 at 6:06 pm |
I shop at Safeway because it has everything I need and I’m happy with the quality. When I go to the grocery store, I’m buying for four meals for four people. I’m not going to make it carrying that much food several blocks from Mission Street. I drive – and if I drive, I need to park, and I don’t want to have to go to several places. Each of them has a lot of overhead with a car.
Safeway’s 8 blocks from my parking spot and has everything I need (plus goodies I might not find at local stores, at least not without going to a dozen of them). I don’t claim to be a produce connoisseur, but I’m happy with the quality of their food. I can easily browse everything I might want: cuts of meat, cheeses, wines, cereals, etc.
Don’t forget that you have to have a Safeway club card. That saves me about 13% ($20-$30) in an average week. Plus, the money I spend on groceries at Safeway goes towards my frequent flyer miles.