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Minor Strangeness (IHTM)

Frankly, I sometimes wander aimlessly (when they keep moving stuff around) and sometimes I write a shopping list with the items I want in order of shelf. In our Tesco, the general customer flow is clockwise anyhow.
My method of shopping is to make it convenient to me rather than inconvenient to store managers.
 
Sollywos said:
Hi @Swifty what were you told to do about dotty old ladies that irritably turn over the newspapers with the headines she doesn't agree with before starting her shopping?
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Wasn't my problem. I was running the cafe then the fish bar. The old dears were streetwise and also always came in early so my boss, being aware they knew to reach to the back to get the overwrap fish because of stock rotation ... so for the first hour he'd switch it and put all the oldest fish at the back so we could get rid of those first. The evil genius.
 
Stormkhan said:
Frankly, I sometimes wander aimlessly (when they keep moving stuff around) and sometimes I write a shopping list with the items I want in order of shelf. In our Tesco, the general customer flow is clockwise anyhow.
My method of shopping is to make it convenient to me rather than inconvenient to store managers.
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I hate that stuff gets rearranged, seemingly regularly now. I want to get in, get what I'm looking for and get out. Particularly since the pandemic.

I also HATE that our grocery stores usually, now only give us a sale price on items if you buy more than one item. My learning was always that you bought things on sale to save money. That was when the stores actually had sale prices.

Now they want to sell by volume. I have to really fight against my training and have to tell myself that despite the per unit price for two or more is less, I am spending more buying what I don't want. It's a real struggle for me to change my thinking.

And now:botp:
 
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The toys are at it again... I had a text from the Teenager this morning telling me that her little Steiff retriever toy had made it from the back of her desk into her bed last night, and she doesn't know how. That's basically across her room in the student hall. This is at least the third time I've posted about stuffed toys being in a different place in the morning, obviously we as a family imbue our cuddlies with way too much spirit!
 
Swifty said:
When I was on management training at our local Morrisons (a period of my life I try to forget, we were taught various techniques to spot shoplifters. That store, like some other supermarkets, is deliberately designed so that when customers walk in, they walk anti clockwise around the aisles. This is mostly done for nefarious sales reasons that are too long winded to explain here. We were told to observe anyone without a shopping basket or trolley who wasn't walking through the store anti clockwise. Potential 'skittish' behaviour. Morrison's used to used a code over the P.A. so if a female was actually spotted shop lifting, we'd hear "CAN MRS WHITE COME TO CUSTOMER SERVICES PLEASE" .. if it was a man, "CAN MR WHITE COME TO CUSTOMER SERVICES PLEASE" .. if instead it was some sort of violent situation, if would be the same announcement but Mrs Black or Mr Black. Then all managers moved in to deal with any incidents. We had a security guard but he was crap and spent half his time chatting up the female staff.
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A bit different then to the supermarkets in our neck of the woods where they are laid out to make you walk round clockwise, which I've always done anyway whatever the layout.
 
SimonBurchell said:
Right, next time in my local supermarket, I'm not taking a trolley or basket, and I'm going to walk around clockwise. I'm sure no-one will pay me any attention since they all probably recognise me anyway. Maybe I'll have to start looking around nervously as well in order to trigger a false alert.
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Same'ere. :chuckle:

I already do the wandering around anticlockwise routine, looking for whatever perfectly normal and routine groceries I need have been hidden from me THIS week.
 
Coincidentally came across this piece in the Metro yesterday.
 

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Nosmo King said:
Buttergate: Why are Canadians complaining about hard butter?

Something is amiss with Canadian butter, according to local foodies, who have been arguing for weeks that their blocks are harder to spread than usual.

These so-called "buttergate" anecdotes have been spreading online, with many Canadians complaining that their butter does not soften at room temperature.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56175784
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In a related note, I've noticed for the last year or so that cheese....ordinary supermarket cheese....is now rubbery and tastes weird. I always buy extra sharp cheddar and it's like processed cheese food (think velveeta) and frankly, I'm irrationally angry.
 
Aydee_Aitchdee said:
In a related note, I've noticed for the last year or so that cheese....ordinary supermarket cheese....is now rubbery and tastes weird. I always buy extra sharp cheddar and it's like processed cheese food (think velveeta) and frankly, I'm irrationally angry.
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Brie still seems to be OK, as is soft (cream) cheese.. Good quality cheddar (to me) has the same "bite".
 
Aydee_Aitchdee said:
In a related note, I've noticed for the last year or so that cheese....ordinary supermarket cheese....is now rubbery and tastes weird.
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Because the cheese is cheaply made and not aged as it was (I'm assuming that you are referring to cheddar).

If your budget allows, than this:
ramonmercado said:
Brie still seems to be OK, as is soft (cream) cheese.. Good quality cheddar (to me) has the same "bite".
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I love cheese, but paying $40.00 kg or more kind of makes me choke. Here, regular store bought (and branded) cheddar ranges $29.00-35.00 depending on if it is aged for any length of time (not years as the good cheddar is).
 
Aydee_Aitchdee said:
In a related note, I've noticed for the last year or so that cheese....ordinary supermarket cheese....is now rubbery and tastes weird. I always buy extra sharp cheddar and it's like processed cheese food (think velveeta) and frankly, I'm irrationally angry.
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Here (England) there are some really good cheddars, but it's only usually the 'basics range' which come in big (er) blocks that you might describe as more processed.

Even those ones can be ok (although I have stopped buying them for a while now), but they do seem to be more oily/greasy.

I would say that the best sellers are Cathedral city, Pilgrims Choice and https://davidstowcheddar.co.uk/ although there are many others - some more localised.

As Ramon says, Brie/Camembert etc is still very good - if you buy the 'proper' makes anyway.
 
brownmane said:
Because the cheese is cheaply made and not aged as it was (I'm assuming that you are referring to cheddar).
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I'll definitely agree with that, supermarket cheddars are just that...cheaply made and not aged but they used to at least be edible.

The only brands I've found that are still cheddar-y are Tillamook and Cabot, while not eye-watering-ly-expensive, means I've had to cut back a bit *sigh*
brave_screenshot_www.meijer.com (1).pngbrave_screenshot_www.meijer.com.png
 
Floyd1 said:
Even those ones can be ok (although I have stopped buying them for a while now), but they do seem to be more oily/greasy.
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That's exactly it, and why I compared it to processed cheese food like Velveeta - do y'all have veveeta over there? - which is made from vegetable oil I think. It's awful stuff.
https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-is-velveeta-cheese-5184088

Floyd1 said:
https://davidstowcheddar.co.uk/ although there are many others - some more localised.
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Rats, they only deliver in the UK :headbang: Once again I find myself in the wrong country.
 
Aydee_Aitchdee said:
In a related note, I've noticed for the last year or so that cheese....ordinary supermarket cheese....is now rubbery and tastes weird. I always buy extra sharp cheddar and it's like processed cheese food (think velveeta) and frankly, I'm irrationally angry.
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This seems to be an example of something I have noticed in major supermarket chains.
They bring in their 'own-brand' version of something that is good and is selling well. When they've muscled out the branded goods, they cheapen the ingredients or workmanship and it suddenly starts to taste like crap. People carry on buying it because there is now no alternative... unless you go to the deli counter and pay a bit more for the better quality stuff.
 
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brownmane said:
I hate that stuff gets rearranged, seemingly regularly now. I want to get in, get what I'm looking for and get out.
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'S retail psychology innit?
The idea is that while you're meandering around, looking for the item in the place you expected it, you might spot - or 'your eye is caught' perchance - by other products.
I learned early on that if you re-arrange a window display - using the same items or products - then passing customers would 'notice' the display and pause.
 
Mythopoeika said:
This seems to be an example of something I have noticed in major supermarket chains.
They bring in their 'own-brand' version of something that is good and is selling well. When they've muscled out the branded goods, they cheapen the ingredients or workmanship and it suddenly starts to taste like crap. People carry on buying it because there is now no alternative... unless you go to to the deli counter and pay a bit more for the better quality stuff.
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I don't know about the UK, but in the US, store brand items are made by brand name manufacturers, only with different (re: cheaper) ingredients. Most are as good as the orginal (I love my grocery's store brand crackers, even better than the name brand for some reason) , some are acceptable and Krogers' store brand is vile and an affront to civilized society.
 
Here in the UK many 'own brand' products are actually made in the same place, with the same ingredients, as higher-priced items. There's a chain called Heron (mainly frozen goods and cheap brands) who have a whole section for 'faulty' items such as misshapes, repacked items etc. These tend to be higher-value products but in bland packaging.
 
Stormkhan said:
Here in the UK many 'own brand' products are actually made in the same place, with the same ingredients, as higher-priced items. There's a chain called Heron (mainly frozen goods and cheap brands) who have a whole section for 'faulty' items such as misshapes, repacked items etc. These tend to be higher-value products but in bland packaging.
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How very interesting. :nods:
There's a branch near'ere. I will investigate that section. :thought:

The Heron branch in question is in an area with lots of new housing, far away from the supermarkets. It's on a main route in and out of town and especially to and from the hospital. Gold mine.
 
XEPER_ said:
Ok, last night I was reading the recent Fortean Times issue with the IHTM cover story and, must admit, taking most of the tales with a healthy dose of salt - not really believing most of them to be honest and feeling pretty uncharitable about it, even thinking some of the people were downright making them up.
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I recently read the IHTM volumes 1, 2 and 3. 1 and 2 felt (for the most part) "believable" but volume 3 had plenty of stories that were definitely contrived or embellished to the point of uncharitable vexation on my part
 
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