So one of the pet peeves of the cheese department employees is people who come in and tell us how much cheaper they get certain cheeses at other stores. I don't know if this happens in other departments or not, but our cheeses are marked up in a very standard way. Some of them are probably more expensive than they are at other stores, but I also know for a fact that some of them are a lot less expensive. There are various reasons for this, none of them having anything to do with our trying to screw anybody out of fifty cents.
They are also cut and wrapped (for the most part) in house, and there is virtually always somebody on staff who can let you have a taste, cut any order to size, and help you find exactly what you are looking for. This is not the case at the chain stores. For some reason, people do not seem to recognize this, and not only do they not get it, but they feel the need to tell us about it. One thing that is repeatedly said is "I have to tell you..." followed by what kind of cheese they got for how much and at which other store.
In another stunning display of customer ignorance, when I asked a woman what I could help her find, she responded:
"You guys really need a Trader J0e's here. I can't afford what I want."
That one left me speechless.
4 comments:
Sounds like the people in this and the previous post should get together and open a rival shop to sell pre-handled cheese at specific prices.
Can you still sell it if someone's been pawing it?
You can if you don't care about the Health Department, or quality, or standards. So yes- I think that their own shop would be appropriate.
The thing that was stunning about the Trader Joe's comment was that she did not seem to realize that the opening of such a store would likely mean ours would close and I would lose my job. Bizarre.
Trader Joe's - is that a Walmart type discount shop?
No, not really. T.J.'s is actually a great place to buy stuff and apparently a great company to work for. They are growing steadily and stores are popping up everywhere. I would happily shop in one if I lived in a place that had one, but because they are so large (and my store is an individual) I doubt very seriously that we could compete. I have nothing against that company at all, but this woman didn't seem to understand what kind of an impact that would have on the 125 people who work at the Local Grocery.
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