Pearl Harbor Day is a day for remembrance, not celebration, but I'll be celebrating tomorrow all the same. Tomorrow is the opening day of a new supermarket within a couple of miles of my house.
This area has built up a lot in the almost ten years I've lived here. We now have multiple restaurants (fast food and not-so-fast), a video store, a health club, a dentist, several beauty shops and nail salons, and approximately a dozen other small businesses. The last year has seen an amazing building boom, most likely spurred on by the influx of people who moved here after Hurricane Katrina. As of tomorrow we'll have our first nearby supermarket. Not only is it close, it's on my way home.
My nearest options for grocery shopping up until now (except for convenience stores) have been five miles in one direction and eight miles in another. Because of the distance--and because I hate shopping--I've made a habit of buying a month's worth of groceries at a time. Unfortunately, the positives of shopping only once a month are offset by the negatives of unloading and putting away that many groceries at the end of a long shopping trip.
My hopes are high. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that being "the only game in town" won't tempt the new store to charge premium prices, although I'm willing to pay a little bit more for the added convenience. It would be soooo nice to be able to stop on my way home and pick up a few items--few enough to use the express lane. Multiple thirty-minute shopping trips will be much easier on my feet than one monthly buy-a-thon.
This is the first time I've been excited about grocery shopping in years. I probably won't visit the new store tomorrow, but you can bet I'll be there before the weekend is over.
Yeah Velvet. Close shopping is a good thing! I'm very familiar with your area... my cousins are in Gonzales and I spent many summers in French Settlement. I was truly amazed at all the building when I passed by there in July. I remember when I used to drive out to my cousins and the only recognizable landmark was the dairy. Boy how things change! Happy shopping! Holly
ReplyDeleteVelvet, I'm so excited for you! I hate to shop also, but fortunately we have supermarkets all over. I can't think more than a day at a time in terms of menus. Yesterday I bought about 3 dinners worth of meat at the same time - my butcher, Pete, just about keeled over, LOL.
ReplyDeleteLet us know how you like the new place!
I used to live with four blocks of a grocery and walked to get items for one meal at a time. I really liked living that way, always having just enough and not too much. Good luck, Velvet.
ReplyDeleteWal Mart will miss you... I shop there all of the time. Since they price match it is great for here because we have so many adds from different stores....I do have a small problem with the low wages they pay their workers and may have to stop shopping there.. I have a grocery store 3 blocks from my house that has very good prices.
ReplyDeleteWell...we are thirty miles from the nearest Walmart and ninty miles from the nearest *real* shopping. If you get a good grocery store close by I'll be very envious! Carmon
ReplyDeleteHolly, it isn't the quiet little community I moved into. (Sometimes I think fast-food franchises just follow me around.)
ReplyDeleteSunflower, when I moved out of Baton Rouge I left a bunch of good supermarkets behind. It's been a while since I shopped anyplace with a visible butcher.
Annie, I remember walking to the grocery store for my grandmother when I was little. I always liked that errand.
4th Sister, if the new store EVER gets as crowded as Wal-Mart, then I might as well go where the prices are better.
Carmon, you really DO have to make a shopping list, don't you? Forgetting something you needed would have significant consequences.
We do a big shop at the beginning of the month then make a trip once a week or so to get milk, bread, etc. Grocery shopping isn't as bad as holiday shopping, but I wish we still had milkmen!
ReplyDeleteJanet, I may start doing something like you do. Up until now, though, there hasn't been anyplace convenient to shop if I needed something fresh, such as produce or dairy. Maybe I'll make it to the new store tomorrow.
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