Supporting Local Grocery Store
So yesterday, we started going to another grocery store instead of just Fry's. We went to Basha's. When I first arrived here in the US, I remember we used to shop our groceries in Basha's near our place. But when it closed down, that's when we began to shop in Fry's. Basha's is a local grocery store. But, it is very sad to know that this grocery store is slowly fading away in the local grocery limelight. Just the other week, I saw a local news on TV about another Basha's closing. The news is very disheartening. I feel for the people working there. Losing one's job at this time of recession is difficult.
When we arrived in the store yesterday, it was very quiet. There were not a good number of shoppers inside. It looked so lonely. I think, there were only like 5 customers walking around in aisles, pushing carts, looking on shelves full of grocery stuff. We decided to go there yesterday because we saw in their ad that their grapes and bananas are cheaper compared to Fry's. So we got those and some other produce which we thought were slightly cheaper. We also grabbed our daughter's toothpaste because it was on sale and we have a $1.00 off coupon. We also picked up few stuff we needed, but we decided not to buy the coffee and frozen juice because we thought it's a little bit expensive and thought of getting it in Fry's instead.
When we reached at the register, it was only us in the line. You barely see this kind of scenario in Fry's where only one person is being attended by the cashier. I should be happy then because we didn't have to wait for our turn. On the contrary, I felt bad inside. I was sad when I thought of the store's future. If they only have that small number of customers a day, what do you think is the consequence?
We were very surprised and happy that the $1.00 off manufacturer's coupon we brought was doubled. We saved $2.00 on our daughter's toothpaste! Now that's a great deal! The cashier was actually surprised too. He didn't know that they double a coupon with a $1.00 value. But his colleague said that sometimes they have this promotion called "Magic Coupon" where they double the value of a $1.00 (or higher) coupon. How great is that? We also didn't know that Basha's doubles manufacturer's coupons just like Fry's. But now we know. That's a good thing.
We ended up buying the rest of our grocery needs at Fry's. The coffee was a $1.00 cheaper there and juices were a few cents less. My husband said that when it comes to grocery necessities, overall, Fry's is cheaper. No wonder most shoppers flock there. Besides, Fry's offers great incentives to their customers. They've got VIP membership, conversion of the less than a $1 value manufacturer's coupon to a S1, and gas incentives through point system. This kind of marketing strategy absolutely draws customers to their stores. If only local stores also do this type of retailing approach, perhaps local people like us will see ourselves dragging carts in their stores. Majority of customers are looking for store deals and promotions that give them better, bigger savings. And if some grocery stores fail to compete with others who implement brilliant marketing plans that attract more customers, I will no longer be surprised why their stores are shutdown. But this scenario is definitely sad, specially with our own local grocery stores.
