I guess this is what you call real customer loyalty: I am so happy to have gone grocery shopping today.
I love Woodmans!
I love Woodmans!
I love Woodmans!
(Laura, it was only 12 minutes from when I waved at Mt Zion as I drove past until I took the keys out of the ignition in the parking lot of Woodmans.)
Does this show how much a creature of habit I am? Or how unsettling moving is to me? Or is everybody like this? It just felt so soothing and comforting to be in a place where I knew where the food was and didn't have to hunt the aisles, where I recognized the little signs on the check-out screen, where I didn't have to stand and read labels and figure prices because I knew which brand and which size was the good deal. And I even saw familiar faces, with some of the folks from the Janesville store over here helping with the opening of the Oak Creek store. Oh! And the prices! At the moment, I no longer have this dread that we'll be lucky to see meat once a week for the next few years ... because I have a Woodmans to shop at! Not close, but do-able. And the bananas are 37 cents instead of 57. And the sausage is 89 cents instead of $2.59. And the mangoes are 50 cents instead of being a humongo "sale" item for "only" a dollar.
And joy of joys, they want to open a store in Menomonee Falls. Of course, that's in the distant future since they haven't found a suitable location yet, and they usually open stores at the rate of one every 30 months. But still, I've been asking at the main office about Waukesha or Pewaukee or the Falls, and I saw today on a news release that those cities are high on the priority list. Yeeehaw!
Rachel and Laura -- go down 94 past the airport. East on Rawson, aka County BB. Right/south at the light for Howell. Go a little bit past the light at Drexel, and it's on your right. South-side door is the 24-hour entrance.
This morning's grocery shopping was a little oasis of the familiar in a sea of newness, and it's wonnnnderful.
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I am planning to go there this shopping period, as soon as I get over my cold. (I just want to go lay down.) I saw some prices in the newspaper and it does look good. Maybe I could shop one store instead of two...but I still love our new Aldi! I'll let you know how it goes. Glad you had a good shopping experience...but sad you did not stop by. We are always ready to see a good friend!
ReplyDeleteAldi and Woodmans complement each other nicely. If I had to pick one, I'd pick Woodmans because of the ww flour and the brown basmati rice and the varieties of meats and produce and frozen goods. But far be it from me to discourage anybody from Aldi! I love Aldi too ... until I'm nearly out of ww flour and am hungering for organic carrots. :-)
ReplyDeleteI didn't stop for a few reasons. One is that it's going to be a long day with drivers ed tonight. Second is that I needed to get home and respond to the many people who'd written offering to take the pool off our hands. Third is that I really needed to know exactly how long it was going to take to do the drive to the store. It's 9 minutes further than I drove for the Jnsv store, but I don't have the added enticement of having it be the library trip and all the other errands rolled into one. But it did cross my mind that I should try to make the Woodmans trip be a regular brief Koch-stop. (But CAN I do a brief Koch-stop??)
Or...we could go shopping together! :)
ReplyDeleteOh! And I was just thinking that I need to head to Woodman's soon!
ReplyDeleteThere is huge value in the familiar. HUGE. I find, to me, it doesn't matter how big, small, or seemingly insignificant that piece of the familiar is, there's a comfort there. Which probably explains why it's worth it to me to drive way out of my way to go to Culver's every once in a while... because it's a slice of the familiar in an otherwise foreign land.
ReplyDeleteIf you shop at Woodmans... *sigh* my poor job will be ... well still there I guess. I don't think I will ever go into a Woodmans, Employer Loyalty and what not with Roundy's. Hopefully people keep shopping at Pick n Save. Though I don't think that will stop any time soon. :)
ReplyDeleteHey, dear C, it just so happens that I just now walked in the door, having come from Pick-n-Save with a bagful of Roundy's items. Okay? :-)
ReplyDeleteBut I still canNOT get over the fact that there is NO ww flour at Pick-n-Save. I just can't believe this huge huge grocery store on the corner nearby, and no ww flour, no ww pancake mix, not even in the organic section. Oh, it's just sad.
I use Pick n Save for the things I need to pick up real quick- and for most of my produce. And most of my meats- our freezer is teeny. Woodmans is for the regular monthly grocery trips.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about needing the familiarity of something, anything, after you move. We do have an Aldi about 50 minutes away, but it's not arranged like my old one. At least the products are familiar, though :)
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing familiar up here in DC, but when I get homesick, I listen to WIND or WLS-AM on the Internet and it really helps a lot. I do miss Chicago radio!
Barbara, you're right, the same voices on the radio (and the same street names on the traffic reports) can do a lot to make you feel cozy and at home. I remember leaving the St Louis sem and finding a few nights when the weather was just right so that we could catch KMOX in central Wisconsin. Oh, that brought some comfort to my life!
ReplyDeleteOk Susan... as long as you go to the Pick 'n Save sometimes. :) Just kidding. I am all about people saving money... I just am not a frugal person. At work it amazes me how many of the other girls notice the price of things and remember that last week we had that in the ad at a higher price than so and so... ack I can't remember it all. So congrats to those who can. I would rather go to one store and just get everything on my list than go to 5 and save $100.00. I know, crazy.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do think very highly of you and Laura for being able to keep up with it all. When I have the need to figure out how to save money, I need a lesson from you and Laura. Or even from one of your daughters. I don't think it's something I was born with, and I would definitely need lots of practice.
Once we start a family though, no more working at Roundy's for me... and therefore no guilt trips anymore! Hurray! I can't wait.
Just know I will be calling on some of you guys for help.