Dear Giant Grocery Store

Dear Giant Foods in Bay Ridge Center–

You are thisclose to losing a customer to Shopper’s or Safeway!  The upgrade was a hassle. You re-arranged everything on me. But hey, I can adapt to change and it is ok for now.

The technology is cool. I am getting used to the little handheld scanners and I think it does speed up the process (but you should have an easier way to claim your nickel credit for reusable bags other than the touchscreen…can you say hassle?) but to effectively scan, bag, and shop you need to have another person there. Thankfully I have three kids–one of whom is usually willing to come and be my roving scanner/bagger.

But what the hell is with all the displays in the aisles? Each week there are more and more. I mean really–after you close, do the waters and the Red Bulls hook up in some sort of liquid orgy and deposit their Vitamin Water offspring in the middle of the aisle?

And don’t get me started on the pasta! The pasta is out of control. Do we really need to have a pasta aisle, a mini pasta display across from the bacon and whipped cream, and a few more scattered throughout the store looking like mini UNs of pasta–rotini, ziti, penne, and the rest?  And speaking of whipped cream, bacon and pasta together–is this a new fetish I missed out on?

With the remodel, the aisles have narrowed (don’t try to fool me), but when you combine a more narrow aisle, three conversations from long lost friends, a harried mom with four screaming toddlers (another rant for later), and these ridiculous displays, it is a recipe for disaster–or at least cart rage! Next time, I might be tempted to knock them over just to prove a point!

Sincerely yours–