LTH Home

Comparative Experience Shopping in the Time of Covid

Comparative Experience Shopping in the Time of Covid
  • Forum HomePost Reply BackTop
    Page 7 of 8
  • Post #181 - August 18th, 2021, 2:55 pm
    Post #181 - August 18th, 2021, 2:55 pm Post #181 - August 18th, 2021, 2:55 pm
    Masks are currently required in all Illinois state office buildings.
    "Your swimming suit matches your eyes, you hold your nose before diving, loving you has made me bananas!"
  • Post #182 - August 18th, 2021, 2:58 pm
    Post #182 - August 18th, 2021, 2:58 pm Post #182 - August 18th, 2021, 2:58 pm
    Katie wrote:Masks are currently required in all Illinois state office buildings.

    Yep and everyone was compliant.
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #183 - August 18th, 2021, 3:13 pm
    Post #183 - August 18th, 2021, 3:13 pm Post #183 - August 18th, 2021, 3:13 pm
    At Sunset in HP, it seemed to be 80-20 masked to unmasked.
  • Post #184 - August 18th, 2021, 3:23 pm
    Post #184 - August 18th, 2021, 3:23 pm Post #184 - August 18th, 2021, 3:23 pm
    Wilmette is pretty much 50/50, but Fresh Farms on Touhy is 80-90% masked. I think it's required in Evanston based on a carry-out experience, but I haven't shopped at any of their stores at all recently.
  • Post #185 - August 18th, 2021, 5:51 pm
    Post #185 - August 18th, 2021, 5:51 pm Post #185 - August 18th, 2021, 5:51 pm
    I think that a lot of stores have gone back to a mask policy for their employees. At costco today in mettawa all employees appeared masked. Heinens, Sunset, Walgreens also. Not Marianos. It seems like customers may mask up more often when it appears that all employees are masked.

    -Will
  • Post #186 - August 18th, 2021, 10:47 pm
    Post #186 - August 18th, 2021, 10:47 pm Post #186 - August 18th, 2021, 10:47 pm
    Chicago now requires all people to wear masks in stores even if you are vaccinated. Evanston strongly encouraged people that were not vaccinated to wear masks indoors. Now they strongly encourage everybody including people who are fully vaccinated to wear masks in the stores. The mayor of Evanston just sent out a good news, bad news newsletter yesterday. Yes the number of people coming down with COVID has gone way up, but the majority of them are in the 20-29 age group, and not as many people are ending up in the hospital, and the death rate has remained stable for months.

    I was at the Jewel on the Chicago side of Howard this afternoon, and probably 90% of the customers were wearing masks. The last time I went to Sams Club in Evanston, the majority of the customers were wearing masks too. Probably 50% of the people at the Chicago Avenue Jewel were vaccinated on Saturday, but I did not get there until 10:30 pm, and so the store was not very crowded.
  • Post #187 - August 18th, 2021, 10:49 pm
    Post #187 - August 18th, 2021, 10:49 pm Post #187 - August 18th, 2021, 10:49 pm
    I think Walmart and Sam's Club now require all of their employees to wear masks.
  • Post #188 - November 24th, 2021, 7:34 am
    Post #188 - November 24th, 2021, 7:34 am Post #188 - November 24th, 2021, 7:34 am
    General Mills (GIS) notified retail customers that it's raising prices in mid-January on hundreds of items across dozens of brands. They include Annie's, Progresso, Yoplait, Fruit Roll-Ups, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Lucky Charm's, Wheaties, Reese's Puffs, Trix and more, according to letters General Mills sent to at least one major regional wholesale supplier last week. For some items, prices will go up by around 20% beginning next year.

    https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/23/business ... 7753463271
    Never order barbecue in a place that also serves quiche - Lewis Grizzard
  • Post #189 - November 26th, 2021, 11:48 am
    Post #189 - November 26th, 2021, 11:48 am Post #189 - November 26th, 2021, 11:48 am
    NFriday wrote:I think Walmart and Sam's Club now require all of their employees to wear masks.


    Must be by state. I am in SC and that was not true here earlier this week.
    Ava-"If you get down and out, just get in the kitchen and bake a cake."- Jean Strickland

    Horto In Urbs- Falling in love with Urban Vegetable Gardening
  • Post #190 - November 27th, 2021, 1:29 am
    Post #190 - November 27th, 2021, 1:29 am Post #190 - November 27th, 2021, 1:29 am
    Apparently the governor of South Carolina is anti mask mandate.
  • Post #191 - November 27th, 2021, 8:37 am
    Post #191 - November 27th, 2021, 8:37 am Post #191 - November 27th, 2021, 8:37 am
    From this article from October, 2021, these states have no mask mandate:

    These are the U.S. states and territories without mask mandates:

    Alabama | Alaska | American Samoa | Arizona | Arkansas | Colorado | Delaware | District of Columbia | Florida | Georgia | Idaho | Indiana | Iowa | Kansas | Kentucky | Louisiana | Maine | Maryland | Massachusetts | Michigan | Minnesota | Mississippi | Missouri | Montana | Nebraska | New Hampshire | New Jersey | North Carolina | North Dakota | Northern Mariana Islands | Ohio | Oklahoma | Pennsylvania | Rhode Island | South Carolina | South Dakota | Tennessee | Texas | Utah | Vermont | Virginia | West Virginia | Wisconsin | Wyoming

    We live in one of the eight states with mask mandates.

    Of course this is all subject to change.
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #192 - June 8th, 2022, 7:18 am
    Post #192 - June 8th, 2022, 7:18 am Post #192 - June 8th, 2022, 7:18 am
    It’s the inflation you’re not supposed to see.

    From toilet paper to yogurt and coffee to corn chips, manufacturers are quietly shrinking package sizes without lowering prices. It’s dubbed “shrinkflation,” and it’s accelerating worldwide.

    In the U.S., a small box of Kleenex now has 60 tissues; a few months ago, it had 65. Chobani Flips yogurts have shrunk from 5.3 ounces to 4.5 ounces. In the U.K., Nestle slimmed down its Nescafe Azera Americano coffee tins from 100 grams to 90 grams. In India, a bar of Vim dish soap has shrunk from 155 grams to 135 grams.

    https://www.chicagotribune.com/business ... story.html
    Never order barbecue in a place that also serves quiche - Lewis Grizzard
  • Post #193 - June 8th, 2022, 10:57 am
    Post #193 - June 8th, 2022, 10:57 am Post #193 - June 8th, 2022, 10:57 am
    Dave148 wrote:
    It’s the inflation you’re not supposed to see.

    From toilet paper to yogurt and coffee to corn chips, manufacturers are quietly shrinking package sizes without lowering prices. It’s dubbed “shrinkflation,” and it’s accelerating worldwide.

    In the U.S., a small box of Kleenex now has 60 tissues; a few months ago, it had 65. Chobani Flips yogurts have shrunk from 5.3 ounces to 4.5 ounces. In the U.K., Nestle slimmed down its Nescafe Azera Americano coffee tins from 100 grams to 90 grams. In India, a bar of Vim dish soap has shrunk from 155 grams to 135 grams.

    https://www.chicagotribune.com/business ... story.html

    Here's a link to the entire piece without the paywall . . .

    No, You're Not Imagining It — Package Sizes Are Shrinking

    Here's a particularly telling passage from the end of the piece . . .

    Hitendra Chaturvedi, a professor of supply chain management at Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business, said he has no doubt many companies are struggling with labor shortages and higher raw material costs.

    But in some cases, companies’ profits — or sales minus the cost of doing business — are also increasing exponentially, and Chaturvedi finds that troubling.

    He points to Mondelez International, which took some heat this spring for shrinking the size of its Cadbury Dairy Milk bar in the U.K. without lowering the price. The company’s operating income climbed 21% in 2021, but fell 15% in the first quarter as cost pressures grew. By comparison, PepsiCo’s operating profit climbed 11% in 2021 and 128% in the first quarter.

    “I’m not saying they’re profiteering, but it smells like it,” Chaturvedi said. “Are we using supply constraints as a weapon to make more money?”

    I've been saying for months that what is manifesting as inflation actually has its origins in opportunism and profiteering. As we see more and more financial results from publicly traded companies released, I suspect there'll be more hard data to confirm this.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #194 - June 8th, 2022, 12:18 pm
    Post #194 - June 8th, 2022, 12:18 pm Post #194 - June 8th, 2022, 12:18 pm
    The one that really burns me lately is Merkt's cheese spreads. The standard tub was 15oz for many years. I remember that distinctly because the Mariano's house brand (might have been pre-Kroger, haven't checked lately) was a full pound. But Merkt's standard tub is now 12.9 oz (which isn't even a round number of grams), and the price is easily a buck higher than a year ago (although it does go on sale pretty regularly at the Jewels).
    What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
    -- Lin Yutang
  • Post #195 - June 8th, 2022, 12:21 pm
    Post #195 - June 8th, 2022, 12:21 pm Post #195 - June 8th, 2022, 12:21 pm
    Noticed this weekend that some of the block cheeses in the dairy aisle were 7oz instead of the regular 8. Fun times.

    This isn't food related but the companies that sell windshield wiper fluid could probably go this route and not upset customers. Why do they still make gallon jugs when no car I've ever owned holds a gallon of this stuff??
  • Post #196 - June 8th, 2022, 1:40 pm
    Post #196 - June 8th, 2022, 1:40 pm Post #196 - June 8th, 2022, 1:40 pm
    WhyBeeSea wrote: Why do they still make gallon jugs when no car I've ever owned holds a gallon of this stuff??


    Quick guess: The gallon jugs are much cheaper than custom sized jugs. Those gallon jugs might be the same ones that the vinegar/ bleach / ammonia / whatever companies use, and the places that make them can simply scale up production instead of producing some new product.

    My contribution to this thread is those damn 8 packs of sparkling water. I saw the writing on the wall a few months ago. It looks like 12 packs are dwindling, and turning into 8packs, but the previous 12 pack price sure isn't.
    We cannot be friends if you do not know the difference between Mayo and Miracle Whip.
    Pronoun: That fool over there
    Identifies as: A human that doesn't need to "identify as" something to try to somehow be interesting.
  • Post #197 - June 8th, 2022, 5:54 pm
    Post #197 - June 8th, 2022, 5:54 pm Post #197 - June 8th, 2022, 5:54 pm
    JoelF wrote:The one that really burns me lately is Merkt's cheese spreads. The standard tub was 15oz for many years. I remember that distinctly because the Mariano's house brand (might have been pre-Kroger, haven't checked lately) was a full pound. But Merkt's standard tub is now 12.9 oz (which isn't even a round number of grams), and the price is easily a buck higher than a year ago (although it does go on sale pretty regularly at the Jewels).
    I checked the Merkt's port wine I bought over the weekend, but it's the larger 20 oz size. I don't know if that's lower than before, but there's a significant price per ounce discount from the smaller size with a 7+ month good-by date on this one.
  • Post #198 - June 8th, 2022, 7:55 pm
    Post #198 - June 8th, 2022, 7:55 pm Post #198 - June 8th, 2022, 7:55 pm
    seebee wrote:
    WhyBeeSea wrote: Why do they still make gallon jugs when no car I've ever owned holds a gallon of this stuff??


    Quick guess: The gallon jugs are much cheaper than custom sized jugs. Those gallon jugs might be the same ones that the vinegar/ bleach / ammonia / whatever companies use, and the places that make them can simply scale up production instead of producing some new product.

    My contribution to this thread is those damn 8 packs of sparkling water. I saw the writing on the wall a few months ago. It looks like 12 packs are dwindling, and turning into 8packs, but the previous 12 pack price sure isn't.


    This is brilliant. Instead of checking, I'm going to just assume this is true! :)

    Those stupid 8 packs were at target prior to the pandemic. So those greedy corporations can't use that as the excuse
  • Post #199 - June 8th, 2022, 11:49 pm
    Post #199 - June 8th, 2022, 11:49 pm Post #199 - June 8th, 2022, 11:49 pm
    This is not new. I still have one tub of the 45% vegetable oil spread (margarine substitute) in a 45-ounce round container. I guess they've now gone to a square shape. I have not looked at the weight of them {again, because I do not need it yet}, but it would not surprise me if they used the redesigned package to shrink the amount provided again.
    I remember when this vegetable oil spread was in a three-pound (48-ounce) package. :x
    Valuable links for survival, without the monetization attempt: https://pqrs-ltd.xyz/bookmark4.html
  • Post #200 - June 11th, 2022, 12:39 pm
    Post #200 - June 11th, 2022, 12:39 pm Post #200 - June 11th, 2022, 12:39 pm
    I've noticed that the healthy frozen dinners that they used to put on sale all the time at Jewel are now only on sale for $.50 off if on sale at all, and they have raised the regular price by $.50. I used to be able to buy Healthy Choice frozen dinners on sale for $2. Their regular price was $2.99. Their regular price is now $3.49, and they rarely go on sale. I did notice that the Healthy Choice turkey dinner is still $2.99 though. Lean Cuisine which used to be also $2.99, and on sale at least once a month for $2, is now $3.79, and it is currently on sale for $3.49. I have found a few frozen items have been on clearance at Whole Foods. I bought a few frozen dinners on clearance for $3.49 at Whole Foods last week, and some burritos on clearance for $1.99. Two years ago, I would not have spent anywhere near that much money.

    I have found out that with gas at $5 a gallon right now, it is not worth my while to hit five stores to look for deals. This week I only spent $22 at Jewel, but I just spent more than that at the farmer's market which I walked to. I had to go to Sam's Club yesterday to purchase a set of tires which they are going to install on Monday, and skimmed milk was $3.07, and whole milk was around $3.50.
  • Post #201 - June 23rd, 2022, 3:56 pm
    Post #201 - June 23rd, 2022, 3:56 pm Post #201 - June 23rd, 2022, 3:56 pm
    Illinois' Grocery Tax Will Be Suspended Beginning July .

    https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/i ... aq_eml_shr
    Never order barbecue in a place that also serves quiche - Lewis Grizzard
  • Post #202 - June 23rd, 2022, 8:14 pm
    Post #202 - June 23rd, 2022, 8:14 pm Post #202 - June 23rd, 2022, 8:14 pm
    The states portion of the grocery tax is only 1%, and so that will not make a difference for most people. I assume we will still be charged for the local grocery tax.
  • Post #203 - June 29th, 2022, 9:18 am
    Post #203 - June 29th, 2022, 9:18 am Post #203 - June 29th, 2022, 9:18 am
    Pricing on animal protein definitely has been strange:
    Beef: Yup, out of sight, other than occasional sales of pub burgers at Jewel
    Chicken & Eggs: Skyrocketed mostly due to bird flu culls, should be coming back down at least a bit.
    Pork: Up, but not as much as the others
    Fish: Outrageous prices, but they'd been high for a few years. This is probably less COVID and supply chain, more fishery decimation.
    Shrimp: Really pretty stable. I've seen shrimp at H-Mart, Joong Boo, even Jewel at pretty close to the same prices as previous years.

    What is it about shrimp that is making it immune to these price changes? They're mostly overseas (more of it South American these days than SE Asia), so you would think the supply chain problems would apply.
    What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
    -- Lin Yutang
  • Post #204 - June 29th, 2022, 10:07 am
    Post #204 - June 29th, 2022, 10:07 am Post #204 - June 29th, 2022, 10:07 am
    JoelF wrote:What is it about shrimp that is making it immune to these price changes? They're mostly overseas (more of it South American these days than SE Asia), so you would think the supply chain problems would apply.

    No time to link now but maybe it's that particular industry's woeful labor practices?

    In any case, my experience is that freight pricing out of Asia has been far more affected by recent events than out of South America.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #205 - June 29th, 2022, 11:18 am
    Post #205 - June 29th, 2022, 11:18 am Post #205 - June 29th, 2022, 11:18 am
    Hi,

    I saw eggs at $2.19 last week at Woodman's.

    A quart of whipping cream at Aldi was $3.89 last week and $3.25 the week before. At Woodman's it was over $5 last week.

    Regards,
    Cathy2
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #206 - June 29th, 2022, 3:25 pm
    Post #206 - June 29th, 2022, 3:25 pm Post #206 - June 29th, 2022, 3:25 pm
    I try to buy wild shrimp, and that is not cheap. I bought a pound of scallops at Jewel on Monday for $7.49. They were from Peru, and they claimed they were sustainable. Jewel has Gilbert's chicken sausage B1G1F this week. I am waiting for Whole Foods to put Amy Lu's chicken sausage on sale for $3.99. I love their Michigan cherry sausage, and Whole Foods and Mariano's are the only stores that carry it. I am looking for a deal on salmon burgers too, and no I do not belong to Costco. I got some B1G1F at Jewel during Lent, but Jewel does not carry them anymore. Mariano's did have Trident for sale, but I checked last night, and they don't have them in stock right now.

    Has anybody seen Alaskan salmon fillets on sale anywhere? They are on sale for $21 a pound at WF right now. That is more than I am willing to spend.
  • Post #207 - July 24th, 2022, 7:00 pm
    Post #207 - July 24th, 2022, 7:00 pm Post #207 - July 24th, 2022, 7:00 pm
    Did my first online order with Jewel today. We didn't have time to run out and get stuff after getting home from two weeks away. The fees are too high, they didn't deliver a couple things, claiming they were out of stock (mushrooms, swiss cheese that were on style). And I remembered more things I wanted after I placed the order. This is likely to be my last try.
    What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
    -- Lin Yutang
  • Post #208 - July 24th, 2022, 7:01 pm
    Post #208 - July 24th, 2022, 7:01 pm Post #208 - July 24th, 2022, 7:01 pm
    Did my first online order with Jewel today. We didn't have time to run out and get stuff after getting home from two weeks away. The fees are too high, they didn't deliver a couple things, claiming they were out of stock (mushrooms, swiss cheese that were on sale). And I remembered more things I wanted after I placed the order. This is likely to be my last try.
    What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
    -- Lin Yutang
  • Post #209 - July 24th, 2022, 10:17 pm
    Post #209 - July 24th, 2022, 10:17 pm Post #209 - July 24th, 2022, 10:17 pm
    Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

    I saw eggs at $2.19 last week at Woodman's.

    A quart of whipping cream at Aldi was $3.89 last week and $3.25 the week before. At Woodman's it was over $5 last week.

    Regards,
    Cathy2



    I have been lucky. So far this year, I have yet to pay over $1/ dozen as I have been only buying eggs when they are on sale. Last week, Safeway had the eggs for $0.97 and last month, I received a Kroger coupon for a free dozen.
  • Post #210 - July 24th, 2022, 10:29 pm
    Post #210 - July 24th, 2022, 10:29 pm Post #210 - July 24th, 2022, 10:29 pm
    JoelF wrote:Did my first online order with Jewel today. We didn't have time to run out and get stuff after getting home from two weeks away. The fees are too high, they didn't deliver a couple things, claiming they were out of stock (mushrooms, swiss cheese that were on sale). And I remembered more things I wanted after I placed the order. This is likely to be my last try.

    Can't say I blame you. Online shopping is hit or miss and, as you posted, expensive. But given your specific, post-travel circumstance it was the right time to try it. Not surprising that it didn't go well. In my experience, Jewel was among the worst.

    Maybe it's just pandemic fatigue on my part (because maybe I'm not as safe as I think I am) but I'm so grateful to not have to rely on online shopping any more. When I was a captive audience (or shopper), I put up with a lot more negatives than I otherwise would have. The best configuration I found was Sunset's service that allowed me to shop online and pick up in person. That usually worked out pretty well and they never charged more than a flat $5 fee per order. But still, there were occasional problems.

    And right down there at the bottom with Jewel was Imperfect Foods (nee Produce), which screwed up in some way that required additional effort on my part on 16 of the 17 orders I placed with them. Talk about second chances, lol. Any port in a storm, I guess but happily, those days seem to have slipped behind the horizon . . . at least for now. And it's not like I don't enjoy grocery shopping to begin with.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world

Contact

About

Team

Advertize

Close

Chat

Articles

Guide

Events

more