As by cito says, I was thinking too, are these issues with Mariano's in particular or current supply chain issues in general? I've noticed similar gaps at Jewel too.

I do most of my shopping at Sunset in HP. However, I just can't bring myself to pay Sunset beef prices and go to Mariano's when I buy beef, which isn't all that often.

I do keep an eye on Sunset prices as I walk past and today I burst out in laughter when I saw that skirt steaks were $26.99 per lb.

Really really frustrated with Marianos. Went in today to learn that they will not bag your groceries if you bring bags from home. This is protect their employees from COVID, they say. Okay, so the checker, who is touching every product I just touched, and who knows how many other people have touched, puts their hands on every item in my cart to ring it up. But bagging those items puts them at risk, because of the bag I brought from home?

Is it because they care so deeply about their employees or because they can cut back on the number of baggers they pay per shift?

Wouldn't requiring gloves solve that? If they care so much about their employees, why not just require gloves?

And doesn't that discourage using recyclable bags?

I know the science is not perfect right now and erring on the side of safety is the best practice but this strikes as simply cost cutting and to dress it up as "caring about their employees" is awful.

cleanplateclub wrote:I know the science is not perfect right now and erring on the side of safety is the best practice but this strikes as simply cost cutting and to dress it up as "caring about their employees" is awful.

Yes. Another bullshit, corporate, blame-it-on-covid pretext. Mariano's cares about one thing: their bottom line. Good thing no one else in the store ever touched any of those products before you put them in your cart!

=R=

I was in Whole Foods on Friday, and I told the cashier that I brought my own bag. She did not even offer to bag my groceries. She did give me my $.10 for bringing my own bag though. A few times I was in the store, the cashier forgot to credit me for my bag. Since the pandemic started, they have allowed you to bring your own bag, but people were told from the beginning of the pandemic that if they brought their own bag, they had to bag their own groceries. I only bought five items anyway. I don't think Whole Foods uses as many baggers as Jewel does anyway. When I go there I usually don't buy more than 5-6 items anyway.

For what seems like an eternity you were not allowed to bring your own bags at Jewel. I tried to get around that by using self check out, but I was told I could not do that one day. I heard that the union did not want their baggers touching the bags that customers brought in to use. I don't know though why I could not bring my own bags and bag my groceries. About five months ago, when I was at Jewel, I saw a sign that said we could now use our own bags, and so I used one of my bags, but I offered to bag the groceries myself, but the cashier said that the baggers were now allowed to bag groceries in bags brought from home. 80% of the time at Jewel I use self checkout anyway, because then I always remember to enter in my phone number. Last month I forgot to enter in my phone number, and the cashier had to void my purchase, and start all over again after I entered in my phone number to get my J4U discounts. Sometimes they scan everything before I have a chance to enter in my number though. There is an older cashier at the Chicago Avenue store who has been there forever though, who will remember that I am a J4U customer, and she will remind me to enter in my phone number in case I forget.

I was in the Jewel on the Chicago side of Howard right before Thanksgiving last year, and I did not realize that the city of Chicago charges $.07 per bag used, and so I was forced to pay an additional $.14, and yes I went to self checkout. If I knew that I would have tried to sneak in my own bags. Since the pandemic started I have only had one transaction at Mariano's, and that was in June.

Sunset in HP has caught the Kroger disease. They now have the number which tracks you, though they do not yet require the number to get the sale price ( that will come ). They have installed, but not yet opened self service checkout stations.

lougord99 wrote:Sunset in HP has caught the Kroger disease. They now have the number which tracks you, though they do not yet require the number to get the sale price ( that will come ). They have installed, but not yet opened self service checkout stations.

They probably held out longer than most, they likely have the same issues related to obtaining labor and cost of labor.

Regards,
Cathy2

Is Mariano's Smokehouse just a badly dumbed down version of Todd's BBQ?

There had been posts several years ago that Todd's offered a decent value. Recently I was out running errands and looking for something to take home for lunch. I was near the Northbrook Mariano's (Skokie Blvd.) and stopped in.

As soon as I got near the Smokehouse I smelled smoke and thought whatever they had must be better than the boil-in-a-bag ribs sitting on the meat shelves, so I got some spares which were still hot. Also, a package of smoked salmon as I had gotten some there a few years ago that was pretty good.

When I started eating the ribs, I tried to convince myself that I could get it again, but it was no go. Ribs are inherently great, but these just didn't cut it. They were in the world's blandest sauce and, while I smelled smoke, I just didn't get any flavor.

The smoked salmon was also a disappointment. It was lemon dill and I couldn't detect either. The salmon itself tasted like fish that had been cooked in the general vicinity of smoke, but not really near the smoke.

Just to make sure it wasn't me, today I picked up a blister pack of smoked salmon at Jewel to compare. The difference was immediately clear. The Jewel salmon had a deep ruby color and intense flavor. I compared both the salmons by themselves and then each on a bagel mit cream cheese, green onions and cucumber. No doubt about it. The Mariano's product paled in comparison.

Looks like Mariano's has been thoroughly Krogerized.

George R wrote:Looks like Mariano's has been thoroughly Krogerized.

Speaking of Kroger,

foodmanufacturing.com wrote:A Kroger supermarket allowed minors to engage in hazardous work and exceed hours standards, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation in Mississippi found.

Kroger Fined for Child Labor Violations

=R=

just the worst