Question for today: which shop do you know best?

[innocent_lex]

For me it's John Lewis, which is a UK department store. I know where to go for most things in my local store, I know what I want and whether they'll have it, I know what to look out for in terms of bargains, I often wander in just to gaze at things that I want but know I can't justify buying for months (if ever), and I like that when people offer to help me they do actually help.

When I first thought about this, my thinking automatically went to the supermarket. But actually my local supermarkets are constantly moving things around and frequently stop stocking things that I want to buy, so I can't say I know it very well at all.

Comments

[stop_thinking]

Interesting. With you on the moving stuff around in supermarkets annoyance. I don't really know any shops well anymore although this could be because I don't go shopping much any more. In fact, most shops turn into a source of frustration for one or more of the following reasons.

1) I can't find what I want
2) I can't find anyone on the floor to answer my queries or the queue at customer services is too long.
3) The queues at the checkouts are too long.
4) The staff don't know what they're talking about

I've had 3 of those things happen while out shopping today. I suddenly realised that this is why I find shoppping online (including grocery shopping online) to be a more pleasant experience!

Of course, online shopping can never replace the usefulness of being able to see a potential purchase in real life. I could never clothes shop on line either because barely 20% of anything I try on ever fits my build. V-necks that expose my whole chest, sleeves that hang over my fingers, trousers that trail on the floor despite being advertised as 'short length' and even just the fact that one size is rarely the same size from one make to another!

Oooh, thanks for the opp to rant!

[rynogeny.livejournal.com]

With you on the moving stuff around in supermarkets annoyance

Over here, it's well known (i.e., a lot of people who used to work for the supermarket chains have admitted it) that they constantly move stuff around to make it harder to find, the idea being that the longer you're in the store, the more impulse buying you'll do. Apparently, they don't worry overmuch about the practice annoying people to the point they'll quit shopping there since, A) they all do it, and B) you have to have food.

Probably the store I know the best is Walmart, because it's about five minutes from here and sells both food and general merchandise (not all WM sell food.) I do make a point of going to the cheap grocery store to stock up every two weeks, and the more expensive supermarket once a week or so -- depending on what they've got on sale.

[innocent-lex.livejournal.com]

I don't know why they still believe in the impulse buying theory of moving stuff. I've never met anyone who says that works - they all say it makes them skip things on their list and if it keeps happening they stop going back.

[innocent-lex.livejournal.com]

Yep, those are a lot of the reasons I shop online, particularly 1. I probably do about half of my grocery shopping online these days (a reduction from what it used to be - my back doesn't stop me from going to the supermarket all the time any more!) and a lot of that is to do with knowing that I'll get what I want. I got so fed up of going to Tesco and them having changed their range or not having simple stuff like bread or rice krispies. And it's always the stuff I actually went for. Grrr.

[readerjane]

Interesting!

I also hate it when stores I've become familiar with move things around.

There are two mainstream grocery stores close to me (as well as the discount grocery, which I use as much as possible, and the snooty-organic-grocery, which I use only for items I can't find elsewhere). They rearrange their shelves once a year or so.

Of the two, the one I prefer is the one which has slightly wider aisles, no mid-store aisle that cuts all the long aisles in half, and almost never puts displays on the floor within the aisles. Basically for me it's a traffic pattern issue. I want to get in, find what I need and get out. The higher the likelihood that another shopper's cart is going to block me and force me to go round, or that there will be traffic jams at aisle intersections, the more likely I am to get annoyed and avoid that store.

My favorite of those two mainstream stores also has a better-arranged parking lot.

[innocent-lex.livejournal.com]

No matter when I go to supermarkets, they always seem to have those big rolling shelves out full of stuff to restock the actual shelves, and they're always in the way of the things I want to get to. The staff give me such dirty looks when I shift them out of my way, but having asked them to move and they don't? Well, I turn into a self-service customer.

Ah, parking! I've actually stopped going to one of the big supermarkets that has lots of things I find useful simply because the bad parking means I end up with lots of pain just because of the distance I have to go with a full trolley.

Another frustration for me is the toddlers and young kids allowed to just wander about with no parent in sight to stop them from running in front of someone's fully-loaded trolley. Parents, if you wouldn't let your child run about on a road in front of cars, why let them run about in front of heavy vehicles that can do significant damage to a v. small person? I can't stop my trolley on a whim, y'know.

[sg1scribe.livejournal.com]

Am I terribly sad that the shop I know best is probably Lush?

[innocent-lex.livejournal.com]

Well, only in that it's a teeny tiny shop so isn't a real challenge in getting to know it *g*

I think you and Ankh could give each other tours of your local Lushes, pointing out areas of interest.