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poopshovel
poopshovel SuperDork
7/3/10 12:27 p.m.

This guy.

My wife is sick of hearing the rants, not only about how I've never routinely subjected myself to rude, inconsiderate people as I do in the grocery store every week, but how it could be "fixed."

I thought the concept of Webvan was sheer genius. I get whipped into an entrepreneurial frenzy every now and then, imagining where they went wrong, and how, with enough capital, I could fix it.

This morning, I finally googled "Why did Webvan fail?" The general consensus seems to be that they effectively wanted to be the size of Walmart right from the get-go. They built/leased warehouses that were at least double the size of what they needed, and focused on expensive automation over cheap labor.

In all my reading though, I'm finding most of these articles were written in 2001, immediately after Webvan's collapse, and what they didn't seem to take into consideration was the percentage of the U.S. population actively using the internet. According to teh int4rw3bz, the percentage of people in the U.S. who use the internet has jumped from roughly 50% to 75% in the last ten years. I'd also tend to guess that there's an even bigger jump when you look at, say, the 40 - 50 year old consumer market.

I digress.

Anyway, were you sad to see Webvan go? Do you think a second coming of e-grocers is imminent? Anybody got a couple-ten million they wanna let me borrow?

P71
P71 SuperDork
7/3/10 12:34 p.m.

Grocery stores are open 24/7. Don't shop at 5PM like all the other sheep. Shop at 1AM on the way home from late-night drag racing or at 9AM on Sunday when everybody else is at church.

novaderrik
novaderrik Reader
7/3/10 12:45 p.m.

i don't mind the grocery store- i know where the frozen pizzas and burritos are, so i'm never in there very long. and the local grocery store has some cute girls working there..

z31maniac
z31maniac Dork
7/3/10 12:58 p.m.

I hate going grocery shopping, HATE.

I finally whined/moaned/b%$*ed about it enough when we would go that the little woman just leaves me at home to nap/PS3/forums as I please now.

Lesley
Lesley SuperDork
7/3/10 12:59 p.m.

I hate to shop, but I actually enjoy grocery stores. It's almost a zen thing - love going through the produce section. But like P71 suggests -- only after hours. I usually go around 9 at night since throngs of rude shiny happy folks make me bat-E36 M3 crazy.

stuart in mn
stuart in mn SuperDork
7/3/10 1:01 p.m.

I'm not familiar with webvan, but I assume it's a grocery service where you order online and they deliver the groceries to you. There's a similar service in Minneapolis that seems to be working but isn't very popular: http://www.lundsandbyerlys.com/shoponline.aspx`. I suspect most people still want to see what they're buying when it comes to food.

xd
xd New Reader
7/3/10 1:06 p.m.

Most grocery stores deliver now. So I don't see webvan working anymore. Just have them delivered. I ordered all mine from amazon for awhile. Now I just call the store direct. I hate grocery stores more then anything.
If you want an Idea that would make a lot of money open a restaurant that does not allow children. Then use the proceeds to open a theater that has a full bar and no children( I found one of these it is awesome). Then use the profits from that to start a housing development condos and homes with a HOA with only two rules no children and cut your grass.

ignorant
ignorant SuperDork
7/3/10 1:17 p.m.

I live going to whole foods, the chicks who work there are hot.

P71
P71 SuperDork
7/3/10 1:30 p.m.
ignorant wrote: I live going to whole foods, the chicks who work there are hot.

Uh, you know some of those chicks aren't really chicks, right?

ignorant
ignorant SuperDork
7/3/10 1:44 p.m.
P71 wrote:
ignorant wrote: I live going to whole foods, the chicks who work there are hot.
Uh, you know some of those chicks aren't really chicks, right?

yes...

there are some beasts there.. but damn the chick in the yoga pants.. ohh yeah

EastCoastMojo
EastCoastMojo SuperDork
7/3/10 1:49 p.m.

Mmmm, I loves me some grocery shoppin'. Produce counter -corn on the cob, check. Meat counter - filet mignon, check. Beer counter- Molson XXX, check. Done.

TuffWork
TuffWork New Reader
7/3/10 2:06 p.m.

I used to hate shopping when I felt like I was cornered into going to Wally World or face paying big prices at a more expensive chain just to avoid all the crazy people. Now I found a grocery store that's by my house that most people don't shop at anymore. I hope they never go out of business. I love to cook, but that might change if I have to start going back to Wal-Mart.

Karl La Follette
Karl La Follette HalfDork
7/3/10 2:15 p.m.
EastCoastMojo wrote: Mmmm, I loves me some grocery shoppin'. Produce counter -corn on the cob, check. Meat counter - filet mignon, check. Beer counter- Molson XXX, check. Done.

spinach , sweet potatoes , celery , carrots , unsweetened jello and pudding , horseradish , radishes, mangos, lamb, shrimp

beer counter coors light

my favorite shopping experiences is when Marie and I are on a trip and we get a bunch of traveling food . rather stop at Publix for food than a fast food

914Driver
914Driver SuperDork
7/3/10 2:43 p.m.

My friend lives in a neighborhood where the grocery store delivers, the liquor store delivers and the Chinese laundry picks up and delivers.

It adds cost to living, but what's your time worth?

What's your sanity worth?

Dan

Osterkraut
Osterkraut Dork
7/3/10 3:10 p.m.

I solved the grocery problem by buying most of my food in bulk from Costco. Except for milk and eggs, of which I go through at an alarming rate.

The trick seems to be to go Wednesday evenings, there's some statistic floating around saying that's when the least people shop for groceries, and I find it to be true.

ditchdigger
ditchdigger HalfDork
7/3/10 3:13 p.m.

Rude people at the grocery store are nothing. Yard work is what I hate. If I could order a lawn mowing on the internet I would happily pay a fortune.

poopshovel
poopshovel SuperDork
7/3/10 3:27 p.m.

Interesting. I'm pretty insulated from the "big city" or even "big suburb" thing, so I was unaware that a lot of the grocery stores are already delivering. Scratch that business plan!

No 24 hour stores around here, unless you count Walmart as a grocery store. I generally think of it as hell on earth.

My work hours pretty much dictate when I shop. I'll bitch a little less if/when we get a Publix in my neck of the woods.

Ranger50
Ranger50 New Reader
7/3/10 3:51 p.m.

Given I have exactly 4 places to actually shop at, MaoMart, Food Chitty, SaveNotALot, and a local 5 store "chain".

I love shopping at Food Chitty, but some of their prices make me scratch my head. Like 3 times the price on something that can be had from MaoMart or SaveNotALot for a buck, buck fitty. But my only real problem with MaoMart and why I have a huge disdain for grocery shopping, is refusing to tell the slobs with 3 carts full that the 20 item or less line that is open isn't for them to checkout at any damn time.

Brian

PS- Damn all you people able to buy beer at the grocery.

Buzz Killington
Buzz Killington HalfDork
7/3/10 3:59 p.m.

raises both hands

i hate hate HATE grocery shopping. my wife stopped asking me to go along with her, and won't go with me when i decide i absolutely need to do it b/c it puts me in such a foul mood.

zomby woof
zomby woof Dork
7/3/10 4:07 p.m.
Osterkraut wrote: The trick seems to be to go Wednesday evenings, there's some statistic floating around saying that's when the least people shop for groceries, and I find it to be true.

If you have anything to do, Wednesday is the day

Nobody does anything on Wednesdays.

ditchdigger wrote: Rude people at the grocery store are nothing. Yard work is what I hate. If I could order a lawn mowing on the internet I would happily pay a fortune.

My wife does the groceries, and cuts the grass

poopshovel
poopshovel SuperDork
7/3/10 4:11 p.m.

See, the "If I berkeley it up enough, I won't have to do it anymore" theory doesn't apply for me here, as my wife really enjoys making me miserable.

We "took turns" for a while, as I absolutely couldn't berkeleying stand the "Oh...I have to go back to the other end of the store. I forgot the blahblahblah." That E36 M3 drives me insane. I make a list. It's in order. I check stuff off as I go.

May sound weird, but it's not the actual shopping part that bothers me. As a cheapassmuhfuggah I enjoy finding the killer deal. What drives me insane is the inconsiderate people of the world. And I'm forced to deal with large quantities of them in the grocery store. People where I live used to say "Pardon me" or "excuse me," smile at you, say "I'm sorry" if they hit you with their cart, etc.

Now the berkeleyers are spreading out further. A combination of uppity atlanta berkeleys visiting for the weekend, and piece of dog squeeze, "EBT card" using atlanta berkeleys that have decided to turn our community into E36 M3 like everything else they touch. Both groups are equally disgusting and annoying, and aside from the highway, where I can just blow by them...in the slow lane, of course, the grocery store is pretty much the only place where I have to deal with them.

tuna55
tuna55 HalfDork
7/3/10 4:20 p.m.

Do a farmers market instead. Better food, better people. The kids love it. We also joined a farmers buyers group. We go to pick up our food at the farm one every other week. It's fantastic.

zomby woof
zomby woof Dork
7/3/10 4:23 p.m.
poopshovel wrote: See, the "If I berkeley it up enough, I won't have to do it anymore" theory doesn't apply for me here, as my wife really enjoys making me miserable. We "took turns" for a while, as I absolutely couldn't berkeleying stand the "Oh...I have to go back to the other end of the store. I forgot the blahblahblah." That E36 M3 drives me insane. I make a list. It's in order. I check stuff off as I go. May sound weird, but it's not the actual shopping part that bothers me. As a cheapassmuhfuggah I enjoy finding the killer deal. What drives me insane is the inconsiderate people of the world. And I'm forced to deal with large quantities of them in the grocery store. People where I live used to say "Pardon me" or "excuse me," smile at you, say "I'm sorry" if they hit you with their cart, etc. Now the berkeleyers are spreading out further. A combination of uppity atlanta berkeleys visiting for the weekend, and piece of dog squeeze, "EBT card" using atlanta berkeleys that have decided to turn our community into E36 M3 like everything else they touch. Both groups are equally disgusting and annoying, and aside from the highway, where I can just blow by them...in the slow lane, of course, the grocery store is pretty much the only place where I have to deal with them.

So you're kind of on the fence, then?

ReverendDexter
ReverendDexter Dork
7/3/10 4:30 p.m.

I've got a Trader Joe's about 2 miles from the house. Only time it's bad is ~5:30, when everyone gets off work and hits the store before they go home. So, I don't go then, and everything is fine.

It's a way to get out of the house.

StevenFV19
StevenFV19 New Reader
7/3/10 5:12 p.m.

I hate going grocercy shopping, we have Food Lion, and ACME around here, both crappy. Safeway isn't bad, and the people are nice, but I always just make my mom go. No hot girls from my school work at grocery stores either, so there's another negative. They don't deliver around here either

Steven

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