"It's ridiculous. What's the world coming to when Big Brother wants to charge you for singing a wee tune?", Sandra Burt said. So, Big Brother thought about it a bit, and decided, well, maybe she's right.
posted by flapjax at midnite on Oct 21, 2009 - 34 comments

In a possible sign of things to come, a group of Ontario grocery chain franchisees has split off and formed an independent co-op in order to better access locally-sourced food.
posted by parudox on Jul 15, 2009 - 21 comments

Trader Joe's Fan: Recipes, product reviews and more.
posted by invisible ink on Nov 13, 2008 - 27 comments

Whole Foods takes London. This South Kensington flagship store is the "quasi-messianic" company's biggest ever, comprising 80,000 square feet spread out over three floors offering 10,000 grocery items. In true American style, shoppers can choose from 1,000 different wines, 425 cheeses, 40 types of sausage, 55 in-store chefs, a pub called The Bramley, a sushi bar, a champagne and oyster bar and a DJ-booth to play music for late-night shoppers. The locals seem overwhelmed by it all.
posted by chuckdarwin on Jun 29, 2007 - 86 comments

Did you bring bottles? They gave away dishes, encyclopedias, and Batman toys to get you in the store. Most have been replaced by mega-groceries, but David Gwynn remembers the grocery chain ^{^} down the block.
posted by ?! on Oct 11, 2006 - 19 comments

It took 30 years to spread from California to New York but the Trader Joe's grocery store chain is finally making a foothold in the Big Apple. The deniznes of NYC will now be able to obsess about something new. Not everyone is a fan, but maybe it's just that they haven't yet tried the Two-buck Chuck.
posted by scblackman on Mar 8, 2006 - 113 comments

"I found an abandoned grocery list in a St. Louis Schnuck's parking lot in 1996 or 1997. So I decided to keep them every time I came across one. And the internet is a great place to do stupid things." See the Best of for the author's picks, including my personal favorite.
posted by Emperor Yamamoto's Eggs on Aug 12, 2005 - 25 comments

... A creature with a huge mouth and an enormous gut, no brain and no soul...... How does one get past the firewall that ensures the consumers never actually talk to a grocery-store manager?...

This article from the Globe and Mail struck a chord in me. Decline of the empire or simplistic disavowal of the grease that runs the machinery?
posted by ashbury on Mar 10, 2004 - 24 comments

When the Fifth Avenue Grocery in Roundup, Montana closed it's doors, it really closed them. Everything was left inside, as it was, until last year. Now the doors are open and everything's going up for auction tomorrow.
posted by kayjay on Apr 29, 2003 - 13 comments

The Next Time You Hear that Beep, you can be on Supermarket Privacy Sweep! I'm sure most of us own Supermarket Discount Cards, I mean who can resist the savings? If you don't like being monitored, help out the always popular Rob at Cockeyed.com become the Ultimate Shopper by using his card (NYT Article here). I'm always a bit wary when I use mine, I'm afraid they may find out how boring I really am. I'm tempted to sexy up my database profile: "I'd like to buy come chocolate chip cookies... and ah.. some vaseline and hamster food. Oh, and straws!" Then Safeway will give me a discount on new underwear, fo shizzle my nizzle!
posted by Stan Chin on Mar 13, 2003 - 33 comments