Subj : Grocery Getters [1] To : Dave Drum From : Ruth Haffly Date : Sat Jan 11 2025 16:27:49 Hi Dave, RH> I grew up in a small town, population was about 850. At that, there RH> were smaller villages in the area that had no grocery stores so the RH> folks came to us for shopping. Going over the mountains in winter was RH> not a fun experience; one place in particular was notoriously bad. I RH> think most people stocked up when they came, and, a lot of the farmers RH> were able to do their own butchering. My parents, having white collar RH> jobs, bought meat from the grocery stores. DD> I didn't always live in the "metropolis" that is the State Capitol. DD> But, both Taylorcille and Carlinville were larger than 1000 DD> population. Still, it was "small town America." Since getting married, I've lived in places as small as 1,000 (late 70s/early 80s Swansboro) to as large as 3.5 million (reunited Berlin) and all sorts of sizes between. Always something interesting, no matter how large or small a place. Some of the big places have "neighborhoods" so you have a small town feel in the midst of a big city. DD> 8<----- EDIT ----->8 DD> When my shift at the Zone is done at 11 o'clock I'm swinging by to get DD> a nice order of frozen and dry goods. All of the attendants in the DD> pick up section know me and my car so they just automatically pull the DD> tote with my order and bring it out to the car. RH> We've not tried that, doing all of our grocery shopping in person. May RH> hve to change that as we get older, but I'll not like not being able to RH> pick my own produce, etc. DD> I still buy/select my own produce and fresh meat. Staple items are all DD> that I let/have them pick and bag for me. We may reach that point eventually. RH> We don't do a lot of bread either but probably more than you do, since RH> it's 2 people eating from the loaf. I'll use the crusts, etc from my RH> home made 100% whhole wheat for bread crumbs--haven't bought any in RH> decades. DD> Used to get my bread at the "used brad store" of which we had at least DD> five examples. Two for Wonder Bread and three for Butternut. Now we're My parents started doing that when I was in college and they went to the larger towns that had those stores more often. They've never been convenient for us tho. DD> down to just one ... a Tasty Kake outlet that I am told is the only DD> store of that type between Chicago and St. Louis. And their prices/ DD> here named "Harvest Market" which is part of a local(ish) mini-chain DD> whose "schtick" is locally grown/processed/fresh meat and produce and DD> packaged products. They have a nice in-store restaurant like Wegman's DD> or Hy-Vee which I have tried a couple times. I have yet to buy any DD> groceries at that location. RH> Sounds like an interesting place to check out. DD> Oh, I've cruised their produce and meat aisle. And, of course the DD> canned/ boxed goods too. Pricing is pretty "up-market". And I am a DD> careful shopper. DD> It is/was. But, it's about as far from me as it can be and still be DD> "in town". I've done some 'walk-about' when I've met folks there for DD> a lunch or similar occasion. RH> We may be out in that area in spring, going to the Dayton Hamvention. RH> Also have some things we want to donate to the Chicago Public Library RH> so need to resume (stopped when Covid shut the country down) talks with RH> them. DD> I don't think CoVid shut it down as much as changed the marketplace. DD> The "weak sisters" did not survive. But the well run, well done places DD> seem to have survived. We've got to find out if the person we were communicating with is still at CPL. Also need to make a list of what we have, run it by my siblings and get their ok since it is family papers. DD> Then there are the ethnic markets. We have Indian, Chinese, S.E. DD> Asian, Italian-American Imports, etc. I buy my miso paste at one of DD> the Chinese markets. And some Indian specialities at Masala Mart. RH> Those are all down in Raleigh, don't think there are any in WF. DD> Probably not enough volume of business to sustain a presence. RH> Possibly, but the way the town has grown, it won't be long. When the RH> Wegman's development was announced, it included plans for a number of RH> other stores and apartment buildings. The other stores are across the RH> highway, more small restaurants than stores actually. The latest one to RH> open up opened yesterday, Bibibop Asian Grill. Fast Asian style (mostly RH> Korean-ish) bowls; we tried it for lunch yesterday. Had a good sized RH> crowd but that could be opening day novelty; we'll see if it lasts. RH> Food was ok, not the best Korean we've had but could have been much RH> worse. We'll go back, but it most likely won't be a regular. >> CONTINUED IN NEXT MESSAGE << --- Catch you later, Ruth rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net FIDO 1:396/45.28 .... You learn something useless every day. --- PPoint 3.01 * Origin: Sew! That's My Point (1:396/45.28) .