Friday, November 28, 2008

Black Friday and Other Shopping Tales... Plus BEER!

News you might could use… today. “Six Black Friday Bargains to Avoid.” Excerpt:
Black Friday is not an official national holiday, but this year we may as well consecrate it as such—the nation's fortunes depend dearly on how much you and your fellow citizens spend on this first day of the holiday shopping season. Don't lose your scruples, though, just because the economy hangs in the balance. Yes, you'll be able to find some great bargains this weekend, especially on technology (Check out this 22-inch widescreen LCD monitor for just $140, including shipping.) But there are many deals you should avoid, too—things that sound like bargains but that on closer inspection are no bargain at all.
In general, don't buy anything that you or your loved ones don't need just because it's on sale. This sounds obvious, but the rule is easy to forget during a shopping stampede. Remember, retailers are counting on your irrationality—the whole point of a "doorbuster" sale is to get you into the store to seduce you to spend cash on more profitable items.
I don’t “do” Black Friday. Never have, never will. Shopping is neither an adventure nor a sport for me. It’s a necessary frickin’ evil… and I’m speaking of the act of acquiring items needed to keep body and soul together like food, clothing, and beer. Other than that? That’s why Algore invented the internet. I don’t need it if it ain’t on Amazon, Cigar.com, or Despair.com (There are cool management training vids @Despair, if you’re interested in de-motivating your workforce).
(Long parenthetical aside… Once upon a time (in another life) I thought I’d achieved Nirvana. Well, I actually DID achieve Nirvana, but only for about a year. It was at the height of the dot-bomb ridiculouslessness (I just made that word up), I was living in SFO, and I was actually grocery shopping ON-LINE. I forget the name of the establishment (they’re belly-up now, anyway), but they had an extensive on-line “grocery list” to order from… and one could customize, personalize, and save your very own list for re-use from week to week or however often you did your shopping.
The company delivered up until 2200 hrs, six days a week, and the delivery person would bring the bags of groceries right into my kitchen. Well… my groceries weren’t in bags… they were in large green plastic tubs, which the delivery person unloaded onto my kitchen counter while I checked each item off my shopping list as it was placed on the counter. No money changed hands; the transaction was placed on your credit card when you placed your order.
Quality? In a word, yes. Name brand items, always. Fresh, blemish-free produce. More cheeses than a French woman could shake a baguette at. The company never "forgot" or lost an item on my list... ever... and the service always delivered precisely at the requested time. And the delivery guys refused tips: company policy. That's quality.
Inexpensive? Not hardly... one paid about a ten percent premium over Safeway/Ralph's/Kroger prices for the convenience, and I was more than willing to do so. But I was in a minority, however, as the company was out of bid’niz in a year and I was heartbroken. But for a brief shining moment I didn’t even have to go grocery shopping, Gentle Reader.)
(Yes, I know. Neighborhood stores did this sort of thing all the time, back in the day. But I didn’t realize you were old enough to remember that, Gentle Reader. Or maybe you just remember your Grandma telling you about it. That’s gotta be it, innit?)
―:☺:―
More news you can use, if’n you’re a beer drinker: A list of “…the top six craft and microbreweries according to the Brewers Association of Boulder, Colorado.” (There’s a second six, as well.) And those six craft breweries produce true American beer. Beers from all six of these breweries have graced the inside of the fridge here at El Casa Móvil De Pennington at one time or another.
Apropos of something... The subject for the post linked above was how to really “Drink American,” aimed directly at the reverse-snobs who’ll only drink Budmilloors. And that term, Gentle Beer-Drinking Reader, originated in another post at the same blog address: “Who Owns What Beers?” We all know Anheuser-Busch was bought by InBev this year, but didja know both Miller and Coors are foreign-owned these days? Ah… but PBR is still American, so you DO have an American-owned red, white, and blue-collar choice, even if the beer itself is contract-brewed… by South African-owned Miller Brewing. It’s just so danged hard to Buy Drink American these days, innit? Well, not really. If you’re a beer snob.
While we’re on about beer… could this slip o’ the lip be the real reason McCain lost? (0:05)
Nah. Cindy’s in the beer-biz. Couldn’t be.

20 comments:

  1. Buck, could the West Coast online grocery have been Peapod or Webvan?

    New York City still has a very successful online-only grocery store called FreshDirect, as well as smaller scale convenience-store equivalent services like MaxDelivery.com.

    FreshDirect's quality is tops. The thing that amazed me is (a) how good the produce is - as good or better than I'd pick for myself and (b) how carefully everything is packaged, for the most part.

    Population density seems to be the key to getting an online grocery service to be profitable: you've got to have a large, relatively well-off potential customer base in a sharply constrained delivery area.

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  2. Barry's right. Also, the quality control is probably so top-of-the-line because it has to be. If you get one box of pop tarts that are bent in half because it was manhandled too much, you'll never order that way again. It's sure to be a tough business.

    Nevertheless...and I don't mean to torture ya with this, but Safeway is two miles down the road. They're wanting $10 for a two-hour window and $8 for a four-hour window.

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  3. I don't do Black Friday either. Not my thing to stand in line at 3am.

    *sorry I've been away for awhile. I got so busy this week. Hope you have a wonderful weekend*

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  4. Hi Buck,

    I apologize for being away too. Took a few days off for the holiday and to try and forget about politics and the economy for a while. I hope you had a wonderful holiday. Did you get some snow there? We got about an inch on the ground -- it snowed right while we were eating Thanksgiving dinner -- perfect timing.

    The only time I ever went shopping on Black Friday was last year at Kohl's in Kansas ...and I went at noon and not 5:00 a.m. The store was crowded but I got so much Christmas shopping done for such great prices that it was worth the hassle. I stood in line behind about 50 people but the line moved quickly and there was a holiday spirit in the air and nice people to talk to. Don't know if I would do it again, though.

    One thing I don't do is shop online though. I want to see and examine and touch the things I am considering buying. I actually love being in the stores and wandering around looking at stuff, hearing Christmas music, seeing the decorations, etc.

    I loved the McCain clip ..... LOL. You Tube never misses a thing, do they? haha...

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  5. Amazon has online grocery shopping here in Seattle. Top quality stuff. Delivery in just a few hours, or you can order it at like midnight and have it at your door before you leave for work in the morning (if you aren't retired, of course). Beer and wine, too.

    Speaking of beer - had no idea New Belgium had gotten THAT big. Sheesh. I knew 'em when they were knee high to a grasshopper, as they say.

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  6. We have PeaPod here in CT (part of Stop and Shop). I've never tried them as The Oracle and I really do enjoy grocery shopping together. Especially since we've both been eating healthy - it's a challenge to find food that isn't overly processed and is good for you.

    I do about 75% of my holiday shopping online now. It's just easier - the thing I do is shop from reliable, "known" places, so I'm always sure the quality is up to expectations.

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  7. Barry: Thanks!! It was most definitely Webvan! I knew it wasn't Peapod, coz a friend of mine used their service, and we used to "discuss" which service was better. I'm semi-amazed about the comment received in this space so far.

    Population density seems to be the key to getting an online grocery service to be profitable: you've got to have a large, relatively well-off potential customer base in a sharply constrained delivery area.

    Agreed. Ya need that population density to make the service fly and the good sense to limit delivery to certain zip codes; Webvan delivered ALL over the Bay Area... their delivery area was HUGE. A successful start-up also needs management that refuses to buy those damned Aeron chairs, among other things. ;-)

    Morgan sez: Nevertheless...and I don't mean to torture ya with this, but Safeway is two miles down the road. They're wanting $10...

    I'd read someplace that Safeway was still playing in the home delivery market. I've always thought there's a future in this service, but then again... probably not until the economy recovers. And not unless you have competent management, too.

    Michelle sez: *sorry I've been away for awhile. I got so busy this week. Hope you have a wonderful weekend*

    S'OK, Michelle... it's a busy season, innit? I hope your weekend is great, too!

    Sharon sez: Did you get some snow there? We got about an inch on the ground -- it snowed right while we were eating Thanksgiving dinner -- perfect timing.

    No snow here. We were forecasted for flurries, but none materialized. We DID get a sprinkling of rain, tho. Just enough to make all the cars look bad.

    The only time I ever went shopping on Black Friday was last year at Kohl's in Kansas ...and I went at noon and not 5:00 a.m.

    ...

    One thing I don't do is shop online though. ... I actually love being in the stores and wandering around looking at stuff, hearing Christmas music...


    I have to run out later for some mission-essential groceries, due to bad timing on my part. And I'm absolutely dreading the experience. Retailers everywhere wish everyone had your attitude, Sharon. I've never had issues with on-line shopping, which is why I do it. That and the fact that I just HATE to "shop," as noted! ;-)

    Andy: There ARE bennies about living in Moonbat Forward Operating Location A, eh? (I jest, of course.) The beer and wine sound like a particularly good addition to the service. And ya, New Belgium is pretty danged big now. I kinda expect to see them expand into more East Coast markets at some point, sorta like that Colorado mega-brewery (now foreign owned) that was only available west of the Mississippi, once upon a time. More power to 'em! (New Belgium, of course)

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  8. Kris sez: I've never tried them as The Oracle and I really do enjoy grocery shopping together.

    Good on ya both! I kinda-sorta remember those days, LOL! I hear ya about on-line shopping, too. As you can tell: I'm a BIG fan thereof!

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  9. Love it, Buck. We'll change "location" to "Base," and call it M-FOB A. I might hang on to that one, if you don't mind!

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  10. I survived black Friday shopping today, but next year I will probably go back to my avoidance of all stores between Thanksgiving and New Years.
    I wasn't able to find everything at the store, but finished my list online when I returned home :)
    Most of the grocery stores around here have home delivery, and I wait for a free delivery code now and then. It was a life saver when I didn't want to drag 3 little kids around the store when Stuntman was deployed.
    I ordered from Webvan once... then they went under.
    Now.. after all of that, I'm thirsty... I think there is a Blue Moon in the fridge...

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  11. We usually avoid Black Friday here, but our church was doing a thing for the kids, arts and crafts stuff. They wanted to go, so we dropped a majority of them off, then Jeff and I braved the mall (such as it is) and Walmart. None of it was too bad. We didn't buy much either. Mostly groceries. LOL!

    Hmmm, online grocery shopping. Could be nice, but then I like getting out to the store. It's my social hour for the week. LOL!

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  12. I do remember grocery stores making deliveries - especially to old ladies in our neighborhood. In this day and age, people go grocery shopping to meet other people - husband hunting in Wal-mart!

    Toby and I did a little Black Friday shopping for the first time ever this year. I may post about it later, but we did not buy a thing.

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  13. I did the Black Friday thing once, years ago, when I bought a Gamecube at Walmart for my kids' Christmas.
    I had to go to work that day, too.

    I planned on sleeping in today, so went to sleep at about 2AM. Got a phone call from work at 6, begging me to come in since a colleague got Thanksgiving food poisoning!

    *sigh*

    So much for my day off, but at least I made some money!

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  14. I've said it before, but they don't call the shopping palaces "Mauls" for nothing. *sheesh*

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  15. Andy sez: We'll change "location" to "Base," and call it M-FOB A. I might hang on to that one, if you don't mind!

    Feel free! The "location" thing is a throw-back to my past... USAF communication and radar squadrons often had small detachments located away from the main base; the formal identifier for those places was always something like "2119th Communications Squadron, OL-A." They almost always had physical place names as well.

    Susan sez: I survived black Friday shopping today, but next year I will probably go back to my avoidance of all stores between Thanksgiving and New Years.

    I'm glad your outing was successful, Susan. As for me... I changed my mind late in the day and decided those "mission essential" groceries could wait.

    And Blue Moon... Mmmmm! ;-)

    Jenny sez: ...then Jeff and I braved the mall (such as it is)...

    THAT made me smile, given as how it's a real inside joke, LOL! But Hey! At least we have a Dillard's!

    Lou sez: In this day and age, people go grocery shopping to meet other people - husband hunting in Wal-mart!

    Dang. I need to start paying closer attention. I haven't noticed this sort of behavior at my Wally-World. But then again, I've reached that point in life where I'm invisible, for all intents and purposes. Except for women 60 and over, perhaps. ;-)

    Christina sez: Got a phone call from work at 6, begging me to come in since a colleague got Thanksgiving food poisoning!

    "Brain-poisoning," more likely... as in "I need another day off to recover." Dontcha think? But Good On Ya for answering the bell, Christina. Srsly.

    Phlegmmy: Agreed!

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  16. Buck! Women 60 and over still have heat in the fireplace ... get to that mall and smile at some attractive senior babes.

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  17. Sharon sez: Women 60 and over still have heat in the fireplace ... get to that mall and smile at some attractive senior babes.

    Oh... I'm very much aware of that, Sharon, and Thank God for it! I'm also aware that even "senior" women (maybe especially senior women, these days) tend to opt for The Younger Man, "younger" being relative, of course. Perhaps I need to test my hypothesis a little further with some first-hand investigation, as you've sugested. ;-)

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  18. My maiden voyage made i in the Black Friday bedlam series...and speaking of Bedlam...BOOMER!!!!!

    Interestingly enough, i shared my newly obtained Fat Tire with a the Flying Dutchman, who had never had anything from New Belgium...he's a convert.

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  19. ...and speaking of Bedlam...BOOMER!!!!!

    I KNOW you're pleased with the BCS rankings, ain't ya, Jay? ;-)

    And Good On Ya for spreading the word about New Belgium!

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  20. "...ridiculouslessness...." I am out of breath and green with envy.
    "Black Friday" is, IMHO, one more peice of phony "let's sell it to the suckers" promotions from Mad Ave. From being a CPA's word, it has suddenly, inexplicably and assininely become a catch word that we consumers are supposed to give a damn about. It's one more piece of claptrap that should be shoved up some one's words-that-really-don't-matter hole.
    So there, Bah. Humbug, big business.

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