A tale of two groceries

Saturday afforded me a comparison study of groceries that I hadn’t set out to conduct. First stop was Trader Joe’s, a grocery that doesn’t take itself too seriously and makes sure that people are enjoying their experience when they visit. Examples include the plush animal hidden somewhere in the store that children are challenged to find and return to the front for a prize and the personable crew members at checkout. (One day recently I had more cloth bags than I had groceries. The crew member assured me that he’d be kind in this instance but warned me jokingly that if this happened again, I’d be asked to go find more groceries to fill those bags.)

So I’m in Trader Joe’s and looking for their store brand of the fig cookies we know as Fig Newtons. They weren’t with the cookies, so I asked Chris, the store’s captain (love the nautical terms) who promptly led me to the breakfast section and pulled a box of breakfast bars from the shelf. He assured me they were good, which probably would have sufficed. Then, in what I found to be astonishing, he asked if I’d like to try one. I said yes, and he broke open the box, handed me a bar and promptly headed down the aisle offering the remaining bars to other shoppers. Not only did I enjoy a delicious fig bar, but I also made some friends as they realized the free samples came available due to my request for information. Pleasantly stunned, I basked in the warm glow of the positively memorable experience. The associate at the checkout confirmed that crew members love (her exact word) to open product and provide samples for customers.

Next grocery stop is my primary grocery, one where I’ve shopped faithfully for years. I regularly drive past a grocery closer to my home to spend money at this one. I headed to the milk section for the soy milk my wife likes when she’s making the coffee at home or at work. I knew I didn’t want vanilla light, nor did I want very vanilla. Not seeing the specific brand and combination I had in mind, I asked the associate stocking the case if he could help me. I told him what I wanted, and his initial answer was, “No.” One word, no. It wasn’t, “No, I’m sorry, we don’t have that particular flavor today.” It wasn’t, “No, I’m sorry, that’s not one of the versions we normally stock.” It was, “No.” When I pointed to a particular row that was completely empty and asked if that’s where it might normally be, he pointed to the shelf label and gave a more complete answer: “No, see, that’s where the organic would be.”

Guess where I felt a little more special, a little warmer and a little more inclined to go the next time I want to feel special during grocery shopping…