Supermarkets offering "take-out"

[Beerball]

I wasn't bragging or rubbing my money in their faces. I was just pointing out that even us rich people have had to cut back. We feel thier plight.

brother can you spare a pully fussy?

[Ramius]

Good 'ole Jim.

 

On a site with numerous folks worrying about their economic future, folks with ill children, young people hoping that the debt incurred for education gets them decent employment, we can always count on you to brag, and rub your money into their faces and wipe your feet off on their troubles.

 

debt incurred from education is meaningless. the easiest thing in the world is to defer school loans or get an "income-based" repayment play where you are paying .65 cents a month for the first 8 years.

[Pete]

I wasn't bragging or rubbing my money in their faces. I was just pointing out that even us rich people have had to cut back. We feel thier plight.

I had to cut Champagne for Cava myself. And I definitely am not rich in terms of money

[KD in CA]

Good 'ole Jim.

 

On a site with numerous folks worrying about their economic future, folks with ill children, young people hoping that the debt incurred for education gets them decent employment, we can always count on you to brag, and rub your money into their faces and wipe your feet off on their troubles.

 

 

You're still paying your student loans back?

[stuckincincy]

You're still paying your student loans back?

 

 

Me? I had a 4 year scholarship, but being young and by definition stupid, I took out one student loan for a thousand bucks which I used to buy a motorcycle. The pay down was something less than $20 per month.

[Ramius]

 

Me? I had a 4 year scholarship, but being young and by definition stupid, I took out one student loan for a thousand bucks which I used to buy a motorcycle. The pay down was something less than $20 per month.

 

and here all this time i thought the motorcycle wasn't invented until the late 1800's.

[stuckincincy]

and here all this time i thought the motorcycle wasn't invented until the late 1800's.

 

Well - there you have it. Look at all the wonderful things your forefathers did for you. Praise them, appreciate their sacrifices.

[buckeyemike]

Getting back to the original topic...

 

There's some damn good stuff at Heinen's in the Cleveland area. Their hoagies and burgers are terrific, the sushi is good, and they have make-you-own stir frys as well.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Wegman's is known throughout the grocery industry as an innovative leader. Pooj is not telling tales when he says Wegman's was doing food court/take out since the early 90's. And we're not talking dried out chicken under a heat lamp either. Take the McKinley Parkway Wegman's right by RWS for example: Their food court has a sushi bar, a beef-on-weck bar, salad bar, chinese stir fry bar, deli counter, and pizza counter. And that's located right next to their bakery that is full of gourmet desserts. I always stop there on game days. I live in NH and anytime I go to Buffalo/Rochester I do my grocery shopping at Wegman's and drive the 500 miles home.

 

PTR

 

The Twin Fair's and Bells International Bazaar's were really ahead of their time with this concept of "Super Stores" and what not you see today.

 

Even back in the early 1990's I remember the Hi-Vee stores in Iowa offering cafes... We would go there for a sit down breakfest when I was on the road with the survey unit...

 

Funny how things don't stick early on... Then take off years later.

[Bmwolf21]

Perhaps. My thought is that the supermarkets feel that with a tight economy and with restaurants bemoaning a drop in their business, that expanding their ready-to-eat offerings is a profit maker.

 

I'm well aware that marts to varying degrees have offered such for a long time.

Back in the late 90s/early 2000's I worked at the Tops on Maple & Bailey in Amherst, and one of my store managers felt pretty strongly that the rise in places like Boston Market was because Tops and other grocery stores were slow to embrace and implement the full Carry-Out Cafe concepts. He said that by the time the corporate masters realized that people would pay for the convenience of precooked meals, Tops and other stores were playing catch-up.

 

Getting back to the original topic...

 

There's some damn good stuff at Heinen's in the Cleveland area. Their hoagies and burgers are terrific, the sushi is good, and they have make-you-own stir frys as well.

I've been in the Cleveland area for about 2 1/2 years now, and haven't set foot in a Heinen's. The closest to me is in Brecksville. How are they in terms of price comparison and quality? Their prepared foods sound pretty good...

[buckeyemike]

I've been in the Cleveland area for about 2 1/2 years now, and haven't set foot in a Heinen's. The closest to me is in Brecksville. How are they in terms of price comparison and quality? Their prepared foods sound pretty good...

 

Price-wise, they're a little bit higher than Giant Eagle (and higher still than your local Wal-Mart or wherever else you buy groceries these days).

 

Quality-wise, there is absolutely no comparison. Heinen's runs circles around everybody else locally. They are the closest thing NE Ohio has to Wegman's.

[Bmwolf21]

Price-wise, they're a little bit higher than Giant Eagle (and higher still than your local Wal-Mart or wherever else you buy groceries these days).

 

Quality-wise, there is absolutely no comparison. Heinen's runs circles around everybody else locally. They are the closest thing NE Ohio has to Wegman's.

Nice, thanks. I'll have to give them a look before the holidays.

[stuckincincy]

Back in the late 90s/early 2000's I worked at the Tops on Maple & Bailey in Amherst, and one of my store managers felt pretty strongly that the rise in places like Boston Market was because Tops and other grocery stores were slow to embrace and implement the full Carry-Out Cafe concepts. He said that by the time the corporate masters realized that people would pay for the convenience of precooked meals, Tops and other stores were playing catch-up.

 

 

I've been in the Cleveland area for about 2 1/2 years now, and haven't set foot in a Heinen's. The closest to me is in Brecksville. How are they in terms of price comparison and quality? Their prepared foods sound pretty good...

 

I think that a lot of the local supermarket cooked food offerings - excepting those that feature such prominently - have more to do with the extent that that store manager is allowed the independence to find a way to turn a buck for his store, and if he/she hired a (usually deli) staff that are good cooks and know what their usual customers are looking for.

[IDBillzFan]

Mrs Chef and I went out to a nice dinner Saturday night to celebrate our house in escrow. Four courses at one of the best restaurants in the county and the cost with tip was less than $160 which is usually half of what we spend when we go out big like that. The key? Brought our own bottle of wine (Chateau Bellvue 2000 Bordeaux) that we paid $85 for more than five years ago and they only charged $10 for corkage. I was shocked at what we got for dinner for that price.

Which restaurant?

[Chef Jim]

Which restaurant?

 

Marche Modern at South Coast Plaza. I would highly recommend it.

[Bmwolf21]

I think that a lot of the local supermarket cooked food offerings - excepting those that feature such prominently - have more to do with the extent that that store manager is allowed the independence to find a way to turn a buck for his store, and if he/she hired a (usually deli) staff that are good cooks and know what their usual customers are looking for.

I'm not quite sure what you're getting at here.

[stuckincincy]

I'm not quite sure what you're getting at here.

 

I'm going back a long time, I know...but individual grocery store managers of the chain outfits used to have the freedom to discount overstocked items, offer up grocery items including prepared foods that were in line with the buying habits of his usual customers.

 

Where I worked in the biz as a lad, a good portion of the clientele was Italian, Jewish, and Polish. Stores featuring hot foods was a long time in the future, but the Head Butcher was free to add this or that prepared food to the deli case and the fresh meat was cut off the carcass in tune with what would sell, the Produce Manager could add produce that the customers had a favor for.

 

The Store Manager could expand and contract shelf space to suit his customer's preferences. Actually, that was done by the stock boy who filled a particular aisle. We 16+ year-olds would order the replenishing stock, and were trusted to know what was selling and what was not. You were even allowed to work off excess stock on the now highly-coveted aisle end displays.

 

Much if not all of that has disappeared IMO - every inch of shelf space is fought over by vendors, the controlling corporation extracting the last ounce of money (or "considerations") from the vying vendors. I may be wrong here - perhaps someone in grocery store management could chime in...

 

I have fond memories of my time working in grocery markets. Those good people taught us youngsters about business, trusted us and gave us responsibilities, and sincerely wanted us to have a career in the business.

[Bmwolf21]

I'm going back a long time, I know...but individual grocery store managers of the chain outfits used to have the freedom to discount overstocked items, offer up grocery items including prepared foods that were in line with the buying habits of his usual customers.

 

Where I worked in the biz as a lad, a good portion of the clientele was Italian, Jewish, and Polish. Stores featuring hot foods was a long time in the future, but the Head Butcher was free to add this or that prepared food to the deli case and the fresh meat was cut off the carcass in tune with what would sell, the Produce Manager could add produce that the customers had a favor for.

 

The Store Manager could expand and contract shelf space to suit his customer's preferences. Actually, that was done by the stock boy who filled a particular aisle. We 16+ year-olds would order the replenishing stock, and were trusted to know what was selling and what was not. You were even allowed to work off excess stock on the now highly-coveted aisle end displays.

 

Much if not all of that has disappeared IMO - every inch of shelf space is fought over by vendors, the controlling corporation extracting the last ounce of money (or "considerations") from the vying vendors. I may be wrong here - perhaps someone in grocery store management could chime in...

 

I have fond memories of my time working in grocery markets. Those good people taught us youngsters about business, trusted us and gave us responsibilities, and sincerely wanted us to have a career in the business.

Fair enough. My original point was simply that there was talk of creating those those carryout cafe-style departments and services and the corporate masters were slow to adapt, which gave places like Boston Market and other homestyle takeout restaurants a foothold.