One of the most horrid fates to face any consumer happened to me this week – they remodeled our supermarket. And by remodel I mean they completely changed everything about the store, they didn’t just rearrange stuff on the shelves. Product rearrangement is nothing compared to what happened to our store.
The store closed for the remodel last Saturday and was to reopen Wednesday. When it didn’t reopen until Friday I should have realized there would be major, mind-blowing, oh my god I can’t find anything in this place changes. The freezers and refrigerated sections were moved, the deli department was in a different place, the produce was put kind of in the middle of everything. The aisles are now better organized with similar products, although I did schlep the entire store today before I actually found the sugar, which was just sort of in a pile at the end of the cooking stuff aisle. I observed the manager helping at least three people find stuff today, and everyone who entered the store had sort of a dazed, deer-in-the-headlights look about them. Most people were wandering about aimlessly, desperately searching for what they were looking for. By the dour, stolid faces of the customers you’d think we were on the losing end of a nuclear holocaust. We might have been, considering all the dust that was on the merchandise.
We also have to think of clever ways to push the shopping carts through the checkout lanes, because they didn’t think about people actually needing to get carts from the entrance to the interior of the store. It will come in time, no doubt. Until then, we’ll have to get used to everyone asking everyone else where things are.
7 comments:
The supermarket near my home just finished remodelling the interior too and when I told the manager I loved how they changed it around she said I was the only person who had anything good to say about it. Everyone else was complaining for the same reason you mentioned in your blog...they couldn't find anything. The products make much more sense now displayed in a logical order. Instead of toilet paper next to the pasta, it's tomato sauces. And evaporated milk is next to the coffee instead of cleaning products.
I wonder what took them so long to figure it out? LOL
Also, the do the whole moving around of products thing every so often to make sure people buy more than they actually want. It's good business sense. If people come in for milk and always know where the milk is, they'll head straight for it, pick up what they need and leave. However... if they head for the milk and it isn't there. They'll be looking for it and pick up a few extra items before finding the milk.
So just when you get used to the new layout, expect it to change again!
and when they realize it, they'll be making "improvements" again!
Seawitch, you know, really, I never understood what the problem is here with arranging products in supermarkets. It seems with this new arrangement they may have gotten it right. I think what they do is change it the rational way, then change it to something irrational again, then change it back. And so on and so on, for the reasons EllasDevil stated.
I'll bet you go to masoutis on Egnatia. I walked in there today and went 'huh'? It is screwy!
Yep, that is the very one Emily. I call it the "low rent" Masoutis because they don't restock some items quickly enough and they have less variety than their sister stores around the corner - the Masoutis beside Mcdonald's and the one on Svolou. Yet the store seems bigger somehow. Still, the back entrance is right across the street from our apartment so we accept it. It is easy enough to go to another store for anything else we need.
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