Shoppers remorse

Last night I tried out the new Shoppers that replaced Superfresh in Ellicott City.  As a grocery store it was fine, I guess, but it was a disorienting and disheartening experience. 

I know my grocery shopping routine is pretty crazy - but it's mine.  First there's Lotte Plaza for produce and "international" items.  I shop Costco for milk, bread, some fruits, some meats, some cheeses, coffee and other bulk things that a family of five goes through quickly.  Target is for stuff that we don't need a pallet of.  There's also the occasional trip to Trader Joe's for their goodies.  And Superfresh was for everything else I couldn't find at those places. 

When the Target added to their grocery section I tried to cut out Superfresh and just shop there, but they didn't have all the brands I like or if they did, they didn't necessarily have the lower sodium version or whatever.  So instead, I cut back on my Target visits and only went there every once in a while. 

In the time between Superfresh closing down and Shoppers opening, I've tried out a couple of other stores.  The Giant on 40 is close, but is small and the selection isn't the greatest; the one in Dorsey's Search is better, but it's really too much of a drive to be convenient.  The Safeway at Long Gate Shopping Center is okay, but I hate that parking lot, especially during the holidays - so shopping there would not be convenient for every week.  There's a Safeway on 40, but I haven't had the chance to try it out.  There's a Mars on 40 also, but I just don't like it that much - not sure why. 

I really want the Shoppers to work out because it is so close to my house, so convenient.  Maybe it will be okay, maybe it's just a case of getting used to it.  I think that's really what I don't like about any of the other stores - I'm not familiar enough with them.  I make my shopping list based on where things are located in the store, otherwise I always forget something on my list because it isn't on the list in the progression of aisles. 

That's what was so disorienting about Shoppers - going into a store I've been so familiar with and finding that almost everything is in a different spot, the brands are different, the variety is different - it's just different.  Sigh.  Change is hard.


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