# I miss all the smaller grocery stores



## jd_1138 (Jan 26, 2018)

I was over at my friend's house helping with a project when I got a text from the wife to grab an onion and a bell pepper.  Unfortunately there are no food stores between his place and mine (7 miles away), so I had to drive to the Giant Eagle that added 5 miles to the trip making it 12 miles total.

Up until a few years ago, there were a couple smaller mom and pop grocery stores I could've stopped at in between his house and my house.  But they closed for business in the last few years.  There are a lot of places that technically sell food (dollar stores, Walgreens), but they don't have any veggies or meats.

In California where I am from, even smaller neighborhood stores tend to carry some basics.  There will be like a hanging basket with some peppers, onions, potatoes, lemons.  Also, they might carry fresh hamburger and chicken.  As well as a deli case with some cold cuts, cheese.  Here, the convenience stores only carry potato chips, candy bars, and Ramen Noodles in terms of food.


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## caseydog (Jan 26, 2018)

It is a Walmart country now. 

My uncle and his wife had a small "mom and pop" grocery in a small town when I was a kid. My cousin lives in it today, and has a music recording studio in it. 

CD


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## Aunt Bea (Jan 27, 2018)

We still have a couple of small family owned independent grocers in my area.  We lost one this year and I think it is just a matter of time before we lose the others.  The sad fact is that we need to use them or lose them.  We can't just dash in once or twice a year for one or two items and expect them to survive.


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## CakePoet (Jan 27, 2018)

Mostly big change stores  here, but most them also have small grocery store under the same name and some has  countryside shops under other names, which means they are in small villages  and this work.

And then there is all these foreign food stores and most of them are family owned.


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## GotGarlic (Jan 27, 2018)

There's a small grocery store in my neighborhood that has some fresh vegetables, a fair amount of meat, dairy and frozen foods, in addition to canned foods, snacks and sodas. And they have hot food and make sandwiches for lunch. There's a marine terminal nearby with probably hundreds of truckers going in and out every day. I think they get some of their traffic from the terminal.


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## roadfix (Jan 27, 2018)

We have a mix of both here.


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## Caslon (Jan 27, 2018)

Except the flies.  I don't like flies.   Butcher stores with a  1956 butcher counter.  Dead part of town.  Don't like that either.


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## roadfix (Jan 27, 2018)

Caslon said:


> Except the flies.  I don't like flies.   Butcher stores with a  1956 butcher counter.  Dead part of town.  Don't like that either.


   Those are part of the charm, for me.


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## jd_1138 (Jan 27, 2018)

Aunt Bea said:


> We still have a couple of small family owned independent grocers in my area.  We lost one this year and I think it is just a matter of time before we lose the others.  The sad fact is that we need to use them or lose them.  We can't just dash in once or twice a year for one or two items and expect them to survive.



We did 95% of our shopping at the local family owned IGA when it was open.  Sadly, they closed a year ago.


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## bethzaring (Jan 27, 2018)

I left Ohio 5 years ago and just checked to see if my Mom and Pop grocery was still in business.  Yep.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Newman-Meats-Grocerles/119339318117472

In a town of 6,000 people, there is also the world's smallest Krogers, 3 isles total, and a larger chain I can't remember. And several convenience stores with a good selection of foods.

And the Mom and Pop store the next town over is still open also

https://www.facebook.com/Jerrys-Jamestown-Market-261459689166/


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## Just Cooking (Jan 27, 2018)

Sad to see good local markets going away.. 

The Grove Market, in Pacific Grove, was bought by a PGHS classmate in 1969 and is still going strong.. 

In the 50's it was A Purity store and I worked there, doing cleanup, as a freshman in high school..

Charlie, in his 80's now, still mans the excellent meat department..  Love that store and worked produce, part time there for 3 years.. Unlike Charlie, I gave up working when I hit 76... 

Grove Market Pacific Grove

Ross


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## buckytom (Jan 27, 2018)

caseydog said:


> It is a Walmart country now.
> 
> My uncle and his wife had a small "mom and pop" grocery in a small town when I was a kid. My cousin lives in it today, and has a music recording studio in it.
> 
> CD




Don't be so cynical.

Here in immigrantville, legal or not, small stores with lots of local stuff survive.

Maybe there's a new hope, before the empire strikes back.


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## Addie (Jan 27, 2018)

buckytom said:


> Don't be so cynical.
> 
> Here in immigrantville, legal or not, small stores with lots of local stuff survive.
> 
> Maybe there's a new hope, before the empire strikes back.



We have had Mom and Pop stores ever since I was a kid. And every one of them are owned by an immigrant. There are two right near where I live, and I go to them all the time. Our local supermarkets are just too far away. One is down the square and one is over in the next town. That creates all kinds of problems. Have to take a bus to get to either one, unless you have a car. 

Sure, the Mom and Pop store is expensive. But they don't buy in bulk like the big supermarkets do. So they have to pay more for their stock. And they pass that cost to the consumers.


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## Caslon (Jan 27, 2018)

Addie, I went to a clean establishment semi-modern butcher shop.  There are very few left.  What they wanted for lamb shoulder chops per pound was literally twice what the supermarkets charge per pound. I understand that.  Butcher shops are a dying breed now.


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## Addie (Jan 28, 2018)

Caslon said:


> Addie, I went to a clean establishment semi-modern butcher shop.  There are very few left.  What they wanted for lamb shoulder chops per pound was literally twice what the supermarkets charge per pound. I understand that.  Butcher shops are a dying breed now.



When Spike was 13 he worked in such a shop. He learned a lot about how to butcher and cut meats. As a results, today I tell him what I want for meats, and he picks them out for me.

His main job was to stock the shelves and keep the place clean. But he is no dummy. He knew there is money to be made if you knew about meats. So he would have the owner teach him when he wasn't busy. I used to do my shopping in that store. And he had to carry it home for me. THEN I HAD TO GIVE HIME A TIP!!! Just like any other customer.


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## jd_1138 (Jan 28, 2018)

Addie said:


> We have had Mom and Pop stores ever since I was a kid. And every one of them are owned by an immigrant. There are two right near where I live, and I go to them all the time. Our local supermarkets are just too far away. One is down the square and one is over in the next town. That creates all kinds of problems. Have to take a bus to get to either one, unless you have a car.
> 
> Sure, the Mom and Pop store is expensive. But they don't buy in bulk like the big supermarkets do. So they have to pay more for their stock. And they pass that cost to the consumers.



Yeah there are some ethnic smaller food markets here.  Though they are at least 5 miles away.  There's a really nice middle eastern family that owns one.  They carry the basics like fresh meats, produce, spices as well as general groceries like rice, canned goods, cereals, etc..  They also have a deli and hot foods section where you can get a yummy falafel or a submarine sandwich.

They're very nice people.  Their kids were born here.  One's a physician.  The other kids work in the store.  One FT the other ones PT.

I would've stopped there on my way from my friend's house to my house, but it's a little out of the way.


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## caseydog (Jan 28, 2018)

buckytom said:


> Don't be so cynical.
> 
> Here in immigrantville, legal or not, small stores with lots of local stuff survive.
> 
> Maybe there's a new hope, before the empire strikes back.



Things are a lot different in NYC. 

Last summer, I was working in NYC for a week, and stayed in the Red Hook area of Brooklyn. There were lots of these neighborhood hole-in-the-wall "groceries." They didn't have much stock, and no fresh meats or veggies, but they made some pretty amazing sandwiches. 

There was also a _Fairway Market_ on Brunt Street. Wow! I went there about three times. If I lived near one, it would probably be my main grocery store. 

CD


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## buckytom (Jan 29, 2018)

Fairway markets are wonderful. They're a lot like Wjole Foods in terms of selection and quality, but no where near the price.


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## Addie (Jan 29, 2018)

What I love about the Mom and Pop stores is that for the most part, they are owned by immigrants. If you become friends with them, start to ask questions about where they come from, how come they decided to come to America, do they have children, ect., you can get a geography and history lesson at the same time. 

The one close to me, is owned by an Iranian. His wife just had their second child. He was so excited. He had an American citizen in his family. She was pregnant when she arrived. Every time I go in there, his face lights up. I guess I am the only one who will stand there and listen to him talk about his American citizen. He even gave the baby an American name. Mary. I can't help but get caught up in his excitement.


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## RPCookin (Jan 29, 2018)

Addie said:


> What I love about the Mom and Pop stores is that for the most part, they are owned by immigrants. If you become friends with them, start to ask questions about where they come from, how come they decided to come to America, do they have children, ect., you can get a geography and history lesson at the same time.
> 
> The one close to me, is owned by an Iranian. His wife just had their second child. He was so excited. He had an American citizen in his family. She was pregnant when she arrived. Every time I go in there, his face lights up. I guess I am the only one who will stand there and listen to him talk about his American citizen. He even gave the baby an American name. Mary. I can't help but get caught up in his excitement.



We so often take our US citizenship for granted.  I have a good friend here who just took his oath a week and a half ago, and he was so excited about it.  He isn't even from a depressed country either... he's from the UK, Welsh, but he is married to a local man.  They have been together for more than a decade, and actually married for 4 years.  He is one of the most active members of our Methodist church, and has earned the respect of most of the locals.  He posted a half dozen photos on Facebook of his celebration party after the naturalization ceremony.  I found it interesting that even though he could live just about anyplace in the world that he wished (he makes very good money in corporate support and sales for IBM IT technologies), he chose to live here in this obscure little farm town.  

Even though I've never lived anywhere that's as ethnically diverse as NYC, I've known quite a few naturalized citizens, and they have all been good, contributing members of society.  Getting to know them over the years and learning their history has given me a deeper appreciation of my own good fortune in being born a US citizen - its not something that I take lightly.


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## blissful (Jan 29, 2018)

First world problem. We have freezers (chopped peppers) and a downstairs pantry where we stock canned food, food from the garden (potatoes, onions), extra spices, flours, sugars, coffee, oil.
Most of what we buy, we try (try) to buy on sale at larger markets farther away. 

It's my job, like the small town grocer, to make sure none of the goods are going bad, like potatoes that want to grow, or canned food losing it's seal. It's my job as the freezer owner to watch the inventory, to make sure the equipment stays running. I take risks and I have upkeep, just like a small town grocer but this is just for one household.

I have two dry erase boards on the refrigerator. One lists the things I want from the downstairs pantry, a shopping list, and there is no traffic to deal with. One lists the things I want from the grocery store. There is another paper list of things I want but can wait until it goes on sale at the larger grocery stores.

I realize not everyone would go through the trouble or have the space to do that, but we like being prepared in case of job loss or natural causes. I was brought up by people born during the depression and those people were raised by people raising families during the depression, so it seems pretty natural to me. I'm pretty sure I should have been born during the 1880's.


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## Addie (Jan 29, 2018)

RPCookin said:


> We so often take our US citizenship for granted.  I have a good friend here who just took his oath a week and a half ago, and he was so excited about it.  He isn't even from a depressed country either... he's from the UK, Welsh, but he is married to a local man.  They have been together for more than a decade, and actually married for 4 years.  He is one of the most active members of our Methodist church, and has earned the respect of most of the locals.  He posted a half dozen photos on Facebook of his celebration party after the naturalization ceremony.  I found it interesting that even though he could live just about anyplace in the world that he wished (he makes very good money in corporate support and sales for IBM IT technologies), he chose to live here in this obscure little farm town.
> 
> Even though I've never lived anywhere that's as ethnically diverse as NYC, I've known quite a few naturalized citizens, and they have all been good, contributing members of society.  Getting to know them over the years and learning their history has given me a deeper appreciation of my own good fortune in being born a US citizen - its not something that I take lightly.



When my first husband died, (he was born and raised in England) he had received his American citizenship along with that small American flag. We placed the flag in his hands along with his citizenship papers. Two of his most cherished items. He would tell anyone who would listen that he was an American citizen.


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## milford (Jan 29, 2018)

Where in Ohio are you? I'm in a suburb of Cleveland. You don't go anywhere without passing a Save-A-Lot store. Then there's Aldi's, Marc's and even a couple of Drug Stores that have produce and a deli counter. There's also three small Farmers Markets and one Mom & Pop store called Gabors in my area.


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## rodentraiser (Jan 29, 2018)

There was a small Mom and Pop store two blocks from me when I lived in California. I shopped there once and got hamburger, only to find it had an expired tag on it from the year before! I tossed that and never shopped there again.

But I know what you guys are talking about. The 7-11 I worked in had a dairy with milk, cheese, and meat packages. We also sold eggs and some frozen food. Recently I went down to the local 7-11 here to get some cheese and they didn't even sell milk. 

On the bright side, though, I remember when I was five and we lived with my grandmother. She always shopped in a little store up the block on the corner called Cecil's. She was in there constantly.

When I was back in Minnesota in 2012, I went to find the old house and found Cecil's still on the corner. The sons are still running it and it's a delicatessen now, but their mom is still alive. I asked them to tell her Marie's granddaughter says hi.

That store has been there since 1949.

Cecils Deli Main Page


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## CharlieD (Jan 29, 2018)

Sadly mom and pop stores are all but gone. There are some Asian and some Mexican stores, smaller ones, but they are located in certain areas not very convenient to shop. Corporations are killing good oled America.


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## CharlieD (Jan 29, 2018)

rodentraiser said:


> ....
> 
> When I was back in Minnesota in 2012, I went to find the old house and found Cecil's still on the corner. The sons are still running it and it's a delicatessen now, but their mom is still alive. I asked them to tell her Marie's granddaughter says hi.
> 
> ...



Sad, But it is the lousiest Deli ever. I ate there once, some 22 years ago, the reason I remember because my wife was in the hospital with our son, and I would not step my foot there again. People must be either really nostalgic to eat there, or desperate, as I was. Shame. Their cousins in Chicago have a restaurant, they should drive up and take a lesson on how to run it and what to cook.


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## jd_1138 (Jan 29, 2018)

milford said:


> Where in Ohio are you? I'm in a suburb of Cleveland. You don't go anywhere without passing a Save-A-Lot store. Then there's Aldi's, Marc's and even a couple of Drug Stores that have produce and a deli counter. There's also three small Farmers Markets and one Mom & Pop store called Gabors in my area.



I'm in the Youngstown/Warren area so about an hour and a half SE from you.  Yeah, Cleveland and its 'burbs have a ton of places to buy real food.  I wish we had a Trader Joe's like you guys have.


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## jd_1138 (Jan 29, 2018)

I found this on YouTube -- footage of a late 1950's era Safeway supermarket somewhere in the SF Bay Area I assume.  There's a shot of the Golden Gate Bridge at the end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzCVuQgNz4s

A lot of comments are "wow, they're not dressed in pajamas like today's shoppers, and the women are wearing dresses."    I rarely see people shopping in PJ's around here.  

Really, it looks like a modern grocery store.  Notice the hot foods clerk cooking all those rotisserie chickens.  I wasn't born until 1972 but I think I remember the tiny kid size shopping carts.  The local Safeway we shopped at must've had them.  My mom usually shopped at Lucky's, though.


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## caseydog (Jan 29, 2018)

jd_1138 said:


> A lot of comments are "wow, they're not dressed in pajamas like today's shoppers, and the women are wearing dresses."    I rarely see people shopping in PJ's around here.



Have you been to a Walmart, lately? 

Where I live, I never see a lot of things, unless I go to the one Walmart in town. 

I remember the year that store opened. We had 3 homicides in our burb that year, and two of them were in the Walmart parking lot. 

CD


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## Cheryl J (Jan 29, 2018)

I miss them, too. We only have maybe two mom and pop food stores here - one of them is an Asian store which I love. The other is about 10 miles out of town so I don't get there often and to be honest, their produce is not all that great. 

This thread reminds me of back in the day when my brother and I were around 8. We would beg my mother to let us walk to the corner store by ourselves, so every now and then my mom would give us a dollar to go to the store for bread and eggs....and we'd bring home the change.  We didn't know until years later that she pretty much craned her neck out the kitchen window watching us to make sure we got there and home OK.


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## jd_1138 (Jan 29, 2018)

caseydog said:


> Have you been to a Walmart, lately?
> 
> Where I live, I never see a lot of things, unless I go to the one Walmart in town.
> 
> ...



I try to stay out of Wal-Mart.  I am not a fan of that place.    I did buy a 5 quart jug of full synthetic 5W-20 motor oil there 2 months ago for my oil change.  It was only  $17 for their SuperTech brand (one of their brands), though I could probably have gotten a jug at the local Napa or Autozone for the same price.

The times I've gone to Wally World there were way too few open checkout lines, slow as molasses clerks, and their patrons are not the type to let you go ahead of them even if they have 100 items and you have 1 or 2.

Not my idea of fun.  I get about the same prices at the local store that's 1/4th as far away.  I buy my food at the local mom and pop grocery store, and I buy my cleaning and paper products at the local Dollar General.  We got a local DG a mile away 3 years ago.


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## caseydog (Jan 29, 2018)

jd_1138 said:


> I try to stay out of Wal-Mart.  I am not a fan of that place.    I did buy a 5 quart jug of full synthetic 5W-20 motor oil there 2 months ago for my oil change.  It was only  $17 for their SuperTech brand (one of their brands), though I could probably have gotten a jug at the local Napa or Autozone for the same price.
> 
> The times I've gone to Wally World there were way too few open checkout lines, slow as molasses clerks, and their patrons are not the type to let you go ahead of them even if they have 100 items and you have 1 or 2.
> 
> Not my idea of fun.  I get about the same prices at the local store that's 1/4th as far away.  I buy my food at the local mom and pop grocery store, and I buy my cleaning and paper products at the local Dollar General.  We got a local DG a mile away 3 years ago.



We don't have any Dollar General's in my burb. We have one Dollar Tree. I had to do a google search to find that one. There is a dollar store in the next town over that has a good selection of party supplies. That's the nearest one I've been too. 

CD


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## buckytom (Jan 29, 2018)

Is it me, or does anyone else get an uncomfortable feeling when people from such far flung and disparate places have the same exact choice of stores?


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## caseydog (Jan 29, 2018)

buckytom said:


> Is it me, or does anyone else get an uncomfortable feeling when people from such far flung and disparate places have the same exact choice of stores?



You are going to have to expand on that question. I'm not exactly sure what you are asking. 

CD


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## buckytom (Jan 29, 2018)

I probably shouldn't. It'll get socio-political.


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## caseydog (Jan 29, 2018)

buckytom said:


> I probably shouldn't. It'll get socio-political.



Tease! 

CD


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## jd_1138 (Jan 30, 2018)

buckytom said:


> Is it me, or does anyone else get an uncomfortable feeling when people from such far flung and disparate places have the same exact choice of stores?



Yeah there is a lot of corporatization going on.  The corporate owned stores are taking over, and they have more buying power so they can put the screws on suppliers to get products for less money and therefore drive smaller chains out of business.

They're not stupid, though, as soon as they get less competition the prices go back up.   It's a science.  I often find Amazon, even, to not have the lowest prices on products, so I just buy my general stuff locally.  I try to buy from locally owned stores like the Ace Hardware (local owner).  I get most of my tools, building materials, supplies, furnace filters, etc there.  I buy car parts and oil at the local Napa.  

I even bought my cast iron skillet from a mom and pop hardware store.  The hardware store was like the Wally World and Target of 100 years ago.  You could get your cookware, tools, radio, lamps, lamp oil, those old style fuses, so on.  There was a mercantile for food, tailor for clothes, and a hardware store for everything else.  lol.


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## caseydog (Jan 30, 2018)

buckytom said:


> I probably shouldn't. It'll get socio-political.



Okay, I'll just have to make assumptions. That should fit right in on a internet forum. 

It seems like the "American Dream" has become a race to accumulate the most stuff possible with the money you have -- or don't have. Walmart fits right into that dream. You can fill a cart up with cheap stuff -- some of it you need, but a lot of it that you don't need. All around me are people parking their cars and trucks outside, because their garages are full of "stuff." They park a $30K car outside, because their garages are full of Walmart-fall-apart crap that they used one time. 

I see immigrants come to the USA, and adopt that version of the "American Dream" way to easily. They make some money, and go straight to Walmart to spend it -- just like an American.

I fight it, but still find myself getting sucked in from time-to-time. We live in a land of abundance, so we "stock up," whether we need to or not. See my post in the _What are you doing_ thread for more on that (freezer/pantry clean-out). 

As for more geo-political aspects, I live in a predominantly white suburb of Dallas. Walmart is the "melting pot" in my burb. Everyone from rednecks to Nigerians shop at the Walmart in town. People talk about music or food or art being the common thread of society, I think the real common thread is buying cheap stuff. 

CD


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## jd_1138 (Jan 30, 2018)

caseydog said:


> Okay, I'll just have to make assumptions. That should fit right in on a internet forum.
> 
> CD



Yeah I get what you're saying.  People are choking on cheap junk.  I have a friend whose mother has a 3 car garage, but she can't even park her $25,000 Lincoln inside of one of the bays.  Because her son (my friend) is storing all his crap in her garage.  It's all in there in one massive single pile.  So there's like 3 feet of crap scattered across all 3 of the bays.  Looks like he bought everything at Wally World except the shelves.  lol.

It's asinine.  Also my neighbor is the same way.  He has a huge custom garage that he had custom built.  There's a single layer of junk scattered throughout -- no shelving.  I actually offered to help him build some shelving, and he said "ain't got any room for shelving".  

Meanwhile my step dad was of the older generation.  Completely organized.  He had a massive wall of shelving in his garage that neatly filled a 3 foot wide gap between the wall and the start of the garage door.  He had everything neatly organized.  And he had a USA made tool box full of USA made hand tools (mostly Powr-Kraft Montgomery Ward's and SK too).  He didn't buy the low grade crap made in sweat shops.


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## Cooking Goddess (Jan 31, 2018)

caseydog said:


> ...It seems like the "American Dream" has become a race to accumulate the most stuff possible with the money you have -- or don't have...All around me are people parking their cars and trucks outside, because their garages are full of "stuff." They park a $30K car outside, because their garages are full of Walmart-fall-apart crap that they used one time...


How apropos that this topic comes up just after I read the editor's column in my recent "Midwest Living" magazine. The bulk of it was about a Tiny Homes festival called "TinyFest Midwest", that was held near Des Moines, IA. A few points from his column: American homes average twice as much space per person as they did 40 years ago. 8% of households rent off-site storage now, compared to 3% in the 1980s. And a lot about our drive to consumerism.

I'm sure I was born in the wrong decade/century. Before adding on the sun room, our current house was only 120 square feet larger than our first house we had built in 1977. Both of our cars fit into the garage...along with all of the yard equipment and various other garage sundries. I still use my Mom's old stand mixer (circa early 1950s), sit at a table that was a hand-me-over that my Dad refinished in 1977. Much of our furniture is from what we bought when we lived in our first house (1977-1991) if it isn't furniture that my parents' (or my aunt and uncle) had in their home! We aren't much in the way of consumers. Now if I could just get rid of all of the nostalgia stuff in the basement, we could have a much lighter load whenif we move.


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## caseydog (Jan 31, 2018)

Cooking Goddess said:


> How apropos that this topic comes up just after I read the editor's column in my recent "Midwest Living" magazine. The bulk of it was about a Tiny Homes festival called "TinyFest Midwest", that was held near Des Moines, IA. A few points from his column: American homes average twice as much space per person as they did 40 years ago. 8% of households rent off-site storage now, compared to 3% in the 1980s. And a lot about our drive to consumerism.
> 
> I'm sure I was born in the wrong decade/century. Before adding on the sun room, our current house was only 120 square feet larger than our first house we had built in 1977. Both of our cars fit into the garage...along with all of the yard equipment and various other garage sundries. I still use my Mom's old stand mixer (circa early 1950s), sit at a table that was a hand-me-over that my Dad refinished in 1977. Much of our furniture is from what we bought when we lived in our first house (1977-1991) if it isn't furniture that my parents' (or my aunt and uncle) had in their home! We aren't much in the way of consumers. Now if I could just get rid of all of the nostalgia stuff in the basement, we could have a much lighter load whenif we move.



We don't have basements in Texas -- tornadoes, but no basements, go figure. All the stuff that people up there stuff into the basement goes into garages, here. 

Right now, I only have one car, so I'm not worried about the stuff in my garage. I've had two cars most of my years in this house. Last Spring, we had a bad hailstorm coming, and my neighbor couldn't get his nice car in his garage. He and I managed to get my garage floor cleaned up enough to get his car in next to mine in about five minutes. Granted, my car is a MINI Cooper, which made it easier. But, the point is that I can get two cars in my garage if I had two cars. 

Year after year, I've gotten better about not buying things I may want at the moment, but after thinking about it, I decide I don't really need it. I'm not immune to impulse purchases, but I am getting better at resisting them. 

CD


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## Farmer Jon (Jan 31, 2018)

We cant afford to go to out home town grocery store. $5 for a gallon if milk. We travel an hour to a larger grocery store. Milk is $2 a gallon. Got 5 gallons and stock up for the week that just paid our gas to to get there. Then the savings on everything else. Its nce to have the little store but most produce is crappy and lots of stuff out of date. Oh and the manager is a total moron.


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## RPCookin (Jan 31, 2018)

One thing my wife and I agreed on before we got married was that the garage was for cars.  Other things could be stored there but not if it meant that the cars wouldn't fit.  When I bought my F-150, we brought it home on the test drive to "test fit" it in the garage.  I was pleasantly surprised that it fit with a few inches to spare.  

Here for groceries we have Walmart and 2 smaller stores operated by Family Foods.  None are quite in the same class with a Mom 'n Pop type store, but the smaller ones do have a few of those advantages.  For a lot things Walmart is the only real choice unless we order online.  Amazon gets a lot of business from us.


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## brasato (Feb 2, 2018)

Here in Italy we still have small shops but, sadly, as an effect of the globalisation, big stores of international companies are beginning to attack the market.
I really hate supermarkets, big stores, malls, because I feel like I am a number and not a person in there and because there is no human relationship with the owner.
On the other hand the positive thing here is that also in the towns there are plenty of open markets where you can buy fruit, vegetables and fish and in every market there is also a zone dedicated to farmers that come from the country to sell their products.
Me and my family we just buy from them and the quality is very high. In supermarkets veg, fruit and fish are very cheap but when I eat their stuff it feels like eating plastic.
Do you have open markets in the usa?


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## RPCookin (Feb 2, 2018)

brasato said:


> Here in Italy we still have small shops but, sadly, as an effect of the globalisation, big stores of international companies are beginning to attack the market.
> I really hate supermarkets, big stores, malls, because I feel like I am a number and not a person in there and because there is no human relationship with the owner.
> On the other hand the positive thing here is that also in the towns there are plenty of open markets where you can buy fruit, vegetables and fish and in every market there is also a zone dedicated to farmers that come from the country to sell their products.
> Me and my family we just buy from them and the quality is very high. In supermarkets veg, fruit and fish are very cheap but when I eat their stuff it feels like eating plastic.
> Do you have open markets in the usa?



We do have farmer's markets.  The foods they sell vary depending on the region.  In my area it's not as good because we don't have as many vegetable growers.  It's harder to find a decent farmer's market here because most of what is raised locally is wheat, field corn, and beef.  In August we do get great sweet corn, but only for a couple of weeks.  The rest of the year we have to drive a couple of hours to get to the edge of the mountains where there are a few more farmers who grow more variety.

Last year we took a camping trip through Nebraska to central Iowa in May, and we came across a woman selling asparagus where a side road joined the highway.  We bought a couple of bunches of fresh picked asparagus and that made a great addition to our dinners for the next couple of evenings.  Colorado is a great place to live, but not so good for those great summertime farmer's markets.


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## caseydog (Feb 2, 2018)

brasato said:


> Here in Italy we still have small shops but, sadly, as an effect of the globalisation, big stores of international companies are beginning to attack the market.
> I really hate supermarkets, big stores, malls, because I feel like I am a number and not a person in there and because there is no human relationship with the owner.
> On the other hand the positive thing here is that also in the towns there are plenty of open markets where you can buy fruit, vegetables and fish and in every market there is also a zone dedicated to farmers that come from the country to sell their products.
> Me and my family we just buy from them and the quality is very high. In supermarkets veg, fruit and fish are very cheap but when I eat their stuff it feels like eating plastic.
> Do you have open markets in the usa?



I love those open markets in Europe. They seem to be everywhere in Italy and Spain. 

CD


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## Kayelle (Feb 4, 2018)

Just Cooking said:


> Sad to see good local markets going away..
> 
> The Grove Market, in Pacific Grove, was bought by a PGHS classmate in 1969 and is still going strong..
> 
> ...



*Ross,* I clicked on the link to *Grove Market*, and it sounds just like the store my parents had in the 40's and 50's. They had home delivery also, with the finest meats and produce. Long before the days of credit cards, they also had charge accounts for their best customers. My parents were both born in the USA.


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## jd_1138 (Feb 21, 2018)

Kayelle said:


> *Ross,* I clicked on the link to *Grove Market*, and it sounds just like the store my parents had in the 40's and 50's. They had home delivery also, with the finest meats and produce. Long before the days of credit cards, they also had charge accounts for their best customers. My parents were both born in the USA.



I remember in the 70's when I was tiny, the small mom and pop grocery store had delivery too.  It was great for my busy mom of 4 little kids.  They'd usually deliver it in cardboard boxes.

I think I found my new shopping style.  I started to go to the local butcher shop.  Their meats are way, way better than either the local mom and pop grocery store and the chain places.  Also the prices are about the same.

Also, across the street from this butcher shop is an expanded Dollar General that has almost a full line of groceries.  They just put it in.  So I can just go to the DG and then to the butcher.

Though sometimes, I go to Aldi or to the mom and pop for groceries.  But I don't buy their meats anymore.


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