Monday, June 29, 2009

The Horror...

The clutters.

THE. CLUTTERS!

A follow up from last post about the change I noticed in my F&E store: taller shelves, more brand names, more family sized items.

Front of the store is packed full of stuff. The bins are back in the middle of the produce aisle. To the greatest of my horror?

Wire basket displays in the middle of the last open space left in the store, between the toiletries and medicines along the wall and the rest of the shelves.

Even Brandon, who actually would gladly run into an F&E for me (and not the other places) because he LOVES the uncluttered spaces and self check-out, uttered, "What the...?"

Out of the respect of the store's request not to take photos, I didn't take any. I was too horrified.

We did walk out with more than what we went in for, as always. But the cluttered shop weighs heavily on our minds.

The self check-out really is the last thing left of the store I worship?

(Well, that and Belgian Chocolate Mousse.)

I tried to justify with the fact that UK items are coming to the store, that more wine selection are coming to the store...oooh, and they have turbinado sugar now...

But is that enough?

My faith is being tested.

You might still be fresh, my dearest store. But you ain't makin' it easy for me.

Verdict: Sale Item Displays Out In the Middle of Aisles: Hell. Heavenly

ETA July 20:
Quick bargain bin clutter update: I ran into the Spring Street store on Saturday afternoon to fetch the banana cream pie and I noticed the bargain bins in the produce sections were gone. I haven't gone through the entire store but that alone was a massive improvement. Thank you for listening, F&E!

3 comments:

Angie said...

I agree 100%. I went to F&E last week -- my first trip there in a couple of weeks -- and I was shocked by the changes. I was literally whimpering as I walked down some of the aisles. Why are the shelves so tall and scary?? Who so much stuff? Waaaaah!!!

Unknown said...

Hmm...I'm not in agreement here.

I think clutter is by definition, having a lot of stuff in an disorganized fashion.

While F&E is stocking more stuff, I wouldn't say it's done so in a disorganized fashion.

Second, how can you knock the store for bringing in more selection? I mean, the basic premise of F&E, good food without preservatives or hormones, and self-check out is still very much true.

Or you can try shopping at Safeway like I was forced to do while i was on the east cost.

OakMonster said...

Thanks Angie. I feel your pain.

Hi Hugo! Thanks for stopping by. We're not saying that F&E has become disorganized. That's not what is in the post. We're saying that the open aisles we love is no longer available as F&E put the bins out in the middle of the floor now. THAT is what we call clutter here in the post.

Also, we LOVE having more F&E brand in the selection. Again, perhaps it wasn't clear in my posts. [ETA: Please read the earlier post]. Having more non-F&E brands peeve us. It's good for other consumers I'm sure. But having 12 brands of the same thing isn't what draw us to F&E. We like the fact that you only have F&E and 2 other brands to pick from.

If I want to shop at a store with special bins at every turn and 15 brands of the same product, I'd stick to the Vons a stone throw from me instead of having to go 3 miles from home for stuff.

I still love F&E products, don't get me wrong. I also love the shopping experience there but that experience is changing. Since F&E listens to their customers, well, here we are.