grocery store rant, part 2..

[andrea1970]

For a while now, I've been a bit frustrated by how expensive the frozen ravioli and tortellini has become at the grocery store.  It just seemed like it had gotten very expensive very fast - about $4 for a pound.   And we usually need 1.5 - 2 lbs to make a meal of it for the 4 of us.  I was fairly sure there had been a store-brand ravioli, but I hadn't bought that stuff there in a while because I had been buying it at Costco.  So I've bought the "name" brand (which I don't recognize) and had kind of written that off our regular meal rotation unless I happen to catch it on sale.

So, when I went back to the grocery store to exchange my magazine, I happened to walk down a frozen food aisle because I needed something from the back of the store.  I don't know why, but when I walked past the frozen garlic bread and rolls, I noticed some bags on the very top shelf of that section.  It was the store's brand frozen ravioli/tortellini which runs about $3 for 1.5 lbs.  On a completely different aisle from the rest of the frozen pasta products -- you would have to know to look for it there. Anyone that goes looking for the frozen pasta would most likely find what I had found.  I was actually kinda peeved, felt like I'd been taken.  Like the more cost-effective option had been hidden.

So when I was checking out, I mentioned it to the front-end manager that was working.  He apparently knew about it and tried to explain something about the vendors pay for the shelf set, blah, blah, blah.  I don't care who's paid for what -- fine, put it on the top shelf where it's not eye level.  But at least put it in the same vicinity as the rest of the similar product.  He mumbled some sort of excuse.  Long story short -- no intention to set the display in a way that makes sense for the customer.

[Johnny_]

Look at the bright side, you have a secret stash of raviolis at the grocery store

[tamena]

and don't forget....
for some of us the top shelf IS eye level
*grin*

[trubandloki]

I know at Wegmans their name brand frozen foods are by themselves.  They have what they call signature foods and they get their own section in the frozen case.  It has never bothered me, I know it is there and if I actually like that I can stand there and scan all the Wegmans stuff at once.  (Which is frequently not cheaper than the name brands but sometimes very much better.)

And the manager is correct.  The manufacturers pay a great deal for their shelf space.  That is where much of a grocery stores profits come from.  So though it may sound silly to you and me, it does make sense for their bottom line.