Closing Waldbaum's in Huntington Station?

I'm hearing rumors that the Waldbaum's on Jericho Turnpike in Huntington Station is under threat of closing. Sales aren't what the HQ wants; too many small purchases, not enough sales of substance. The story is that a Hispanic-themed supermarket wants to take over the space. This won't go over well. The competition presented by the overpriced Stop&Shop may have proven to be too much. It would seem to be a decent enough location, with several other viable stores in the same center. I'm looking forward to hearing more. Previously reviewed, including a mention of an increase in Hispanic products.

'Eating and Dying Like Americans'

Stop&Shop Dix Hills Followup

I was planning on updating my earlier review of the Stop&Shop in Dix Hills but think it merits a second full posting.
First, the plan was to compliment the store for its sales today. Prices seem to have come down a little bit and there were a lot of the buy-three sales going on. I wound up buying more and spending more than I'd intended but the price drop was an improvement, especially since food prices are going up, up, up.

Then I got to the checkout where the young clerk was having a long-running meltdown. She was literally in tears, very unhappy, griping to the younger, learning-disabled fellow helping to bag, who was either clueless or choosing to ignore her. She even wound up cursing about a previous customer who had had the audacity to ask her a question, referring, only incompletely under her breath, to the "f...bitch." All this was obviously within hearing range of anyone near the checkout.

I don't know the source of her unhappiness but I do know she shouldn't have been working there at that point.

I have noticed an increase in inappropriate conversations among workers at a lot of supermarkets--many of them, especially younger ones, seem to have no compunctions about complaining about their jobs to other workers. But this woman was really over the top.

The other thing I notice about many supermarkets is the lack of supervision. The people who are the face of the store are often young, often disaffected and yet, far too often, there's no one in the vicinity to supervise or take complaints.

Give Pathmark Credit

The sign is tiny and slightly obscured but Pathmark is giving a two-cent credit for every plastic bag that is returned. It's not clear whether they take back just any plastic bag but it's a start.

And They Have (Bagged Plastic)

whoa! Look what happened yesterday while I was complaining:

Suffolk lawmakers OK plastic bag recycling measure
BY CHAU LAM
Newsday

The Suffolk County Legislature yesterday approved legislation that would require large supermarkets and retailers to collect and recycle plastic shopping bags or face fines.

The bill, passed by a vote of 17-1, aims to curb the proliferation of the ubiquitous carryout bags and to encourage consumers to switch to reusable sacks, said Wayne Horsley (D-Babylon), its sponsor.

"Our intention is to make the recycling of plastic bags easy," Horsley said. "Frankly, this is going a long way to making Long Island greener and cleaner."

Bag the Plastic

Now this is something I could get into. As long as everyone else does. :)

China wants to take on retailers' use of free plastic bags. Do you remember when Suffolk County or maybe New York State changed the law a few years ago, requiring retailers to offer you a choice of plastic or paper? And do recall the last time the clerk asked you which you wanted before reaching for the plastic? I don't. Time to change, seriously. I'm looking out my window at the moment and can see five plastic bags blowing around the neighborhood. Not good, not good at all.

Maybe at the same time, we could stop using so many plastic bags for the garbage or leaves. I've tried putting some of the leaves in an open recycling bin and the truck workers won't take them. They want everything in bags. Pretty silly.

Plastic carrier bags should be restricted for clean environment

BEIJING, Nov. 19 -- We find the trail of plastic "flags" lining our main railroads embarrassing. We hate to see plastic bags flying in our face on windy days, or those permanently stuck on tree branches.

Disposable plastic carrier bags we take home from shopping trips are a main source of such "white pollution". An obvious solution to it, therefore, is to reduce our use of such environmentally harmful packaging. This is both reasonable and simple.

The ongoing debate over the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone's draft decree to prohibit retailers from offering free disposable plastic bags is a sad example of a prevailing ambivalence among us. We all want a clean and tidy environment free of plastic bags, but few of us want to sacrifice the convenience of free plastic bags.

Originally posted at Going Green on Long Island

Pathmark Dix Hills

Ah, Pathmark in Dix Hills. So much to be said. This is another store that improved once construction began on new Stop&Shop store just west on Jericho.

It suffers from being at the far end of a truly difficult, overcrowded and sometimes dangerous parking lot in a center with about 10 other stores.

Some good points--it is much brighter and cleaner than it used to be and has made a real effort to open up the entranceway, which used to be hard to get through. As soon as you get through the door, you're greeted by rows of flowers and, usually, stacks of pies or cakes to the side, followed by the produce section.

The produce section is good, above average, and the store has added a number of health-food items right near the produce area.

The deli is busy, offering mostly Deitz and Watson meats and cheeses, providing good service. They always have a nice choice of rotisserie chickens--a favorite in our house--and lots of cheeses, dips and packaged meats near the deli.

There's also a pharmacy and an ATM. Bottle returns are in the far rear of the store.

Prices are decent, comparable to other stores in the area (and still cheaper than Stop&Shop). Aisles are packed and I'm still trying to figure out where some things are because they've moved since the reconstruction.


But checkout is a nightmare. Smack in the middle of the checkout aisles are some self-checkout sections, broken up by the understaffed courtesy desk. Pathmark must have gotten a discount on the self-checkout system though. You absolutely can't do anything until the shopper in front of you has completely removed all items. So you have to stand there stewing until the previous shopper is clear. It's obvious that many people don't realize that. They swipe their items, they figure out how to pay, they saunter to the end and begin packing up, not realizing that others can't make a move until they clear out of the way. I hope no one's falled for the con that these self-checkouts are faster; they aren't, anywhere that I've seen.

I was in this store three times in the last couple of days and each time, the checkout area seemed to get worse as pre-holiday shoppers seemed to be packing the place. Emptied carts were piling up near the courtesy desk. Not enough staffed checkouts moving quickly enough.

The store just seems a little understaffed; the help often seems really rushed, though polite in most cases.

The Future of Food

Food Recall Site

A government site attempts to track information about food recalls (and other products elsewhere on the site). I haven't been tracking this long enough to know how well it works but it's useful to know it's there.