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#91
Stores Shutting Down This Year....2024 / Re: ShopRite closing 5 Capital...
Last post by Retail Regents - November 16, 2023, 04:30:26 PMUPDATE: The stores are expected to close earlier than expected, and are now expected to close no later than Saturday. Also they are in violation of the WARN Act, and employees are expected to be paid through January 18th.
https://cbs6albany.com/news/local/capital-region-shoprite-locations-to-close-this-week-employees-say-wakefern-supermarket-grocery-closure
https://cbs6albany.com/news/local/capital-region-shoprite-locations-to-close-this-week-employees-say-wakefern-supermarket-grocery-closure
#92
Miscellaneous Retail Stuff / Re: City of Pittsburgh Plastic...
Last post by BillyGr - November 16, 2023, 04:12:33 PMQuote from: TheFugitive on November 15, 2023, 12:41:23 PMPartly that may be an economy of scale problem. Dollar General has over 19,000 stores. Most of them are not in Pittsburgh or any other jurisdiction where a bag ban has passed or is likely to. It just does not pay them to put these into their supply chain for a handful of locations. Also if you look at the bagging carousels at their checkouts they were specifically designed for plastic bags, so a whole remodel is required. They aren't going to invest in that until they're sure this thing isn't getting repealed or tossed by a court.
Uh, what I said was that Dollar General IS USING paper bags in NY (and has been since they were required to), without charging for them (unless the specific county/city requires them to do so). I only noted the other chain using them since that made it clear it was allowed, only since NJ prohibited even paper bags from grocery stores, not sure if dollar type stores were included or not.
They had no issue using them on the registers without any work when the rules first changed, though they may be set up differently now, since they moved things around, added self-check and more cold/frozen foods. But that remodel was obviously not prompted by changing the bag holders :)
#93
Miscellaneous Retail Stuff / Re: City of Pittsburgh Plastic...
Last post by TheFugitive - November 15, 2023, 12:41:23 PMPartly that may be an economy of scale problem. Dollar General has over 19,000 stores. Most of them are not in Pittsburgh or any other jurisdiction where a bag ban has passed or is likely to. It just does not pay them to put these into their supply chain for a handful of locations. Also if you look at the bagging carousels at their checkouts they were specifically designed for plastic bags, so a whole remodel is required. They aren't going to invest in that until they're sure this thing isn't getting repealed or tossed by a court.
In the case of Kuhns I think some enterprising MBA there just figured out that this is a way to pad their margins a bit while redirecting any anger at the politicians. Grocery is a very low-margin business and survives on that type of out-of-the-box thinking.
In the case of Kuhns I think some enterprising MBA there just figured out that this is a way to pad their margins a bit while redirecting any anger at the politicians. Grocery is a very low-margin business and survives on that type of out-of-the-box thinking.
#94
Miscellaneous Retail Stuff / Re: City of Pittsburgh Plastic...
Last post by BillyGr - November 15, 2023, 12:19:39 PMQuote from: TheFugitive on November 15, 2023, 11:11:03 AMAt the one Dollar General location near me customers are REALLY upset. The way DG had configured their checkouts they bagged as they rang and you picked-up your bags off of a carousel after paying. Now that they can't bag you just have items going back and forth from the cart, which is really slowing down the whole checkout process. The store has signs posted everywhere which basically say "We apologize for the inconvenience. Not our fault, blame City Council."
Seems strange they aren't simply using paper bags (as that sounds allowed, with the note you had about Kuhn's). That's what the stores here in NY have done since our plastic bag rules changed in 2020, and unlike the bigger chains (such as supermarkets), they don't even charge for the paper bags (unless they are in one of the few cities/counties where they are required to, most places didn't pass that part).
#95
Miscellaneous Retail Stuff / City of Pittsburgh Plastic Bag...
Last post by TheFugitive - November 15, 2023, 11:11:03 AMThis month a ban on single-use plastic bags at retail checkouts went into effect in the City of Pittsburgh.
Lots of problems with this. For one thing the city and it's jurisdiction is pretty compact. There are lots of surrounding communities which may have a Pittsburgh zip code but which are separate jurisdictions in which the ban does not apply. Hence a lot of people can just travel a mile or two past the line and shop at stores that will still bag their merchandise for them. This is certainly not good for any retailer operating within city limits.
At the one Dollar General location near me customers are REALLY upset. The way DG had configured their checkouts they bagged as they rang and you picked-up your bags off of a carousel after paying. Now that they can't bag you just have items going back and forth from the cart, which is really slowing down the whole checkout process. The store has signs posted everywhere which basically say "We apologize for the inconvenience. Not our fault, blame City Council."
Supposedly they are not really enforcing the ban on retailers yet, and when they do it will reportedly be a relatively low fine. Why?? My suspicion is that they are afraid at the end of the day this bag ban won't survive a court challenge. (State Law in PA is pretty particular in the power given municipalities in what they can and can't do. Pittsburgh, being designated a Second Class City under state law, has more power to do stuff than a typical township or borough, but this seems to be a grey area).
But as of now it appears nobody has sued. My sister has a theory as to why. When she went grocery shopping at a Kuhns store that lies several feet within Pittsburgh city limits she noticed that they had replaced their plastic bags with paper, and without telling her they slipped a 10 cents per bag charge onto her receipt for each one they used to bag her order. Assuming the bags cost a few pennies each this bag ban may actually be INCREASING their gross margins a bit.
Lots of problems with this. For one thing the city and it's jurisdiction is pretty compact. There are lots of surrounding communities which may have a Pittsburgh zip code but which are separate jurisdictions in which the ban does not apply. Hence a lot of people can just travel a mile or two past the line and shop at stores that will still bag their merchandise for them. This is certainly not good for any retailer operating within city limits.
At the one Dollar General location near me customers are REALLY upset. The way DG had configured their checkouts they bagged as they rang and you picked-up your bags off of a carousel after paying. Now that they can't bag you just have items going back and forth from the cart, which is really slowing down the whole checkout process. The store has signs posted everywhere which basically say "We apologize for the inconvenience. Not our fault, blame City Council."
Supposedly they are not really enforcing the ban on retailers yet, and when they do it will reportedly be a relatively low fine. Why?? My suspicion is that they are afraid at the end of the day this bag ban won't survive a court challenge. (State Law in PA is pretty particular in the power given municipalities in what they can and can't do. Pittsburgh, being designated a Second Class City under state law, has more power to do stuff than a typical township or borough, but this seems to be a grey area).
But as of now it appears nobody has sued. My sister has a theory as to why. When she went grocery shopping at a Kuhns store that lies several feet within Pittsburgh city limits she noticed that they had replaced their plastic bags with paper, and without telling her they slipped a 10 cents per bag charge onto her receipt for each one they used to bag her order. Assuming the bags cost a few pennies each this bag ban may actually be INCREASING their gross margins a bit.
#96
Stores Shutting Down This Year....2024 / Re: Albany Stewart's Shops loc...
Last post by TheFugitive - November 15, 2023, 10:58:03 AMThis is becoming an increasingly common story in retail. I am kind of torn on how much of it to believe. Yes, retail crimes are rising sharply, and as an employer you do have an obligation to think about the safety of your employees.
On the other hand perhaps these stores are just underperforming and the crime rate just provides them a convenient excuse to close the location.
On the other hand perhaps these stores are just underperforming and the crime rate just provides them a convenient excuse to close the location.
#97
Stores Shutting Down This Year....2024 / Re: Albany Stewart's Shops loc...
Last post by BillyGr - November 14, 2023, 04:37:30 PMMay be the first time they've actually mentioned that as a reason for closing, though they have closed several in/around the city previously due to lack of options to make them into the current (larger) model that they are using (and this one was similarly older and probably fit that as well, even before the other issues).
#98
Stores Shutting Down This Year....2024 / Albany Stewart's Shops locatio...
Last post by Retail Regents - November 14, 2023, 04:08:15 PMA Stewart's Shops location on Manning and Central in Albany is closing, citing theft, robberies, and threats of violence.
https://cbs6albany.com/news/local/albany-stewarts-shops-closing-for-safety-concerns-robbery-theft-assault-manning-boulevard-central-ave-henry-johnson-albany-city-western-ave-dangerous-closure-gas-station-unsafe-concerned-dake-family-monday-national-local-#
https://cbs6albany.com/news/local/albany-stewarts-shops-closing-for-safety-concerns-robbery-theft-assault-manning-boulevard-central-ave-henry-johnson-albany-city-western-ave-dangerous-closure-gas-station-unsafe-concerned-dake-family-monday-national-local-#
#99
Dead or Defunct Malls and Shopping Centers / Re: Century III Mall Condemned
Last post by TheFugitive - November 02, 2023, 09:42:08 AMAnd ANOTHER urban-exploring YouTuber is being prosecuted for breaking into the mall to shoot video. This one came all the way from Oklahoma.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/social-media-influencer-charged-with-trespassing-at-condemned-century-iii-mall/ar-AA1jfkrk
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/social-media-influencer-charged-with-trespassing-at-condemned-century-iii-mall/ar-AA1jfkrk
#100
Shopping Cart Sightings / Re: price chopper new shoping ...
Last post by Retail Regents - November 01, 2023, 03:56:38 PMQuote from: BillyGr on May 15, 2019, 09:11:33 PMThose that have converted to Market 32 have been replaced with brown plastic carts to match the décor of the new design, but there may still be others with the blue/green ones (one that comes to mind that might, but not sure, would be Catskill).
I was looking at pictures of the Genesee Street store in Utica post-conversion, and it appears they got a set of oddly-colored refurbished Unarco M100Z, which are smaller than the overglorified Walmart carts they replaced. They have this weird dark grey color with lime green trim, and black seat flaps.