Thursday, May 18, 2006

Everybody needs a hobby

In reference to that last line in the previous entry:

We recently moved our coffee from right in the front of the store to the back. Serendipitously, it was right after Ash Wednesday that we did this. I had an inappropriate amount of fun telling customers that the store gave up caffeine for Lent.

One of the recurring Customer Complaints/Questions is, "When are you going to build a store in ____?" with varying degrees of frustration, exasperation, accusation, and salivation. I'm aware that "you" doesn't mean me personally, but the wording never changes. One day, I had been joking around with some friendly customers when the outed with the Question. My answer:
"Actually, I'm working on building the store right now. I drive up on weekends to work on it. But the problem is that I've only got my old Corolla, and I can only fit so many bricks in the trunk."

3 comments:

Neb said...

When are you going to open a store near Allentown, PA?

Answer: probably never. I doubt there's much market for cheap yuppie food in an culture that believes in making donuts out of potatoes and wedding pasta and potatoes in a bastard food product lovingly called "pierogies."

Nate said...

Your theory about Allentown sinks into a watery grave...

There are five stores in the Philadelphia area. Consider this-- Philadelphia is the only large metropolitan foodhaven with both pierogies and fastnachts.

It's not culture in Allentown, it's economics. The grocery stores we have here could use more business. New stores don't often get built in a market like that, especially if the consumers can't clearly see a difference in products. We do already have a few Wegmans stores, after all.

I'll skip my "pierogies aren't an Allentown thing" speech this time, but you have it coming... again.

That said, I do miss Trader Joe's. When are you opening one here?

Alysia said...

Are these pierogies Polish or Russian?

We've got two different types of the little guys, and apparently they're not the right kind for some people ... grrr ...

But - aha! - do you have klotchkies? If you haven't tried them, do so at your own risk. Fresh ones from a family bakery are quite dangerous.