Would you like to buy a bag?

[TJDave]

...Said the checker at Ralph's this evening.

No thanks, says me.

OK then, as she hands me 12 items that I'm supposed to do what, with?

You're kidding, right?

No, she says, we no longer give bags.

Then give me a refund.

Sure, no problem.

I'm almost out the door when I decide this ain't over.

I ask for the MOD and tell him I've decided that I have some extra time and would like to continue shopping, only this time I'll probably fill two shopping carts...

I got my free bag.

[thaskalos]

...Said the checker at Ralph's this evening.

No thanks, says me.

OK then, as she hands me 12 items that I'm supposed to do what, with?

You're kidding, right?

No, she says, we no longer give bags.

Then give me a refund.

Sure, no problem.

I'm almost out the door when I decide this ain't over.

I ask for the MOD and tell him I've decided that I have some extra time and would like to continue shopping, only this time I'll probably fill two shopping carts...

I got my free bag.

Only one?

[TJDave]

Only one?

All I needed. I could have insisted he do the monkey dance but why push it?

[Dahoss2002]

Wow! Here, I get 6 items and 7 bags. You got to beg them to put several items in one bag.

[JustRalph]

California?

[TJDave]

California?

You guessed it.

[PhantomOnTour]

"That's blatant false advertising maaaaaaan"

-Stu, the burned out bus driver from The Simpsons, upon leaving the Stoner's Pot Palace in Springfield(after discovering it was a pottery store)
:D

[Clocker]

"That's blatant false advertising maaaaaaan"



You can get a dime bag in L.A.! :p

L.A. on Tuesday became the newest and by far the largest city to back a ban on plastic grocery bags, approving an ordinance that applies not just to food stores and mini marts but also big retail chains with their own line of groceries, such as Target and Wal-Mart.

The ordinance, which has been in the works for years, would go into effect gradually, reaching large stores Jan. 1 and smaller ones July 1, 2014. Customers will either have to bring their own reusable bags or pay a 10-cent fee for each paper one requested, according to the ordinance.

[Dave Schwartz]

There are some cities... Pasadena comes to mind... where they cannot even SELL you a bag.

We were there early this year and watched as people came out of the store with a FULL shopping cart and no bags! We were mesmerized by watching them load boxes with their goods at their cars!

[GameTheory]

You've always had to do that at CostCo, right? They just give you leftover boxes (at some locations, at others you're just on your own).

[Tom]

Some cities miss the 1800's.
For Progressives, they certainly are a regressive bunch.

[Clocker]

Some cities miss the 1800's.

Ah, the good old days when you just took your saddle bags into the General Store.

[OntheRail]

Most bags are made from recycled materials. How many jobs will this cost? Before long they'll ban packing for products. You'll have to bring a jug to fetch your milk and a canister for your cornflake.

[GaryG]

There is a chain opening soon here in Johnson City that is German owned. I don't remember the name but you have to supply your own bags and also bag your own groceries. I think they sell bags from a vending machine. Supposedly lower costs will outweigh the inconvenience. Not for me, I am too old for that nonsense.

[Clocker]

There is a chain opening soon here in Johnson City that is German owned. I don't remember the name but you have to supply your own bags and also bag your own groceries. I think they sell bags from a vending machine. Supposedly lower costs will outweigh the inconvenience. Not for me, I am too old for that nonsense.

Sounds like Aldi. I went in one once, walked around, and left without buying anything. All generics and house brand stuff, no national brands. It costs a quarter to get a cart out of the cart corral, and you get your quarter back when you return the cart.

[GaryG]

Sounds like Aldi. I went in one once, walked around, and left without buying anything. All generics and house brand stuff, no national brands. It costs a quarter to get a cart out of the cart corral, and you get your quarter back when you return the cart.Yes....that was it.

[FantasticDan]

"That's blatant false advertising maaaaaaan"

-Stu, the burned out bus driver from The Simpsons, upon leaving the Stoner's Pot Palace in Springfield(after discovering it was a pottery store)
:DOtto is the burned out bus driver, Stu's got something else going on.. :cool:

http://cdn.leanblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/disco-stu.gif

[PhantomOnTour]

Otto is the burned out bus driver, Stu's got something else going on.. :cool:

http://cdn.leanblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/disco-stu.gif
Damn - I'm slipping in my old age.
Used to be a Simpsons aficionado :(

"My name is Otto and I will get you blotto"...at least I remember that.
"Disco Stu doesn't advertise"

[BlueShoe]

I don't remember the name but you have to supply your own bags and also bag your own groceries. I am too old for that nonsense.Bagging your own groceries is no big deal. A few of the discounters here in SoCal have you do it. At Food-4-Less, where I often shop, I've gotten pretty good at it. One of the first part time jobs I had in high school was as a box boy, bag boy?, box person? in a supermarket. Funny how skills lying dormant for decades come back to you with a little practice. :D Am not too old to prefer saving a little money while giving up a wee bit of convenience.

[JustRalph]

Sounds like Aldi. I went in one once, walked around, and left without buying anything. All generics and house brand stuff, no national brands. It costs a quarter to get a cart out of the cart corral, and you get your quarter back when you return the cart.

there are two versions of that store now. I have no idea why? When I lived on the east coast, they were like you describe. In Charlotte we had one close by. The wife checked it out. It was as you describe. Here in Texas they have a whole different lineup of stuff (at least now they do, been a few years since she checked out the east coast one) and there is one very close to my home. The wife loves the one here? Better product, some name brands and I have noticed that they have products with "their brand" name and they are produced in the same factory as the name brands. I suspect they have changed the way they do business.

Wife visited one in Houston last month and said it was like the one in Charlotte........???? interesting way of marketing?

[Robert Goren]

I used to bring my own cloth bags because I got tired of the handles on the free plastic and paper ones breaking. I think we found 14 of them when I move because I kept forgetting to bring them from home and I buy a couple of new ones.

[Clocker]

there are two versions of that store now.

Could they be marketing to different customer bases, depending on the demographics (income levels, etc.) of the neighborhood?

[JustRalph]

Could they be marketing to different customer bases, depending on the demographics (income levels, etc.) of the neighborhood?

We came up with the same conclusion. These companies know so much more about their local demographics, I guess it would make sense.

[Tom]

I used to bring my own cloth bags because I got tired of the handles on the free plastic and paper ones breaking. I think we found 14 of them when I move because I kept forgetting to bring them from home and I buy a couple of new ones.

I'm wondering how sanitary those reusable ones are?

[Robert Goren]

I'm wondering how sanitary those reusable ones are?But it is my germs. :)

[upthecreek]

Here in NJ @ the Bottom Dollar store you have to bring your own or they will sell them@ .10 cents a piece for plastic
Also recently Shoprite stopped giving a .05 cent credit for each "green bags" you used So now if you dont bring bags with you, they use plastic DOPES!

[RaceBookJoe]

Here in NJ @ the Bottom Dollar store you have to bring your own or they will sell them@ .10 cents a piece for plastic
Also recently Shoprite stopped giving a .05 cent credit for each "green bags" you used So now if you dont bring bags with you, they use plastic DOPES!

Sprouts gives a 5cent credit for each bag you bring, Whole Foods is 10cents. I don't think Trader Joes gives any credit just yet.

[johnhannibalsmith]

I've got to locate a few of these places and go there just to cause a scene and offend the regulars.

[davew]

how much for the bag?

is it a cheap plastic one or reuseable cloth?


I remember a few years ago some states having deposits on pop cans/bottles for recycling/pollution purposes (not sure if they still do)

I also have seen some areas outlaw styrofoam containers for takeout food, and areas discussing eliminating plastic or paper bags for use...

[thaskalos]

Multi-million dollar companies...and they don't want to give a bag to a loyal customer; they expect him to carry the unbagged items in his hands.

Makes one ashamed to be in the retail grocery business.

[johnhannibalsmith]

Multi-million dollar companies...and they don't want to give a bag to a loyal customer...

I'm guessing that they don't want to hire people and pay them to bag groceries and they probably use some tall tale about the environment and bags and their commitment to all things pretentiously crunchy in order to justify it. Lord knows all these granola joints don't mind filling the daily paper with advertisements five days a week so they can't really care much about such things. I guess it is just as well since most of the morons that places do hire to bag groceries can only seem to do the job exactly opposite of how any sane earthling would expect them to do it.

[FantasticDan]

I'm guessing that they don't want to hire people and pay them to bag groceries and they probably use some tall tale about the environment and bags and their commitment to all things pretentiously crunchy in order to justify it.I don't think it's a tall tale that plastic bags are an environmental menace, but they certainly do cost companies a chunk of change to produce:

http://www.environmentmassachusetts.org/sites/environment/files/reports/Bag%20Ban%20Fact%20Sheet%20_0.pdf

[johnhannibalsmith]

I don't think it's a tall tale that plastic bags are an environmental menace...

I didn't mean that the tall tale was the impact of bags, but that the tall tale was that their rationale is rooted in concern for the environment. Hence the inclusion of the clause that mentions their neverending daily multi-page color layouts of overpriced crap for sale.

[Tom]

Solution to the problem:

Hand out all the bags customers want.
Tell the customers to throw them out in to the street when they are done with them.

Replace welfare checks with bag redemption - 10 cents per bag, no limit you can turn in, but no monthly hand out.

[Show Me the Wire]

I'm guessing that they don't want to hire people and pay them to bag groceries...

When Aldi moved into the Chicago land market, decades ago, they advertised lower prices, because no utility clerks (bagging person) and no costs associated with supplying bags. So I would agree with you.

[Clocker]

When Aldi moved into the Chicago land market, decades ago, they advertised lower prices, because no utility clerks (bagging person) and no costs associated with supplying bags. So I would agree with you.

And anyone that doesn't like a store policy should shop elsewhere. Or in the case of California, they should live elsewhere. :p

[TJDave]

Multi-million dollar companies...and they don't want to give a bag to a loyal customer; they expect him to carry the unbagged items in his hands.

Makes one ashamed to be in the retail grocery business.

The way the law is written says that the store must charge for the bag.

Unless it's an EBT customer, then the store must give the bag free of charge.

[Clocker]

The way the law is written says that the store must charge for the bag.

Unless it's an EBT customer, then the store must give the bag free of charge.

So why give a poor working stiff a hard time about following the law? :confused:

[johnhannibalsmith]

The way the law is written says that the store must charge for the bag.

Unless it's an EBT customer, then the store must give the bag free of charge.

Holy crap, you mean this is a law? I missed that part entirely. Doomed, I say.

[Tom]

Elections have consequences.
Idiots get elected.