These Onions Could Bring a Lesser Val to Tears

Let the buyer beware! Val is not a gal to be bamboozled by the schadenfreude of grocery store managers. It's usually not a problem at 10Box, though I have found questionable USE BY dates on the shelves. They generally pull the expired stock, and put them in a cart up front for half price. The prospective buyers know exactly what they're getting.

Save A Lot has a problem with their produce sometimes being less-than-fresh. Namely the bananas, which alternate between brown and woody green. And the onions, which even having a fan blowing across the shelf, are sometimes getting mushy. I DO swear by their meat, which is generally the best around here. 

You have to be careful in Save A Lot. Despite their name, you might end up paying more than elsewhere. They didn't used to be like that, until 10Box opened up a couple blocks away. The six-packs of Diet Mountain Dew were $5.99 in Save A Lot yesterday! Compared to $4.68 in 10Box (plus 10% up front, making them $5.15). At Country Mart, they were $5.49, ON SALE. 

Which brings us to Country Mart, on Errand Day. I've been getting supplies for Easter dinner. I saw in the sale ad that Country Mart had 2 lb bags of yellow onions for $2.99. I'll be using onions in my roasted veggies, and in potato salad, so I planned to get a couple bags. 

The Pony trotted off to see if there were any bargains on steak like last time. I went to the bins of onions. I saw the sign advertising the 2 lb bags of yellow onions for $2.99. But in the bins were 3 lb bags of SWEET onions. Which are Vidalia onions, just not grown in the right geographic area to be labeled as Vidalia. Huh. Not fooling ol' Val. I went around to the other side of the table, and again saw a sign for the sale on 2 lb yellow onions. But in this bin were 3 lb bags of yellow onions. Which cost $5.98, same as the sweet onions.

When The Pony returned without a steak bargain, I pointed out the discrepancy. We both looked, and moved bags around.

"There you are, " said Pony, holding up some 3 lb bags out of the way, and nodding. 

Lying at the bottom of the bin were three bags of 2 lb yellow onions. I took two of them. You really have to be aware at Country Mart. They are masters of the bait-and-switch. I've seen it in many departments, not just the produce. Like when there's a two-for-one sale on bottled salad dressing. The brands not on sale are by the labels, but you have to make sure you read the brand on sale, and get those. 

The prices at Country Mart are the highest around. They get away with it because they are right in the middle of town. They have a lot of elderly shoppers. And a deli. People stop by because it's more convenient than going to Walmart. It has a bigger variety of brands than that town's Save A Lot. I always have a list of what I'm getting there, because I know I can find stuff cheaper at the other stores.

This phenomena of sale price labels by not-sale merchandise happens so often there, I'm pretty sure it's not a coincidence or accident. I think they buried those sale onions!