Thursday, May 1, 2008

Unavailable and outdated items

Giant Food, Marlow Heights, 1 May 2008, 10:00 am

McCormick Sea Salt Grinder:

As I told you l several days ago, you advertised the McCormick Sea Alt Grinder as being on sale back in early March. The store has has a shelf label saying it is on sale through May 8 ever since. Bur for 8 consecutive weeks, the product has not been on the shelf. Are you waiting for the sale to end before you restock?

Purina Naturally Complete dog food:

We buy the 56 oz. size of this regularly. Today there was only one bag on the shelf. It had a DEC 2007 expiration date. It is now May 2008, why do you still have a product on the shelf months after the expiration date? When will you restock with non-expired bags?

Stouffer's Entrees, 4 for $10.

We wanted the Tuna Noodle Casserole, but could not find it in the freezer. Have you stopped selling it?

Banquet Meals, 10 for $10.

I really like the Banquet Spaghetti and think it tastes better than the competing, more expensive Stouffer's product. You apparently don't carry it.

These last two items show why we have stopped shopping exclusively at Giant and keep increasing our business at Giant's competitors. I know from your previous replies that keeping our loyalty and business is not a high priority for Ahold. Until now, I have generally limited my comments about Giant's decline to you and my family. Now, with the recent publicity about Giant's reduced selections, seems to be a good time to start blogging about my experiences--maybe I'll find others who feel they have been deserted by Giant.

Posted 5/01/2008

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Selected links about Giant Food

Wikipedia's history of Giant Food Includes the following statement about the once successful culture Giant has abandoned:
There were several reasons for Giant's market domination during Danzansky's 13-year tenure as president. First and most important were the principles laid down by founder N.M. Cohen. Companies often have paper principles but Cohen enforced them. The first principle was uncompromising quality. In the upscale Washington Metro Area, this was a competitive advantage Giant's competitors were slow to emulate until the advent of Whole Foods Market many years later. The second principle was value. Cohen believed that shoppers wouldn't mind paying a bit more if they got their money's worth in consistent quality. The third principle was service. Cohen was rarely in his office. He tirelessly spent his days dropping in unannounced at his store and making sure that every customer was treated as a welcome friend. He would be known to bawl out an employee for refusing to give a customer a refund for a spoiled competitor's product.