The Economy

True enough - but the Publix BOGO is half price if you buy just one. My neighborhood Walmart is a Supercenter with a heavily black clientele. It's always very busy, it's merchandised differently, and in general it's a big pain in the ass. I have a Walmart, Winn-Dixie, Aldi, and Publix all within five minutes of the house. I should shop Aldi more than I do, but Publix is my default still. Their corporate policy of employees being extremely friendly and dropping what they are doing to help you find something won me over years ago. I need to break out of that rut.

 

I live off Publix BOGOs. I'm not terribly brand loyal, and there's usually one brand of K Cups, for instance, on BOGO on a given week. Haven't paid full price for laundry detergent or TP forever because there's usually one brand or another on BOGO. I agree with BT on being careful about the buy two get one, because the same discount obviously doesn't apply.

 

They also have BTGTs (buy two get two). I have no idea if the buy one at half price works on those.

I need my Harris Teeter fix (buy two, get three free)!

 

I had a conversation with someone just this morning:
Publix is good if there is one or two speciality things they carry that others don't, but I wouldn't buy a week's worth of groceries there.

 

Their self-service checkouts don't even have cash transactions. So you can't use them if you need a quick purchase and want some cash back.

 

Then why do you shop there?

 

Call it a convenience tax, I guess. I also probably would grocery shop differently if I was doing it for a family of four rather than just for myself. If I had to bulk up on staples, I'd go to Aldi or Lidl and supplement at Publix. But considering my nomadic work schedule, I don't really have the need to do that. There's a Kroger nearby too but the savings are negligible at best and the Publix is a much nicer store.

 

I totally like shopping at Publix than our other grocery stores because of the type of people who are the main customers at each.
Yeah, I'm a snob.

 

JFC, I posted an interesting story to spark discussion that happened to be from the New York Post, not a word-for-word repost of Mein Kampf.
If anyone — especially on a message board for current and former journalists — is triggered over seeing a link from one of the biggest newspapers in the country they might want to evaluate a few things in their life. Or we should have a list of officially approved and banned sources pinned to the top of the page.

 

Pronated ankles, negative arch, wide feet, right foot kinda points outward a little bit (all birth defects -- dad's feet were worse). I wear serious orthotics.

I used to wait for New Balance to go on sale at Big 5. They were around $50 if I caught them at the right time. I'd buy a couple of pair of 2W or 4W if they felt OK.

Then, I visited a podiatrist. He said the only solutions to my problems were fusing my ankles, which would make me walk funny like Bill Walton. Or wear braces, which looked like granny shoes, a brown sleeve with laces that goes up your ankle. If I didn't want that, I could do orthotics. And, Brooks were absolutely the best athletic shoes. (Of course, braces were covered by insurance, orthotics were not). I got a prescription for new orthotics and the guy at the orthopedic lab concurred on Brooks being the best. So now I buy Brooks from a Comfort Shoe store (the owner formerly worked in an orthopedic lab). They are $150-$160 a pair. And, of course, he "recommends" having two or more pairs and rotate them daily because your feet sweat and they won't dry sufficiently overnight. He knocks off a little bit because I am a repeat customer.

So, upthread somebody mentioned a Brooks clearance store. Are those real places? I wonder where they are. I will not order shoes online for delivery. Must try them on in the store. I haven't done much looking, but I think I should.

 

If that was me on the Brooks, yeah, the place I mentioned was online from Brooks website. I'm fine with ordering shoes online if it's something I've had before.

 

I live in boots from Ariat’s sport line. Rubber soles, square toes, roper heels, run between $150 and $200 a pair. Love them.

(Don’t get Roper-branded boots, though. They’re cheaper, but you’ll have to get them stretched across the width of both boots … And that’s even if you go up a size.)