OK, so we’ve discussed our disdain for how certain establishments have their customers line up to make purchases, small-talk made by cashiers, the virtues of carrying exact change..I thought we’d covered every topic imaginable in terms of retail.

And then I went to Raley’s today. Continue reading “Stop movin’ my bread around!” »

These days when I visit the East Sac Trader Joe’s–which no matter how crowded it is, always seems to have a staff to patron ratio of about 1:1–I notice that the cashiers are very friendly. Like, serial killer friendly. I assume this is company policy. Saturday night, after a long tiring day of yard projects and kid-wrangling, I was asked by the young cashier whether I had any plans. Nothing much, I said, just going to watch a movie with the wife. “Oh really? What movie do you have?” At this point I was too tired to think of way to avoid telling him what movie, and then since it was an obscure low-budget science fiction flick (”Primer“–which by the way was kinda interesting, and at 68 minutes is worth your time, but your wife will haaate it.), I found myself having to give him a plot summary and genre explanation of this movie which I had not seen. Too bad I hadn’t just rented “Caddyshack” or something…

This is not the first such encounter. Continue reading “Nice goes all wrong at TJs” »

I had occasion the other night to order food for pick up. It was a basic transaction. The bag of food was sitting on the counter with my name on the receipt. I waited for someone to greet me and when they did I pointed to my bag and said I was here to pick up a to go order. I handed over exact change (Runnergirl, wink wink) and said “Thank you.” As I got into my car I realized that I was “supposed” to tip in that situation…or was I?

So I ask you, whether it’s Domino’s pizza or California Pizza Kitchen, what’s the general rule on tipping with “to go” orders for pick up?  And, yes, Reservoir Dogs quotes are highly encouraged.

I’d like to give special recognition to the woman working at the Del Taco on near Howe & La Riviera who did not question my giving her an odd amount of cash to cover my Chicken Tacos Del Carbon (a high protein, lowfat meal) for today’s dashboard dining.

Wow, someone who actually knows how to make change — this calls for a special posting on the sacrag! 

Continue reading “Be the change you wish to see” »

It’s been a while since we’ve discussed the pros and cons of the current queue system at the Lyon Village Peet’s Coffee.  Since then, a few of us (namely, Sac-Eats and RonTopOfIt, and I) have conjured up our ideas for improving the process flow at Peet’s, including sketching out how we’d change up the store to make it more customer friendly during the very busy parts of the day. Continue reading “What would you change?” »

The sleepy little town of Roseville announced plans to expand it’s quaint little shopping area recently. The “Galleria” as it is known to the locals will grow from a modest 1.1 million square feet to 1.5 million square feet when all is said and done.

To expand, the Galleria needs the Roseville Planning Commission to OK a modification to its major project permit; a separate permit for the architecture of the new buildings; and the City Council to agree to amend the city’s lease agreement with the mall.

What about consulting local business owners?

At any rate, perhaps now the city will finally get a few of those “chain” restaurants we’ve been hearing so much about. Oh, and for you sports lovers out there, Roseville was also recently named the home of the Sacramento Capitals and will play seven out of fourteen games at The Galleria. This, of course, means they won’t be playing at the wonderfully accommodating Sunrise Mall any longer. Sigh.

Tower Records is open for just one more day, at least at the Watt & El Camino location.

I stopped in earlier and bought a handful of CDs for a grand total of $9.19, including works by Dada, Sia, Ringside, Red Flag (a serious flash in the pan ’80s synth-pop,not even a one hit wonder, group I once saw at Maxim, an 18-and-over “club” on Auburn & Garfield when I was 17), and “The Sounds of Kwanzaa” (it was $1, how could I pass it up?)

Of course, as I was quickly scanning what was left of their merchandise, a young girl was chatting on her cell phone next to me, complaining to whoever was on the other end of the phone, “This store sucks! They don’t have anything!”

If anything, Tower can provide you with an inexpensive option for your last minute shopping.

Tower Records/Books has reached critical retail mass. Most CD’s are being sold for 60% off and others are going for a flat rate of $1 or $2. Employees say that the doors will probably be shutting before Christmas. Due to these extreme bargains however, most of the good stuff is gone. So, if you have anyone on your Christmas list that is looking for some obscure CD, make sure to check out Tower before going to the internet. For example, Trio Beyond’s tribute to the “Tony Williams Lifetime” called Saudades is only $12, which is a small price to pay for the tasteful organ stylings of Larry Goldings, the world’s greatest Jewish jazz organist.

This made the news last week but it looks like the City has finally agreed on a price with Joe Sun and now can proceed with developing the 700 block of K Street. For the building and the business itself the City will be shelling out almost $6 million. This made for steamy debate here when it first made headlines. The settling price ended up somewhere between what the City was originally offering and what Joe Sun was asking, closer to the City’s original offer. I have yet to be enlightened on why this is how redevelopment has to be done; I have no idea why Joe Sun couldn’t have stayed right there on that block. Wouldn’t a few hundred grand for some new signage and rehabbing on the building have been money well spent? If the city allows developers to buy up blocks won’t we just end up with a ton of big modern looking buildings suited only to being shared by big retailers like Z Gallerie? Also how exactly is this just not going to happen again in 30 years?

I have yet to follow the arrow guys to Tower Records or the Copeland’s at the downtown plaza to see what sort of outrageous deals I can find. I am in need of some running shoes and in need of spending as close as possible to $0 on them. I’m thinking the week after Thanksgiving the Copeland’s discounts will creep into the 80% range but I’m also thinking that shoes that can give me the support and stability I need will be in short supply in my demanding price range. Also I would like to pick up some CDs and books on the cheap. Anybody out there been to either of these stores lately and willing to report on the bargain shopping environment? Tower seems to have dropped percentages off their signs so I can’t tell how far the scale has slipped on that.

(On a side note I just realized that there should be a rating system for us bargain shoppers, akin to the clapping popcorn guy. Would it just be a scale composed of cheap skate graphics?)