Goin' Shoppin' But Not At Kroger

When I'm not living the glamorous blogging life, I'm doing things that Hollywood stars do--like grocery shopping. Remember in December of 2005, holy mother of peanut butter I cannot believe that I've been blogging for that long (what the hell is wrong with me?) when Kroger lost me as a customer? The straw was a smile, or rather the lack of one, but it was hardly the only thing.

Yes, I'm still an H.E.B. Central Market shopper. It's been two and half years now. Produce. Good. Meat. Good. Prices. Slit-my-throat-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me-bad. But it's my own damn fault. I spend money on organic strawberries and indulge in unnecessary items like European, high-density butter.

Kim duToit talks about his Kroger experience. He's a former grocery store consultant. His advice is good, but it makes sense, so I doubt anyone will listen. How is Kroger still in business?

Kim links to James Lileks who's peeved with Chairman Bob. A thought occurs to me: One of the first rules of marketing is that if you're ugly, don't use your image. There is a corollary: If you're boring or borderline scary, don't use your image either. In the case Lileks highlights, the picture serves no useful purpose except maybe to make Chairman Bob's mother proud. Otherwise, why are we looking at this dude's mug?