Comments on: DeKalb Farmer's Market Needs to Get With the Times

By: threadnsong

threadnsong — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:32:07 +0000

Wow. And here I thought my husband and I were the only ones who had had negative experiences shopping at DFM when we had returns. I no longer buy meat there, though I do buy fish on very rare occasions. We had bad fish, bad chicken, bad beef, and bad pork. And like some other posters, we tried to return the bad pork without a receipt a day after the 24 hour turnaround they then had in place and got so incredibly hassled: it had the DFM sticker so it was something we had obviously bought there, like the coffee, but the customer-no-service person said that the meat manager would have to approve the return. He was in the meat dept. When we walked over there, he was not there. We had to walk around the store several times until we threatened the place with a lawsuit and press from CNN, then he mysteriously showed up to authorize our money back. That was the last time I ever bought meat from them. Deli meat has so far been fine. Coffee, which I bought from them for over 20 years, began to taste like pencil shavings so I buy Newman’s Own instead. Better product, better quality, and can get the flavored coffee for those special occasions.
Also, their selection of locally grown produce has really shrunk in the past 2 years – everything comes from California, which adds more food miles to the produce, even if it’s cabbage, kale, or collards (which I do sometimes see as locally grown). Or apples or pears. I’ve begun shopping at the local Decatur farmer’s market on Wednesday afternoons, when I pay the farmers directly (though it is a little more expensive) for lettuce picked that morning, carrots that are so sweet they don’t need to be peeled, rare kinds of potatoes, beans, peas, and tomatoes. If there is some rare veggie or I’m buying something else already, I’ll buy produce from DFM, but no longer are they my exclusive produce vendor.
On the other hand, their cheese and pasta and dried fruit and nuts and grains selections can’t be beat. You get a lot for a little bit of money. Ditto with spices and herbs – something obscure that you would never think you’d find is right there in its very own container.
As far as the bag thing goes, if I bring a bag I hide it with my body when I pick up a basket and just keep walking on by the customer service station. I have been talked at once and just surrendered my bag with all my plastic bags in it for a card, and the lady told me I could pick it up when I was ready to check out. Ever since then, I have been very careful to make sure that no one observes me while I walk in. On the other hand, I figure if I forget my canvas shopping bag, it’s more money out of their pocket to keep ordering plastic produce and grocery bags (although it’s bad for the environment, etc., etc.).
And for those who brave it on weekends – you are better humans than I. Just can’t do it any more – too many rude people, kids running around, and I just can’t deal with it any more.
Speaking of kids, if R. Blazer and staff are worried about shoplifting, they need to keep an eye on folks standing around taking a free sample of grapes, fruits, etc. While the sign clearly states “No free samples” or “No sampling before buying,” I’ve seen adults and children hanging around an open bag of product X munching their hearts out. Hmmmm.

By: Eskimo

Eskimo — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:47:10 +0000

My wife and I use collapsible plastic boxes from the Container Store. You put one in your cart while you are shopping. Then during checkout, the YDFM clerk puts a piece of tape on the box (marking it “approved”) and puts your items back into the box. Better than using a dozen little white bags per visit.

The rest of the week, these containers double as holding newspapers/metal cans/plastic bottles for the recycling.

By: foodie

foodie — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 17:03:37 +0000

FYI – You don’t have to pick up your bags yourself. Hold out your ticket while you are in line and someone from YDFM will take your ticket and pick up your bags for you. They seem to have assigned people to walk around to pick up bag tickets.

By: ashley baxter

ashley baxter — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 18:32:20 +0000

I go there weekly with my children weekly and have noticed that things are sometimes a pain at checkout time or if needing help from a non-English speaker, but in general, it’s a great place to shop. I drop off my bags on the way in, pick them up BEFORE checkout, and pay attention to make sure that my discounted items have discount stickers attached before I take them to checkout. It’s a quirky place at times, but you simply cannot beat the produce prices. Unfortunately, it’s not as user-friendly as our local Publix, but I pay about three times as much for produce at Publix, so I can deal with some minor inconveniences.

By: lumpintheroad

lumpintheroad — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 01:14:24 +0000

I too have a love/hate relationship with YDFM. It’s our primary grocery store, and I have to say, the vast majority of my experiences shopping there over the last three years have been exceedingly positive. Somehow we always end up spending less there than we think we will based on the amount of stuff in our cart. It’s still one of the best, most affordable selections of quality organic ingredients in town (and it’s reasonable to assume that the trade off for those benefits is a very strict return policy — it’s not Costco). I’ll also note that I’ve seen more customers mistreating the staff than vice versa over the years, sometimes in very offensive “I’m an American and you’re fresh off the boat, so shut up” kinds of ways.

That said, the bag check policy instituted this year certainly has made things more unpleasant. Most of the time we are able to check bags and retrieve them without too much hassle, but it would be nice not to have to go through that process, especially when our only goal is to do right by the environment (not to mention save YDFM money on bags). My wife got in a pretty heated debate with one of the rent-a-cops over the bag policy a few months back. This strikes me as the kind of issue that is not going to be addressed by management until it gets some local press and makes them look bad. Perhaps not even then. But I would at least like to hear a justification for the policy backed up with figures or incident reports of people using reusable bags to shoplift.

Until that happens, there’s a line of ultra-collapsible bags that my wife and I use that we love. They squish up into a pouch the size of a deck of cards, and it’s easy to carry two or three in a pocket or purse. People are always impressed when we whip them out. You can find them here: http://www.reusablebags.com/store/acme-bags%E2%84%A2-workhorse-style-1500-p-1.html