Grocery Stores Past, Present & Future In Iowa And At My Grandparents House
Many grocery stores, like most everything else in the modern age have gone through some major changes since we were little kids. Some are full-service, offering everything from banking to floral to pharmacies and some have stayed true to just food service. A few local chains like Fareway have kept things pretty basic with a small town feel, while Hy-Vee is a full-on full service center. Then you have big box stores with grocery divisions. I rarely shop for food at Target & Wal-Mart, but some swear by those outlets.
New Pioneer Coop recently opened a new store on Center Point Road. I've always been a huge fan of the Iowa City and Coralville New Pi stores. Especially when it comes to their deli. Can't be beat. Kudos to them for trying the C.R. market again. They gave it a run a couple of decades ago and had limited success. People want their offerings more these days...but they have some competition of their own. While we don't have Whole Foods around here, there are some national "health food" chains moving into the area competing for New Pi's slice of the "pi."
There's a new competitor in town over in Des Moines. Price Chopper is filling the vacancies left by Dahl's Foods. They will take on Hy-Vee. If they offer a card similar to the Casey's/Hy-Vee Fuel Savers Club Card, there could be a real battle. I like Fareway and Aldi, but that fuel discount is pretty great.
Everyone is trying to, no pun intended, carve out their niche. When I was in grade school, my grandparents owned a little store in Woodstock, Il next to their home. Back then, they were known as Milk Houses. Dad and Grandpa would deliver early in the day to those old tin porch boxes. What a bygone era of goodness. I can still taste the malts and shakes in that store.
All this talk of grocery shopping puts me in the mood for the best grocery-themed music video of all time. Paging Mr. Buble in aisle 4...
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