"The Great American Outlet Mall Myth" written by Paul on estrip.org

04/17/09 12:29 - 52ºF - ID#48419

The Great American Outlet Mall Myth

What is the Great American Outlet Mall. There is not, nor was there ever a Great American Outlet Mall at Deleware and North. Was it planned at some point? It shows up on the whole area inside of North, Franklin, Allen and Irving place.

Looks like someone already reported it back in dec of 2008 and its still there

Permalink: The_Great_American_Outlet_Mall_Myth.html
Words: 93
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: animals

04/17/09 12:14 - ID#48418

Not as delicious as cap'n and shrimp

I found what I think is the face of a squirrel or rabbit in that fateful parking lot behind HSBC where all the little city animals go to die - remember (e:paul,45553). It makes me wonder what kind of giant super predator lives there that can rip ship apart like that. There was nothing left of this thing but the middle of its face, in the middle of the parking lot.

Permalink: Not_as_delicious_as_cap_n_and_shrimp.html
Words: 135
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: science

04/14/09 10:46 - 49ºF - ID#48385

Beerology - Science On Tap

I saw this beerology advertisment in the Artvoice and thought some might be interested in going.

Not really sure about the details but it looks like you get a glimpse into the science of beer brewing. It's at the buffalo science museum on Friday, April 24th from 6-9PM and costs $25.

Permalink: Beerology_Science_On_Tap.html
Words: 53
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: wegmans

04/14/09 10:40 - ID#48384

Wegman's is all price rited

Just about everything I would normally eat in the meat section has
been replaced by giant family packs of cheap meat with bright yellow
stickers. It actually made me not hungry seeing it all.

I guess wegman's is trying to compete with Price Rite.

The thing I liked about wegman's is that it didn't look like this.

metalpeter writes at 12:54:22 04/18/09 - Comment #47704: (e:Vincent) is right about the beer, If I drank beer I would be so lost there is so much of it and all different kinds what would I try? I prefer wegmans to tops but the way I choose is by what is on sale where. But wegmans feels so much better to shop there then at tops.

vincent writes at 12:34:27 04/18/09 - Comment #47702: I'm a very loyal Wegmans shopper as in the sense that for the most part I do 95% of my shopping there. I'm with (e:jenks) I don't go there for price, I go there for the quality of the merchandise and also for the sole fact that it is the only place that carries certain items that I must have. For example Diet Steaz and the quality of items from their Mediterranean olive bar.

My hunch is that it's just that particular store that carries more of the lower priced merchandise and displays more price sensitive advertisements. If you go out to the one on Alberta Dr it will have more of the higher end merchandise and lack the billboards. Although the thing that blew me away about the store on Amherst St is the beer section, they may be marketing to the frugal demographic on the basic food staple side of the isle, but they stocked up on "craft beer."

libertad writes at 10:30:44 04/18/09 - Comment #47700: Last time I went to Wegmans they had a small cooler of the organic meats you are talking about. It was probably last week I saw it. You might want to ask next time because it gets moved around. As far as price-rite goes, I am done with them. Wegmans shouldn't pretend that they have great prices though because they really don't.

jbeatty writes at 09:54:55 04/18/09 - Comment #47699: I know people will disagree with me but Wegmans in Buffalo = SUCK! They are not the same store here than they are in other places. The fish department is really horrible. I have had two instances of inedible fish/seafood being sold to me at that location. I will no longer purchase seafood there without smelling it first. I really wish they had an actual butcher on site as well. It would be nice to get cuts of meat that are not the same thing I can get everywhere else. Actually I can get way better stuff at Dash's.

We were in Rochester last weekend and stopped

metalpeter writes at 07:35:00 04/15/09 - Comment #47612: Did I mention that the look of the store is important also. By that I mean color of the floors and signs and text and all that stuff. One thing that I really liked about quality over wegmans was how they had like the street names for isles that was really a cool idea.

metalpeter writes at 07:32:52 04/15/09 - Comment #47611: Not sure where to start. There is a difference between going to the meat counter and buying the packaged stuff. I think what Wegman's is doing is trying to compete with price rite. I think they think/know that the people who like that stuff will buy it and for the better cuts you get the stuff they cut for you, but I could be wrong about that.

I went there shopping maybe around a month ago and was blown away. I forgot how nice Wegman's really is. They have the entire eating section. Then I went in the bath rooms and they had kinds of free stuff in there that I didn't need, since I don't have a baby. One of the things with stores is presentation. I don't just mean clean floors and stock faced off. It comes down to little things. For example if something is on sale and they are out of it (say chunky 4 for $5) you won't shop there again. But also if something is on sale and it looks like no one is buying any of it, it kinda makes you wonder well why.

Store layout is very important. I have heard people say the reason they don't shop at say a certain store is they don't like how it is laid out. What that really means is that when they shop at a certain store they no where to get everything but this other place has things laid out differently. But store lay out is more then just that. Take tops vs. Wegman's . At tops if you want Ice cream you have to walk what feels the entire length of the store and the same is true with beer also. But when you walk into wegmans the frozen section is up front and takes up the width of a few isles so it seems like a short walk and it might be. Also the beer blew my mind I'm walking and in the back it comes out of nowhere. Again I'm guessing width wise about 4 isles. That is just all the weird kinds from all over the place 6 packs and big bottles and then that leads right into the other stuff. I'm not saying there layout is the best or is better but some people like it better, and some people prefer tops. I can't compare the layout to price rite since I haven't been there yet but hopefully on Saturday that will change. I heard that their isles go in a different direction then when it was quality.

jason writes at 10:05:17 04/15/09 - Comment #47580: Hmm. I hadn't realized that, Paul. I don't eat a whole lot of red meat. It stinks that they took away your higher quality meat. I understand the competitive issue, and I understand that times are tough and not everyone can afford the uber quality stuff, but it shouldn't be taken away completely.

Man. I think I really want a steak tonight.

paul writes at 09:41:07 04/15/09 - Comment #47578: I am not only complaining about the style although I really do hate the super commercial in your face effect. What I am really complaining about is the what has replaced the stuff I bought.

The area that was previously orgnaic and higher quality meats has not been replace by seriously inferior products. Previously I was buying smaller quantities of lean, more expensive organic meat, which have now been replaced by hormone driven, factory farm bullshit pork chops and chicken wings at some super cheap, family pack price. Look at the picture. Chicken wings are not good for you in any way.

Maybe it was all just because it was a tuesday night.

I can't wait till the farmers market starts back up and I can just shop there.

jason writes at 09:27:55 04/15/09 - Comment #47576: I'm not at all offended by the Price Riting of Wegmans. I paid some stupid amount for the Chuck Roast for my Boeuf. Really stupid. It's supposed to be the cheap cut. They gouge customers routinely on that stuff. The posh factor is sort of irrelevant to me when I know I'm getting screwed.

What I *am* offended by is the fact that they started off pricing my St. Bernardus 12 at 9.99, and now it's I think 11 and a half bucks. Just barely below the neighborhood boutique. I think I'll support the neighborhood store if it isn't really worth my while to go to the Weg for it.

jenks writes at 09:13:16 04/15/09 - Comment #47574: I dunno, I'm with Paul here. Call me a snob, but I kinda like the "posh" factor at wegman's. I don't shop there for the prices.
Haven't been to pricerite yet, so I can't compare.

drew writes at 09:12:06 04/15/09 - Comment #47573: We are so different. Maybe I need better self-esteem re: groceries.

tinypliny writes at 04:48:42 04/15/09 - Comment #47565: Putting prices up prominently is a good business model. It encourages people to buy the products advertised, regardless of whether these products are actually cheap or not. Wegmans cereals have always hovered around $1.99. Its not as it they have reduced prices more than usual.

They have picked up psychological marketing tips from pricerite. Wegmans has this aura about it that cries "I am posh". I am not sure that as a shopper I prefer that aura compared to reasonable prices.

I think change is about adapting and seeing the good in every new change in old establishments. And Yellow is the most prominant colour.

Permalink: Wegman_s_is_all_price_rited.html
Words: 64
Location: Buffalo, NY

04/13/09 09:14 - ID#48372

Tabu night club is closed, right?

I was under the impression that Tabu night club on main syteet closed
months and months ago.

Either they have re-oppened or no one informed Artvoice. Maybe if you
prepay Artvoice they print even after you closed.

It's kind of misleading to the readers. If it was any other bar I
would say -how would Artvoice know. In this case the bar is
practically across the street from the Artvoice offices. Then again,
maybe they reopened, who knows?

Permalink: Tabu_night_club_is_closed_right_.html
Words: 84
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: estrip

04/12/09 11:04 - 33ºF - ID#48370

Nice Messages Are Rare But Awesome

Easter
Wow, what a day of non-stop eating. I have never had so many desserts. I seriously ate until I thought I was going to die and then came the dessert and snack plates.

On the easter basket front, things have really changed. Instead of the shredded plastic, earth disaster basket - this year my mother filled an eco-friendly, re-usable shopping tote with candy minus any filler. It was great!

I can't wait until tomorrow night - Dyngus Day. As Mr Mike said Easter is really just Dyngus Day eve. Its so awesome that Buffalo has so many different ethnic groups that each have their own holidays. If I lived in some homo-ethnic or western American town I wouldn't have a different ethnic holiday to celebrate each month. Who else is going out?

Site messages
Usually the messages I get are either hate mail, sexual inuendo or advertisers trying to get their product reviewed. Mostly advertisers.

Then I got this nice message today.

I happened across your blog today.

I just wanted to drop you a note and tell you how nice it was to read something that was interesting, had a variety of topics and great images. The art of the blog seems to be a lost art these days and has been replaced by dull, trite and tedious "I'm at the grocery store! Yay me!" Facebook/Twitter updates.

It was a welcome break to read the past 4 years of your blog and to see that you have posted an update in the past 2 days, so it's current.

And you made me miss Buffalo. That's no small feat!

Thanks!

David

All I have to say is, no - thank you David for making me feel better about not being a twit or whatever they are called. You should start a journal, we have a lot of Buffalo expats here. A lot of time s I feel like I am some internet throw back because I don't facebook or twitter my every moment.

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Words: 337
Location: Buffalo, NY

04/12/09 06:09 - ID#48366

Curly's in Lackawanna

Last night we went Curly's in Lackawanna for dinner.

The food is amazing. They also can make all their pasta dishes gluten
free which is awesome for (e:matthew) a d anyone else with celiac.

They even made gluten free dinner rolls for matt brought to the table.

I had the seafood pomodori. It was totally delicious. Their
specialty is actually carribean food.

It's totally worth the trip, just take route 5 and go left on ridge
road. It's right by the botanical gardens.

Permalink: Curly_s_in_Lackawanna.html
Words: 89
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: body

04/11/09 11:37 - ID#48356

BFF - Coke and Red Cross?

What about marlboro reds?

I just walked an hour in the cold wind on the way to a chiropractic appointment to treat a cold wind injury. I think it was a net gain of zero as my neck is spazin out on the way home after a particularly strong freezing gust.

I Hate walking to and in the village. Its a death trap for pedestrians.

I just want muscle relaxants.

Permalink: BFF_Coke_and_Red_Cross_.html
Words: 75
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: web

04/11/09 10:03 - 36ºF - ID#48354

Is this for real? Time Warner you suck.

I just want my FIOS account at my house now. Supposedly time warner is starting bandwidth limiting. With overage fees of $1/GB. That is seriously going to change the internet as I know it. It makes you think about doing things like listening to internet radio while playing a game or download all the different Linux ISOs for fun.

I guess Time Warner just wants to accelerate themselves going out of business as soon as there is any other choice.

uncutsaniflush writes at 09:12:56 04/17/09 - Comment #47688: I'm sure you have probably heard that Time Warner Cable has given up on metered billing for broadband internet for the moment.

:::link:::

I reckon the next time they try, the FUD will be probably much more effective because TMC will have re-educated their customers to believe that anyone who downloads or uploads anything over 640k is a Pinko Commie supporter of bin Laden.

uncutsaniflush writes at 06:18:09 04/11/09 - Comment #47506: Based on what I've read and heard, Time-Warner Cable is going to try "metered" billing in Rochester because it is not a Verizon FIOS area. Frontier is the only broadband alternative to Time-Warner Cable. And at one point, Frontier was also considering "metered" billing. See :::link::: and :::link:::

theli writes at 11:41:12 04/11/09 - Comment #47492: Yeah, heard about this.

I think I can get fios where I live right now. The second I know for sure that they're bringing that to Buffalo, (seems Rochester is one of the test cities even) I'm switching.

First dial up was $5 and limited. Then they pushed everybody to the $20 unlimited plan, because obviously they would make more money since the vast majority didn't/couldn't use it extensively. Then broadband came out, eventually was available for $50 each, then slowly came down to $30 due to some basic competition. And it was generally unlimited for as fast as you can get it. Then it slowly went back up. And then they gimped its speed and made you pay for this BS called "power boost" just to get it closer to how it was before. But now, they want to limit you while charging you more for actually using it extensively.

I know why they're doing it. You raise profits by reducing cost of business. But it's reached utility status by now. And just because you can get away with this kind of shit because of so few alternatives for broadband available... That's just not acceptable.