DUmmie "MineralMan' finds canned Boston brown bread at a local supermarket

[Tess Anderson]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022478323

never heard of such a thing, but the customer service at the store sure must have impressed him:

Fri Mar 8, 2013, 12:56 PM

 MineralMan (51,243 posts)


Real customer service in a supermarket. Not the Walmart style.



 As we've all experienced, at least those of us who shop for food, service in supermarkets seems to be a vanishing commodity. The main supermarket, Cub Foods, where I do most of my shopping has just about eliminated all service to its customers. Even shelf stocking is left up to the company reps who deliver that food, in many cases. It's been self-bagging for years, and self-service checkout is the norm, with only a couple of regular checkout aisles open most of the time. And forget about asking where anything is in the store. Nobody there knows.
 
Today, though, I went to my local Byerly's store in St. Paul, MN, to pick up one of their great salads and a sandwich for dinner tonight. An upscale supermarket, Byerly's has several successful locations in the Twin Cities. A few days ago, I had a hankering for Boston Brown Bread in a can, and I had looked up the product on the Internet to see if B&M Brown Bread was available anywhere local. I found it listed as available at my Byerly's store, so I planned to pick some up while I was there.
 
While I was browsing the aisles, looking for it and having no success, a wandering senior store manager happened by and noticed that I seemed to be looking for something. He asked if he could help me, so I told him what I was looking for. He said, "Wow! I haven't thought about that since I was a kid." "Me, neither," I said, "but your online shopping site says you have it."
 
Long story short, he paged the grocery manager, told him what we were looking for, and asked that he come to the aisle where we were talking. I suppose the manager looked it up on the store's plan-o-gram. He showed up in a couple of minutes, walked us to the aisle where canned fruit was shelved and pulled out a can of B&M Brown Bread with Raising from a bottom shelf stocked with fruit salad and other assorted canned fruit products. No wonder I hadn't found it. Who'd have thought to look there?
 
That led to a conversation about stocking odd products that didn't fit any category well. Canned bread would be such a product. I suggested that since B&M also makes a line of canned baked bean products, they might stock the brown bread cans with that brand's other products, rather than with the canned fruit.
 
Well, the grocery manager grabbed all eight cans and the shelf label, and did just that, right then. As I was leaving with my purchase, he said, "Good idea. Now I'll change the plan-o-gram." Service.
 
Of course, that same store has prices for most products that are about 10% higher than the Cub Foods where I shop most of the time. There's a price for human service, it seems, that must be added onto the price of goods. Still, Byerly's and the other similar food stores seem to be doing just fine where I live. They have a clientele, apparently, that doesn't mind paying a modest premium for actual customer service.
 
That's how businesses compete with the Walmarts of this society. It's their only way to do so. In the process of supplying actual live customer service, they have to have a higher employee density than the no-service stores, and that costs money. But, they survive, and even thrive, by supplying a commodity that is in very short supply today - real customer service by real people. It's a model that works in other lines of business as well.

on second thought, it really doesn't sound so good.

[GOBUCKS]

Well, the grocery manager grabbed all eight cans and the shelf label, and did just that, right then. As I was leaving with my purchase, he said, "Good idea. Now I'll change the plan-o-gram." Service.

He took advice from a DUmpmonkey?

I realize this is a bouncy tale that never happened, but I'd stay away from that store anyway.

[BlueStateSaint]

I've seen it around here.  It's passable (a friend had it, and I tried it).  Not something I'd have more than once.

[NHSparky]

Yeah, they sell it here.  No, I didn't care for it.

Then again, this is from the same crowd that liked Pam's chicken enchiladas and Nad's mac and cheese (at least I think that's what she was trying to make.)

[ColonelCarrots]

Canned bread?

[DLR Pyro]

Canned bread?

Found in the same aisle as sliced beer.

[Karin]

Oh my God!  He's got waaay too much time on his hands to a) noodle about online searching for an obscure product, b) go shopping and get all involved with this quest, pestering several employees along the way, and c) sitting down and spending an hour composing this tome.  

I think this was a full eight-hour project.  

As for the bread, this is the kind of thing you'd find at Dollar General, in the $1 shelves.  Like the Larry the Cable Guy's food line.  


(I actually bought the LCG's fried chicken coating mix.  I'll test it out and let you know.  )

[JohnnyReb]

B&M Brown Bread with Raising....Momma's baby had a daddy and prep school education?

[Gern]

It's actually really weird stuff.

It's got this thick, gushy consistency, and smells a little funky when you open the can.

It's pretty much coagulated carbohydrates and sugar, it would seem.  Which I know is kind of redundant.

[chitownchica]

Hmmm- I wonder if I'm thinking of the same bread. My mom used to make little tea sandwiches with what I thought was Boston brown bread. She used a cream cheese spread with nuts in it.

It's been a couple of decades since I've had it, so perhaps I'm thinking of something else.

[LC EFA]

Canned Bread ?

Yeesh.

I thought we had some weird things available in cans here... Clearly we've been out done.

[BlueStateSaint]

Canned Bread ?

Yeesh.

I thought we had some weird things available in cans here... Clearly we've been out done.

LC, you Aussies have got to try harder.

[ColonelCarrots]

At my house we buy weird things in cans and see who is man enough to eat it. We still have squid in ink in a can thats been there for a year now.

[chitownchica]

The only other canned bread I've had is my mom's pumpkin bread. She cooks that in coffee cans. I have no idea why.

[ChuckJ]

This is what I got out of that story.

I have so much money that I can shop where prices are 10% higher.

I'm so intelligent that managers follow my advice.

I'm so different and quirky that I eat bread from a can.

[chitownchica]

This is what I got out of that story.

I have so much money that I can shop where prices are 10% higher.

I'm so intelligent that managers follow my advice.

I'm so different and quirky that I eat bread from a can.

He's a real trendsetter  .

[marv]

Hmmm- I wonder if I'm thinking of the same bread. My mom used to make little tea sandwiches with what I thought was Boston brown bread. She used a cream cheese spread with nuts in it.

It's been a couple of decades since I've had it, so perhaps I'm thinking of something else.

I like it, and creamed cheese is correct, but not the nuts. I've made it, and I think it's pretty good. Here's one recipe:

2 cups rye meal
2 cups cornmeal
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups dark molasses
4 cups milk
2 cups raisins
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

It's cooked by steaming it stove top, or in the oven. I use #303 cans, but you can use loaf pans, too. And it's diabetic friendly.

Brown bread dates back to the colonies.

[JohnnyReb]

This is what I got out of that story.

I have so much money that I can shop where prices are 10% higher.

I'm so intelligent that managers follow my advice.

I'm so different and quirky that I eat bread from a can.

Nadin wants to know if it's been checked for radiation?

[chitownchica]

I like it, and creamed cheese is correct, but not the nuts. I've made it, and I think it's pretty good. Here's one recipe:

2 cups rye meal
2 cups cornmeal
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups dark molasses
4 cups milk
2 cups raisins
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

It's cooked by steaming it stove top, or in the oven. I use #303 cans, but you can use loaf pans, too. And it's diabetic friendly.

Brown bread dates back to the colonies.

I'm going to have to look for the bread and try it again to see if I like it.  I may have been wrong about nuts. She might have used pineapple. I'll have to ask her. 
I think I was a teenager when she last made these sandwiches. I was a picky eater, but I really liked these.

[chitownchica]

Nadin wants to know if it's been checked for radiation?

Tetra pack milk and canned bread.

It's a breakfast of champions!

[GOBUCKS]

It's actually really weird stuff.

It's got this thick, gushy consistency, and smells a little funky when you open the can.

It's pretty much coagulated carbohydrates and sugar, it would seem.  Which I know is kind of redundant.

Sounds like that favorite English confection, spotted dick.

That tells you all you need to know about English cuisine.

[chitownchica]

Sounds like that favorite English confection, spotted dick.

That tells you all you need to know about English cuisine.

 

H5 GOBUCKS.  You always make me laugh.

[LC EFA]

Sounds like that favorite English confection, spotted dick.

That tells you all you need to know about English cuisine.

The english are to cuisine what the french are to humility and the arabs are to hygiene.

[NHSparky]

Canned Bread ?

Yeesh.

I thought we had some weird things available in cans here... Clearly we've been out done.

KMA, LC.  As long as you consider vegemite edible, you've got the weird crown locked up, nailed down, and permanently glued to your heads.

 

[Delmar]

Well, the grocery manager grabbed all eight cans and the shelf label, and did just that, right then. As I was leaving with my purchase, he said, "Good idea. Now I'll change the plan-o-gram." Service

How are the people who have been buying it all along going to be able to find it now that it has been moved?