Feb 14, 2007 02:58 PM
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I LOVE retail therapy! Which woman doesn’t, I can hear all the men say. But for me, it isn’t about very expensive shopping for clothes and shoes(though obviously I enjoy that TOO;), but I love to go to super markets and shop for groceries.
Till I got married, I never really bothered. As a kid, folks used to take me to Apna Bazaar and I used to love the sheer size of it. Neatly packed things kept in different sections with prices stickered on them. Apna Bazaar also had loyalty programme where they gave you an X number of stamps of different values which you could redeem at a later date. So we would religiously sit n stick those stamps in a passbook like thing they had provided us with. Oh well! I am just getting all nostalgic.
After shaadi, not knowing what aate-dal ka bhaav is and all that jazz, we would just go to the local grocer and get whatever we needed at whatever price he quoted us and came home. Then started language problem! The things that were not right in front of us and we didn’t know the Kannada translation for, we could never buy. Our descriptions always bought weird results.
So the first time I laid my eyes on Fab Mall which had transparent plastic bags that held all those till now obscure pulses and masalas, I was really excited. Of course later I rued my total domestication that lead to excitement seeing grocery items!
Fab Mall is essentially a chain of glorified super markets that promises to take care of your monthly requirements from toothpaste to soaps to black dal and basmati rice. The aisles are neatly laid out with similar categories of products kept together to make the whole thing simpler for you. So if you are looking at shampoos, you will find the soaps, conditioners, body wash etc on 2 shelves around there. You will almost all the brands kept in order and pick and choose as it pleases you.
If you cannot find that elusive ginger-garlic paste after making 3 rounds of the store, help is just a voice away. Call any of the executives moving about and they will find it out and get for you or say it’s not available.
After 2 years, I think there are certain tips that you can follow to make your shopping experience a fruitful one without people gasping at your grocery budgets!
Make a list
Sounds simple enough, but most of us don’t do it. Even I don’t, frankly speaking. But it saves a lot of trouble. Imagine my ma-in-law telling my hubby after going through my stocks you have 5 packets of dhaniya powder, why?! Mayunk still teases me about it by pointing at dhaniya powder and asking “do we need this?!” Essentially it avoids waste of your time and money. If you forget an important thing, you make an extra trip just for that and then spend some more money!
Check Expiry Dates
As consumers, we are still not aware enough to check expiry dates of the products we buy. All products, especially, food items now have a date of manufacture and best before mentioned on them. Either it will say best before a x period of time(3, 6, 12months etc) or an exact date. Things which aren’t fast moving could be very near expiry or already expired. So it’s worth it to check. I have noticed that stores like Fab Mall or Food world don’t really have very strong checks so you need be extra careful.
Check if they accept Sodexho or Ticket vouchers
Lot of salaried guys get Sodexho or Ticket coupons of around 1500 per month as a part of their non taxable salary. Most of these stores accept the vouchers. Some accept it ONLY for food items as per law, while other might let you slip in your stock of Rin and Surf in too. Fab Mall till recently DID accept it for one and all, but not sticks to food items only rule.
Check for Special Offers
Lot of these stores keep having special offers saying that if you shop for 500rs, you will get one kilo aata free or you will get a bucket for just 10rs extra kind of thing. They might have conditions like particular 3 products need to be a part of your shopping. I have got 1kg aata and 1litre oil and few other things and saved that much. Not a bad deal at all!:)
Try new stuff
Okay! This is not an advice. Just one of the advantages of shopping at these self service kinda places. As the shelves are self explanatory, you get to see all the new stuff that’s come into the market! That’s how we bought Sunfeast Pasta for the first time and tried yummylicious Fun Foods sauces. So if you are the kind who loves to tantalize your taste buds and not totally risk averse, you could be discovering next life saver!
Apart from that, they also stock fresh veggies and fruits. But frankly, I prefer going to the mandi and buying them, since I have found their pricing is usually better and its fun to navigate through the crowded market and buying subzi’s one by one. I do buy my fruits from here because I realized that weighing scale of my till now trusted roadside fruit vendor was REALLY WONKY!
Lot of them also offer home delivery within the area and you can always avail of that service by just calling them and giving your list!
Also, if you just want to buy 6 eggs or one loaf of bread you would rather go to your local corner shop.Standing in a queue behind a person who has just shopped for 2 cartloads of samaan, waiting to bill just two things worth 25 bucks can be tiring!
Apart from that you will miss the warmth and gossip of your corner store! So keep making trips there too for your small last minute shopping.
All in all Fab Mall and similar such stores has made the whole shopping experience very easy especially if you have changed cities or localities and don’t know where you will get everything as a one stop shop for your basic needs.
Isn’t that “Fab”ulous?!
