Mar 29, 2007 02:29 PM
3609 Views
We shifted house recently and when I found that the Reliance Fresh outlet in Chennai is walkable distance from home, I was ecstatic. I went there that very evening and was a little taken aback. Am claustrophobic and the crowds inside that small store was very intimidating.
But I needed to know how the store is. So I took a deep breath and went in. There isn't enough space between the aisles for people to walk freely or even select stuff from nearby bins. Very small place and even though its supposed to be air conditioned, you don't feel it because of the crowds.
The fruit selection they have is enough for me and they do have some or other offer to make it worth buying them there. Their bread selection is good too. I like the submarine bread, garlic ones and the muffins and dinner rolls.
But the veggies... Umm, I like my tomatoes red and inviting looking. Not green or yellow or very squsihy like it does in Reliance Fresh. And the onions... very scraggly looking poor things. Even the other veggies weren't up to par except cabbages (Anytime I go there, cabbages are the only things that look good in the store)
I thought it was my mistake to go to the store that late at night (7 pm) and expect fresh veggies. I have since visited the store several times during several times of the day and have never seen the veggies fresh. I was there yesterday around 3.30 or so when the produce truck came. Aha, I thought... today I WILL get fresh veggies. All those bins of veggies looked very good.
But they weren't being put out for sale! I overheard some workers there talking... Seems they cant put in the new stuff till they sell all the old stuff. And they have more stuff from yesterday sitting in their storage area. Why does the company not accept the loss of throwing out the 2 day old veggies and sell the fresh produce that they do get daily? Why let the fresh produce rot when its kept in storage and expect people to buy days old veggies?
That gives a very bad name to the place, doesn't it? And over time that wouldbe be a loss at all because of the customer base they'll get and they get tax write offs for such loss, don't they? If only they sell the veggies the day they get, it will be Reliance Fresh rather than Reliance Rotten. The price maybe couple of rupees less here. But if this goes on, people will pay the usual amount and get fresh veggies from their neighbourhood stores rather than buy sorry looking excuse for vegetables.
And there isn't much of other stuff like you'd expect in a retail store too. Couple of brands of oil, store brand rice, dal and masala powders along with noodles, chips etc. and a selection of chocolates.There is parking if you use a 2-wheeler. If you use a 4-wheeler, woe is yours. I dont care for the membership card they offer so I didn't get it. Why do I keep going to the store? The fruits, some useful offers and best of all... they accept SodexHos :-) Hubby gets them as part of salary and if we don't use it in stores like this or Trinethra or Vitan or in some restaurants, it will be useless to us.
So I'll be going to the store, getting items I want and that are fresh but not regularly. Only when I need to spend my SodexHos.
