Thursday, June 26, 2008
Does cup size matter?
| I had long thought my quest to find the biggest, cheapest fountain drink had come to an end. After weeks of research, I had discovered two things:These two discoveries led me to my final conclusion: There are big drinks in the world at cheap prices. But not here. It was a sad conclusions but life had to go on. Some days, just to relive the experience, I will fill up my super jumbo Double Big Gulp cup and pretend I got a great deal. Then one day, a few weeks back, something happened. I was sitting in Whitey's eating breakfast. Yes, it's called Whitey's. Stop laughing! (Now if a maid service or laundromat opened up next door named "Tidy's" THAT would be funny. Well it's probably only funny if you say it out loud.) Across the street from Whitey's I saw a sign. I mean that in both the figurative and the literal sense.   I suspect they have a small selection because the drinks aren't usually what folks come to the store for. The 99¢ promotion was attracting people to the store but also put a spotlight on one of the weaknesses of the store. There was actually a short line of people for the drink fountain and a shortage of lids. S-E Food Mart #1 was unprepared. The lady in line in front of me saw me standing there with my 44oz cup and said "With a deal like this, you just can't pass it up." Lady, if you only knew. As I stood in line to pay for my icy cold beverage I happened to look out the window and across Market Street. There I saw something rather odd.  Sure enough Scotchman, also had 44oz cups and was running the same exact promotion. They even had the same signs and cups. The drink selection was equally small, but slightly different from across the street. I was confused. Later, closer inspection of my cups show not only S-E Food Mart, and Scotchman's logos, but a couple of others. I finally had to resort to the internet. Then it made a little sense. Worsley Companies owns Scotchman, S-E Food Marts, plus a few others. They have also very recently acquired Li'l Cricket Food Stores. Now that I am aware of all of these options, I see them everywhere. And I do mean EVERYWHERE. They are based in Wilmington. I may have to see about going over to visit them. The reason you find two of their stores across the street from each other (and I have found this in 2 other places) is due to Worsley buying out the competition, but not closing down competing stores. At first I thought that creating competition with your own stores would be a bad business move. But then I realized that most people wouldn't take the time, nor pay attention to the fact that you essentially have the same store across the street from each other. Most folks just want their gas, their lottery tickets, and their cigarettes. I don't buy their gas. I don't smoke. I don't play the lottery. I have a different addiction, and it only costs 99¢ (for now) and it's usually on the far wall of the store. And if you'll excuse me, I need to go. I'm thirsty.  |
