There are people here who know the business end of supermarkets, so I wanted to see if a theory I have holds water.

Background for the theory: The maddening way Jewel arbitrarily puts some foods in its "Whole Foodsy" Wild Harvest aisle and some foods (that are indistinguishable from these foods) in the regular aisles. Case in point (among many): Healthy Choice soup is in the regular soup aisle, but Health Valley soup is in Wild Harvest. Another case in point: Some Greek yogurts are in the regular dairy case, while other Greek yogurts (even of the same brand, but different flavor, fat levels, size configurations) are in the dairy case at the end of the Wild Harvest aisle.

This no-rhyme-or-reason arbitrariness causes customers to waste time and shoe leather going back and forth, wondering where the item they seek may be lurking.

So here's my theory: Jewel makes it confusing on purpose, because they've found that the more confused their customers are, the more shoe leather they wear down, the more they walk back and forth between aisles aimlessly and helplessly, the longer, inevitably as a consequence, those customers spend in the store. And they've found that the more time a customer spends in the store, the more items (on average) end up in the customer's cart at check out.

And Jewel has calculated that the downside of pissing customers off is outweighed by the upside of check-out totals that are (say) 15% higher than they would be if Jewel didn't throw up roadblocks to efficient shopping as they do.

Am I on the right track?

Hi- Healthy choice soup is healthy, but it is not natural, and that is why it is not in the wild harvest section. It is confusing though. Some of the natural yogurts are mixed in with the regular yogurts. I don't buy a whole lot in the wild harvest section, because I usually find that I can find the stuff cheaper at Whole Foods, when it is on sale. A lot of that stuff in the wild harvest section doesn't go on sale much.

You are right though that supermarkets place items such as milk, which many people buy in the last isle, so you have to walk through the entire perimeter of the store to get to it. Hope this helps, Nancy

dees_1 wrote:We drive to Nashville to go to TJs, Harris Teeter, Publix and Costco, along with an international market that may have fish that's not catfish. That's a two hour drive....we do it once every couple of months. We do have a famers market where we can get locally grown produce but you have to get there early (farmer early) or they run out.

Curious as to which international market you are referring.

Saw this in the Trib today and thought some of you might be interested:

Looks like the Jewels are due for an overhaul...

NFriday wrote:Hi- Healthy choice soup is healthy, but it is not natural, and that is why it is not in the wild harvest section. It is confusing though. Some of the natural yogurts are mixed in with the regular yogurts...

Hi Nancy. I must have a lot to learn about what makes something "natural." If there is a difference in "naturalness" between Healthy Choice soup and Health Valley soup, I don't know what it is. (I say this unrhetorically and in genuine search of information, but admittedly with some skepticism.)

I was disappointed that the Tribune article linked to by mamagotcha made no mention of obliterating the ridiculous (and customer-unfriendly) Wild Harvest aisle.

Related to this, I was in the Roscoe Village Mariano's last week to pick up some items, and was delighted to find--get this--that the soups were with the soups! And the yogurts were with the yogurts! Go figure! Mariano's has figured out that customers want an intuitive shopping experience. Whatever gain in business Jewel thinks its experiencing by having an arbitrary Wild Harvest aisle, it ought also to be calculating the loss in business it experiences when customers choose a store that's shopper-friendly instead of going to the Jewel at all.

riddlemay wrote:Hi Nancy. I must have a lot to learn about what makes something "natural."

The marketing department makes something "natural". It's a term that is not regulated in any way by the USDA except for the use with fresh meat and has virtually no real world meaning.

Cooks Illustrated wrote:Natural and All Natural are ubiquitous on food labels. In all actuality, the USDA has defined the term just for fresh meat, stipulating only that no synthetic substances have been added to the cut.

It depends on your perspective--if I'm only interested in purchasing organic foods, and I'm giving Jewel a shot to see if they can accommodate that desire, I do NOT want to hunt all over the store to determine which items are organic and which are not, especially given the penchant of many consumer product companies to make you want to think their stuff is organic when it isn't. So having a dedicated aisle is a major convenience for that shopper and, evidently, Jewel thinks that their is a market for such a consumer. Whole Foods' popularity would make me think that that is a good bet.

boudreaulicious wrote:It depends on your perspective--if I'm only interested in purchasing organic foods, and I'm giving Jewel a shot to see if they can accommodate that desire, I do NOT want to hunt all over the store to determine which items are organic and which are not, especially given the penchant of many consumer product companies to make you want to think their stuff is organic when it isn't. So having a dedicated aisle is a major convenience for that shopper and, evidently, Jewel thinks that their is a market for such a consumer. Whole Foods' popularity would make me think that that is a good bet.

I think I could be readily swayed by that argument if everything in Wild Harvest were organic, and everything organic were in Wild Harvest. But Jewel's decision-making process about what goes where has seemed to me somewhat desultory.

Rick T. wrote:

dees_1 wrote:We drive to Nashville to go to TJs, Harris Teeter, Publix and Costco, along with an international market that may have fish that's not catfish. That's a two hour drive....we do it once every couple of months. We do have a famers market where we can get locally grown produce but you have to get there early (farmer early) or they run out.

Curious as to which international market you are referring.

Rick, K&S World market. They carry live crawfish and certain types of crab. Lots of ethnic choices within the store. The produce is pretty widespread. This is the one I've been to the most

5861 Charlotte Pike
Nashville, TN 37209

There's another one on Nolensville Rd just South of Harding but I've not shopped there. There is a decent Korean restaurant in the shopping center next door though!

For Riddlemay:

Found this at an estate sale and thought you'd get a kick out of it because the back reads:



Also, I will say the Essential Everyday brand of peppermint sandwich cookies were quite tasty and crack addicting.

Hi, Kajmac. Arrgh, not coming through! I am preparing to be amused, though.

riddlemay wrote:Hi, Kajmac. Arrgh, not coming through! I am preparing to be amused, though.

Oh that's so odd. I can see it on my end. Let me try something slightly different.

Kajmac, thanks for reposting the pix. Love 'em.

It turns out the reason I couldn't see them is because my Chrome browser wasn't letting them through. (Don't know why. I don't think I've selected any "preference" that would block them. I get all images on all other websites.) This morning it dawned on me to try looking at the thread on Safari instead, and there your pictures were. (Both in the original post and the repost.)

Updating just to mention that yesterday I had occasion to pick up the complete list of items from mrs. riddlemay's shopping list at the Dominick's on Clybourn and Wrightwood. (She likes the Safeway brand of frozen cherries.) Despite that I am in the Jewel on Ashland and Wellington on more than a weekly basis, and that I'm in this Dominick's hardly ever, I had a much easier time finding everything on the list at this Dominick's than I ever do at this Jewel. I really don't know what the Jewel is doing wrong that accounts for this. (It's not just the Wild Harvest thing.) There is something counterintuitive running through the veins of this entire Jewel that throws me off consistently. Maybe it's illogical groupings; maybe it's that the contents of the aisles aren't clearly/rationally marked by the signage; I don't know. I only know that at the very least I should have learned the ins and outs of this Jewel by now, no matter how badly its organized, yet something about what they're doing thwarts the learning process. Whereas with the Dominick's, no learning process was necessary. This isn't so much a "loathing" issue as a deeply puzzling one.

I just realized in the second set I re-posted I linked a pic to the wrong mug. but I am glad you can see it, Riddlemay. I liked the "I Had A Bad Idea" slogan. Every time Jewel has a bad idea they should use that as their motto specifically with their aisle set up.

This isn't something to loathe about Jewel, but it is a word to the wise to stay away from the Jewel at Wellington and Ashland until their revamp of the store is finished. The elimination of self-checkout lanes was just the tip of the iceberg; a shopping trip yesterday afternoon found the entire store in disarray, with categories moved in seemingly random fashion, dozens and dozens of yards of empty shelves, product selection in certain categories at near-Soviet levels, etc. I have reasonable confidence that they have a plan in mind, and once the redesign is completed, all will be well, but in the meantime, shopping is a disorienting and frustrating experience.

I tried to get some info about when the work is expected to be completed, but no one I asked knew the answer, and anyone who might have known the answer was nowhere to be found. Maybe it's just over the weekend! Maybe it's not. One reason I wanted to know is that I have no intention of returning to the store until the reorganization is completed. If anyone observes that order has been restored, I'll appreciate hearing about it.

Hi- I was at the Wilmette Jewel on Green Bay tonight, and they have gotten rid of the self checkouts too, and they have reorganized the whole store. Instead of the self checkouts, they have four express lanes. I did not notice it, but somebody told me that they put in a new salad bar in the store too, and they have started carrying some upscale wines.

NFriday wrote:Hi- I was at the Wilmette Jewel on Green Bay tonight, and they have gotten rid of the self checkouts too, and they have reorganized the whole store. Instead of the self checkouts, they have four express lanes.

It looked like they had something like express lanes at the Ashland-Wellington Jewel, but they confused me and I couldn't tell for sure that this is what they were. They're boxed in to their own section, in effect, by some sort of horizontally-laid-out wooden rectangle, and there was no signage identifying them. (Perhaps signage is to come.) The thing I couldn't figure was, if these are express lanes, are they performing exactly the same function as the "10 items or less" regularly-configured checkout lanes with which we've all been familiar for decades? And if they are performing exactly that function, why not simply continue to have regularly-configured "10 items or less" lanes that the consumer understands? How is this new boxed-in section an improvement for the consumer? Perhaps all will become clear when they've finished tearing the store apart but I thought I'd ask in case anyone who has been to this or another remodeled Jewel knows the answer.

Hi- At the Wilmette store they were all identified as express lanes, and I believe 10 items or less. I guess they did it this way so they would still have four lanes, as opposed to having two regular express lanes instead. BTW- I believe that only one of the express lanes was open.

One of my sisters lives in New Orleans, and she frequently shops at Whole Foods along with a few other stores. They opened up a third WF store in the New Orleans area last Spring , and it is in a food desert lower income area. When I was down there in May, she took me in that store so we could hit the hot bar, and the store was definitely different than the two other stores there. The first thing I noticed was that the store was smaller, and did not have nearly as much high end stuff. Their hot bar was still good, but it did not offer as many choices as the other two stores did. I noticed also that at least half of their checkout lanes were express lanes, meaning that they know that the majority of the customers in that store are only going to buy a handful of items there. The other two stores are busy all the time and I often see people with lots of groceries in their carts. Thanks, Nancy

I was in the Ashland-Wellington store today. (I had to be.) The renovation/reorganization is coming along.

I think I can see the strategy. For all these years, the Osco 20% of the store (the northern, or "right" fifth) was a place you wouldn't necessarily go if you were grocery shopping in the 80% of the store that was Jewel (the southern, or "left" four-fifths). But now, if you want detergent type stuff, which always used to be considered the purview of "grocery" or "supermarket," you need to venture deep into what used to be exclusively Osco-land. I think they are trying to drive supermarket shoppers to that end of the store--where they'll be amidst the toothpastes, aspirins and antacids that they used to buy at Walgreen's, and will end up buying those items at Jewel. Makes a lot of sense for Jewel, this erasure of the de facto border between supermarket and drug store. It does mean that those who go to Jewel for supermarket-type stuff (which includes detergent and such) will be wearing out more shoe leather.

When the work is done we shall see if that was the grand design. But I'm thinking it is.

It seems to me typical of the layout of the Jewels near me that the liquor section is on the far side away from the groceries so that you have to walk through Oscoland to get to it.

riddlemay, your description of the layout made me laugh and remember my father --- specifically a trip I made with him to Jewel-Osco in which we got separated for a while and I found him over in the Osco area, which was not where he intended to go. I remember him asking me, "how did I wind up over here in the sundries?" That was a word I hadn't heard in years. I thought, when I write my great American novel, I am going to call it "The Various and the Sundry."

Katie wrote:It seems to me typical of the layout of the Jewels near me that the liquor section is on the far side away from the groceries so that you have to walk through Oscoland to get to it.

riddlemay, your description of the layout made me laugh and remember my father --- specifically a trip I made with him to Jewel-Osco in which we got separated for a while and I found him over in the Osco area, which was not where he intended to go. I remember him asking me, "how did I wind up over here in the sundries?" That was a word I hadn't heard in years. I thought, when I write my great American novel, I am going to call it "The Various and the Sundry."

Come to think of it, I wasn't looking for liquor on this trip, but I think I saw some out of the corner of my eye in Oscoland.

While I totally see the rationale behind making it "one big store for all your grocery, over-the-counter medicine, and sundry needs" (instead of a Jewel with an Osco ghetto off to the side), it creates one enormous piece of real estate for shoppers to negotiate. I always considered the Ashland Wellington Jewel "huge but manageable," because I never counted Osco as part of it. (99.95% of my trips are for Jewel-items only.) If I'll have to traverse the entire breadth of the building now in order to get my supermarket shopping done, that may be a Marketing MBA's dream, but it's not necessarily customer-friendly. Which means the Marketing Geniuses might discover it wasn't such a stroke of marketing genius at all.

Highland Park Jewel is in the middle of their remodel. Grand re-opening is next week. Fluorescent bulb city - really bright in there. They are going to have new bakery, new hot bar, updated deli items, new eating area with satellite TV among other things. Parking lot was repaved this week along with new trees. I look at this as an improvement, certainly they want to keep up with Mariano's and Heinen's coming in.

Ram4 wrote:Highland Park Jewel is in the middle of their remodel. Grand re-opening is next week. Fluorescent bulb city - really bright in there. They are going to have new bakery, new hot bar, updated deli items, new eating area with satellite TV among other things. Parking lot was repaved this week along with new trees. I look at this as an improvement, certainly they want to keep up with Mariano's and Heinen's coming in.

Sounds nice! I have my doubts whether we humbler Lakeview folk will be seen by Jewel to merit those kinds of upgrades, but we live in hope.

(It kind of makes sense that Jewel might be thinking this, though, since Mariano's is closing in around them in this neck of the woods from the north, east and south.)

I did see one other new thing in the Ashland-Wellington Jewel still under renovation. An aisle of bulk grain and nut dispensers, such as can be found at Whole Foods a quarter mile to the north.

Heard some of the same stuff. We shop for some things at the Skokie Jewel (between Skokie Blvd and Gross Pointe) and the store is a disaster right now. They're in the middle of rearranging it and I was told the target date is November 11--a full month to re-order the shelves! When I asked what was wrong with them and why they needed rearranging, I was given a short answer, the subject of which was simple: "Mariano's." You know what? Since you're never gonna look like or be Mariano's or have their selection, etc., etc., etc., why not just focus on two things? Quality and price? But I guess that kind of strategy doesn't make sense.

The Randhurst Jewel (Mount Prospect, Euclid near Rand and Elmhurst) has definitely improved in selection, and in some cases price (milk now often is cheaper than at the nearby Costco, although milk prices are generally up the last couple months). Items which I'd previously only seen at Mariano's are definitely showing up on Jewel shelves, including Newlyweds brand English muffins... to the possible detriment of supplies elsewhere: Mariano's in Arlington Heights was out of them last time I was in there.

JoelF wrote:The Randhurst Jewel (Mount Prospect, Euclid near Rand and Elmhurst) has definitely improved in selection, and in some cases price (milk now often is cheaper than at the nearby Costco, although milk prices are generally up the last couple months). Items which I'd previously only seen at Mariano's are definitely showing up on Jewel shelves, including Newlyweds brand English muffins... to the possible detriment of supplies elsewhere: Mariano's in Arlington Heights was out of them last time I was in there.

Thanks. I will take that information as cause (even if slight) for hope.

The Jewel on Broadway at Berwyn did the reshuffling/remodeling a few months ago. It was a pain when they were doing it. I haven't really been back much since they finished. Mr. X is the Jewel shopper in the house; I go to Mariano's.

It's going to take a little time to get used to where everything is in (the Highland Park) Jewel again. I got a few things off their new hot bar, and it was just typical Jewel quality stuff - not bad, not great. The eating area is kind of a joke too, with a few small 2 seat hi-tops and some leather chairs where you can't really eat properly. I would still say it's a slight improvement as they are rotating items on the hot bar that they normally wouldn't have and the mashed potatoes and gravy are a guilty pleasure comfort food item that I know I'll go back to. The salad bar is much bigger as well with a few more soup options (none of which I feel are even close to Mariano's soups which I am a big fan of). I see myself going to the Northbrook Mariano's quite a bit on the way home after work instead of Jewel once it opens next year.

The rearranging of shelves is often deliberate. When you're a frequent shopper somewhere you usually know exactly where the products you purchase are located. Thus you probably miss a whole lot of other items simply because you follow a familiar shopping route. Rearranging the shelves helps to solve that by making you search for things. It is a PITA if you ask me.