rolling “Trump is gonna win” containment thread

there is a growing list of items I get at TJ's because it's more affordable than the regular grocery

That’s crazy!

Yeah, Trader Joe's is waaayy cheaper for cheese, milk, frozen foods, decent wine, bread etc

But the meat & produce can be a little dodgy

Dan, they finally closed that weird dark Safeway like right next to the Bay St TJ's? I used to stop in either one on my way to or from work on Chestnut Street, very convenient for my commute.

Yes, that's the one. The whole block is now basically empty. I read that it's been bought but don't know any details

honestly felt like something out of the 90s tbh, i kinda loved it.

i have many strange memories of being in that Trader Joe’s rather early in the morning, more hungover than God, buying a salad and some
bubble water

When I was working in rural Texas every small town had a Dollar General and a Mr. Gatti’s pizza buffet. Not a goddamn thing otherwise but you could get terrible pizza and Dorito’s.

"i have many strange memories of being in that Trader Joe’s rather early in the morning, more hungover than God, buying a salad and some
bubble water"

that sounds very close to some experiences I had when I arrived in Sf in the early 80s

I recently learned that Trader Joe's is a regional spinoff of Aldi.

As I understand it, the Aldi business was inherited by two brothers and divided into two divisions: Aldi Nord and Aldi Sud. Aldi Nord operates in the US as Trader Joe's.

I was exited to visit an Aldi in Fresno, CA but it was pretty lackluster, didn't come close to Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's is not a publicly held company, so they're not obligated to say where they source products from (i.e. nation of origin).. sometimes they will say your pickles are from Bulgaria, but sometimes they say nothing at all

(the contain trump thread has become a grocery thread)

def don't want him anywhere near my groceries

TJ's started in 1967, I believe, and was bought by the German company in 1979. So not a spin off in the usual sense. When I first shopped there they had only 10-12 stores, all in SoCal.

Given how much so many commodities are subsidized in the US, there's really no excuse for prices of staple goods to go up. We literally have a strategic cheese reserve!

I'd give a pass for organic stuff, but TJ's seems to put pressure to keep those prices down, too -- not sure of the business reasoning behind that since that's exactly the stuff people are willing to pay more money for.

This is what we really need to see more of happening:

The economic headlines in Europe have been glowing recently: Inflation, according to official statistics, is finally coming down. But tell that to consumers still facing runaway prices when they head to the supermarket.

On Thursday, France’s biggest food retailer took a drastic step to confront the situation, announcing that it would no longer sell PepsiCo products because the prices were “unacceptably” high for consumers, escalating a showdown by French retailers to name and shame brands that aren’t lowering prices as inflation eases.

Carrefour, a global retail giant, put up posters Thursday throughout its 3,440 supermarkets in France where Lay’s potato chips, Pepsi and 7-Up soft drinks, as well as Doritos, Quaker cereals and other PepsiCo products, are typically displayed. “We are no longer selling this brand due to an unacceptable price increase,” the signs said.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/04/business/france-carrefour-pepsi-prices.html

This, on the other hand, is what we really need to less less of happening - lads, the oracle has spoken.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/jan/19/boris-johnson-says-trump-back-in-white-house-is-what-the-world-needs

Consolidation of the mainstream grocery store chains also certainly driving prices up too. Albertsons and Kroger seem to own every sub chain.

Wow while rambling about January 6th, a confused Trump blames Nikki Haley for January 6th and says she was in charge of security for the Capitol pic.twitter.com/uw6FzJsqD9

— Acyn (@Acyn) January 20, 2024

Consolidation of the mainstream grocery store chains also certainly driving prices up too. Albertsons and Kroger seem to own every sub chain.

Large chains can also operate at lower margins

yes that too

Safeway definitely owns Albertsons, but I'm wondering does Kroger now own them both?

O Hai

https://www.jamesgood.co.uk/sites/default/files/blog_images/illusion-of-choice-square.jpg

Tl, dr: there are maybe ten companies and they own all the things

Albertsons owns Safeway. Kroger has nothing to do with them.

Kroger and Safeway/Albertsons have already proposed a merger which is currently being reviewed by the FTC to see if it meets the standard of being better for customers than no merger. Hint: the FTC has a history of being a pushover for approving such mergers, based on being presented with specious arguments predicting wonderful benefits that will flow to customers, but after the merger happens flow to the executive officers, banks and shareholders instead.

You know the FTC has been a lot tougher under Biden, right?

Under President Joe Biden, the US has doubled down on efforts to block more mergers after decades of a light-touch approach by government. Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Jonathan Kanter and FTC Chair Lina Khan have argued previous administrations were too permissive, leading to a rise in corporate concentration that has limited choices for consumers and contributed to higher prices.

“For too long, unchecked consolidation has meant big corporations getting bigger, giving them the power to raise prices for Americans and provide consumers with fewer options,” Biden’s National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard said in a statement. The new merger guidelines are “an important step to lower costs for consumers, ensure a level playing field for small businesses, and ensure antitrust enforcement is fit for purpose in today’s economy.”

No, I didn't know. That kind of news is too esoteric for widespread dissemination. Thanks for the link. Ofc it is to a business news outlet. Such business news outlets would also normally take an editorial stance that thinks anti-trust is only so much 'red tape' and government obstruction of the free market.

Don't want to wade through everything, but just want to point out that both Dollar General and Family Dollar are not actually $1/99¢ stores like Dollar Tree or 99¢ Only--they sell affordable stuff not too different from what you'd find at Walmart or CVS (from food to toys to lawn furniture) priced in flat dollar increments ($1/$3/$15 etc.).

they're also understaffed in a way that feels like it should be illegal. John Oliver has a good piece on it. we go sometimes for cheap party stuff and I'm often left wondering if there's only two people working there at any given time

like i almost wonder if putting multiple checkout lines there is a ploy to make people think they're not always understaffed

When I was working in rural Texas every small town had a Dollar General and a Mr. Gatti’s pizza buffet. Not a goddamn thing otherwise but you could get terrible pizza and Dorito’s.

...and Subway! I had a family reunion one year down in the Valley and every town on the way had one, even in the places that couldn't sustain a Dairy Queen.

I spent most of those two years in Llano in the Hill Country, which is sort of an outlier (~3000 people but a rural hub) so it had a real grocery store, DQ and a couple of good barbecue places (and a Dollar General and pizza buffet) but I still wound up driving an hour to the outskirts of Austin on a regular basis just to have some variety of shitty chain options.

I was living in a hotel so the grocery store was mostly useless aside from snacks but it beat the Dollar General where the AC was broken down for an entire summer.

My rural Montana town has a Subway and a Dairy Queen. I see people ordering at the DQ drive-thru window but have never been to either place myself.

i wonder if trump will win

...the scratchoff card he purchases from the machine at the front of the grocery store on his way out? that's a great question

Let's ask someone in a diner...or a Subway!

sloppy joe the plumber

DeSantis out - Trump is gonna win isn't he

If he is, it has nothing to do with DeSantis

The amount of money floating around just to get dumped into clearly doomed runs like Ron and JEB! is mind boggling.

When you understand the amount of money controlled by the US federal government (not to mention state and local governments) it becomes more understandable that the super rich feel the desire to control the outcome of elections. It's purely an investment strategy with added bonus powers.

also pretty sure any public person's image takes a hit donating to Trump in a way it probably wouldn't giving to someone like Jeb

I don't think the money is set on fire - I suspect some of it shlorps back into the same economy that it came from. Consultants, advertising, lawyers, lobbyists, etc. Who then spend a lot of it on consultants, advertising, lawyers, and lobbyists.

That said, howvere, they all live in nicer houses than mine.

ideal world is Mr. Choppy for all of them.

the fact that many dipshit fascist political consultants make more than teachers is appalling. talk about a dystopia.

I don't think the money is set on fire - I suspect some of it shlorps back into the same economy that it came from. Consultants, advertising, lawyers, lobbyists, etc. Who then spend a lot of it on consultants, advertising, lawyers, and lobbyists.

That said, howvere, they all live in nicer houses than mine.

"If there's a steady paycheck in it, I'll do anything you say."

I wonder if Haley will be able to buffalo Trump into debating her, now that its down to the two of them.

I've never heard "buffalo" as a verb, but I like it.