Around the virtual water cooler: Price Chopper name change
A rendering shared by Price Chopper on Facebook of the new Market 32 exterior design. (larger)
Everybody eats. And (pretty much) everyone shops for food.
So the news that Price Chopper is changing its name to Market 32 prompted a lot of reactions, even more so because the company is a local institution.
For a while on Tuesday our Twitter feed was jammed with people commenting, criticizing, cracking jokes about the change. It was the topic of the day at the virtual water cooler.
Here's a quick collection of a bunch of those tweets.
Say Something!
We'd really like you to take part in the conversation here at All Over Albany. But we do have a few rules here. Don't worry, they're easy. The first: be kind. The second: treat everyone else with the same respect you'd like to see in return. Cool? Great, post away. Comments are moderated so it might take a little while for your comment to show up. Thanks for being patient.
Comments
Unless you change your name to Wegmans, it won't matter.
Danny W
... said Danny W on Nov 12, 2014 at 10:41 AM | link
Ohmygod, Gary Dake's is the best one!
Literally LOLed!
... said Susan on Nov 12, 2014 at 10:47 AM | link
Bad name. Bad bad name. But what is the big deal? You can call it the Garbage Pit for all I care as long as you renovate the drab interiors, ensure high quality meat and produce, and offer sensible foodstuff at good prices.
... said ace on Nov 12, 2014 at 10:48 AM | link
It looks like Price Chopper has come down with a case of the "We don't know what the heck we are doing" syndrome.
"Hello right hand, may I introduce left hand?" "Good, now start slapping some sense into yourself!"
... said Cyril on Nov 12, 2014 at 11:01 AM | link
It probably would be so much better if PC saved their money and put themselves up for sale to Wegman's. The Golub family would probably make a fortune and would likely see a huge boost in revenue if they maintained some stake in the newly converted stores. It kind of gets annoying after a while to see PC try and fail over and over again to try to mimic Wegman's, especially when the stores are likely to lose market share now that so many competitors have put up stores right in their backyard.
... said abc on Nov 12, 2014 at 1:15 PM | link
Unless changing the name lowers prices, I am uncertain what this will accomplish. If I heard correctly, this is a $300 million endeavor (I may have heard that wrong). Who will ultimately pay for this?
... said Biffy on Nov 12, 2014 at 1:47 PM | link
I think many people are upset because there was no public or (from what I hear) employee consent building for this decision. Price Chopper is a local institution, and employs many people in the region. Those employees care about their health insurance, hours, and the fact there have been thousands laid off semi-recently. I can only imagine the feeling of them now seeing this $300 million transformation. From a customer standpoint, seeing Price Chopper devote this much money to not wanting to look like a discount grocery chain is confusing because the only thing about their current product that isn't "discount chain" is their prices. Expired products, wilted produce, rude employees (probably thanks to mistreatment) have made Price Chopper an unpleasant place to shop. But, I still know many who go there because it is where they have always gone; where they see their neighbors. Those are the people I'm curious to hear from, because many of the critics aren't Price Chopper shoppers anyway, and I am included in that category.
... said Sabre on Nov 12, 2014 at 2:03 PM | link
Last year, Price Chopper tore down a church. In June, they announced 80 layoffs and now they're spending $300 million to rebrand.
But, you could argue, the city of Watervliet and that area desperately needed a state of the art food market. And, I was happy to hear that many of those laid off received generous packages.
They're a successful local business which continually gives back to their communities. And this isn't the first time they've changed their name. It's understandable that they want to set their brand apart from discount markets.
We're lucky enough in this area to have many options for grocery stores - if you really don't agree with the business, you have the option to put your money where your mouth is at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, The Fresh Market, Shop Rite, Hannaford, Aldi's, Walmart, Save A Lot, Ideal Food Basket, any of the area farmers markets, or Wegman's, from all the hype, might even be worth the drive.
... said Danielle Sanzone on Nov 12, 2014 at 3:12 PM | link
The good? PC is investing in its stores to give customers a more quality experience.
The bad? The name, the logo, the reveal...
I look forward to shopping at the first Mar 32 Ket when it opens!
... said KGB on Nov 12, 2014 at 3:23 PM | link
If Albany did get a Wegman's what is the next grocery store people will want? Fairway? Or will we finally have them all?
... said Thereda on Nov 12, 2014 at 6:17 PM | link
The make over is necessary since the current path was Walmart . The personnel need to be better trained, more focused on the customer. A cleaner more modern feel would be nice. Price Chopper should be retained for those who only care about the lowest price. Clearly Wegmans is the gold standard and model.
... said Geek on Nov 12, 2014 at 6:22 PM | link
People do realize that because the Golub Corporation has something like 125 stores in 4 states that it doesn't make company-wide decisions based on what people in 4 upstate cities think?
... said Big Picture on Nov 13, 2014 at 1:23 PM | link
If the end result of this is the lines get longer at my Hannaford, I'm going to be very disappointed.
If they don't, then I don't care what you call the grocery store I don't shop at.
... said Westfall on Nov 14, 2014 at 3:38 PM | link
@Thereda -- we want Piggly Wiggly!
... said Kestrel Hill on Nov 15, 2014 at 12:00 PM | link