Trader Joe's
One thing I "discovered" when I moved to Washington, DC is Trader Joe's. I am aware that these stores exist throughout the country - including near where I grew up. The thing is, I had never actually been in one until I moved to our nation's capital. I've been a few times now (although I really should go more), and I have to say, it is a pretty great store.
I'm really not the type of person who worries about all-natural foods, organics and what have you, but the one thing that gets me about Trader Joe's is how cheap everything is. When I go there, I usually pay about a dollar less on everything I normally buy at the grocery store. Milk, cereal, beef, mandarin orange chicken stir fry. I wonder why they are so much cheaper....
Martha and I made a trip to the Trader Joe's in Bailey's Crossroads yesterday because we were at the Bed, Bath and Beyond buying a table cloth (yawn). We went over to TJs, and the first thing I noticed was the horrible stench emanating from the store. Honestly, it smelled like a barn yard. Now at first I thought it was just me, but Martha confirmed the stench... At that point I was a little worried about purchasing anything from a store that smelled, quite honestly, like an elephant had just taken a nasty turd on aisle three. (Clean up in Aisle 3!)
I tolerated the smell so we could get some of the cereal I like (Triple Berry O's), and so Martha could get her mandarin orange chicken, and we also pruchased some wine. I should have been suspicious of this wine, as it was on sale for $3.99 a bottle, but we've always had good luck at TJs... That was not the case this time, however. We bought two bottles of "Charles Shaw" wine - a Chardonnay and a Shiraz. The first thing I noticed when we opened the Chardonnay is that it smelled like dirty feet. It didn't taste much better. (Or it could have, but I just couldn't get over the smell.) It was horrible. Martha and I couldn't even drink half a glass before we poured it out. We haven't tried the Shiraz yet, but if it is anything like the Chardonnay, it is going to be a waste of $8. I feel sorry for the guys I saw buying a box of the stuff...
So that's it. If you go to Trader Joe's, stay away from the Charles Shaw wine.