MonkeyPants

The Basement is a Foreign Country

The place I work has a half-subterranean level, housing a liquor store and a grocery store. But early in the summer, the grocery store left.  A Buy-Low, they wouldn’t compete with the new chichi  IGA (both stores are owned by the same company) that opened up two blocks away.

The IGA is Yuppie Central.  Staples like milk are 20% more expensive than at Buy-Low.  They have little guides in the cheese section to tell you about the cheeses. And everything is so crowded! Wheelchair users, who shopped at Buy-Low easily in the wide aisles, can’t fit their chairs into IGA.

So I was excited that a No Frills (Loblaws’ bargain chain) moved in downstairs.

It’s cheap! The aisles are wide. There aren’t many specialty foods, but it’s a No Frills. That means no guide to flower-scented chevre, and I am okay with that.

The best part: I have never shopped in a No Frills store. It’s like I am visiting a foreign country and learning about foods I have never seen before. I love it!