We asked: What are your biggest grocery store pet peeves?
You answered by email and on our Facebook page.
Naturally, many of your responses had to do with stores and how they operate. But based on the feedback we got, other shoppers at the grocery store are the source of a lot of irritation. A lot.
Annoying things other shoppers do
“The worst are the people doing the ‘catch up’ in the aisle,” wrote Facebook commenter Wanda Torres DeVisser of Irondequoit. “Please go grab a coffee. Don’t block the aisle. Yes, the rest of us are giving side eye in full judgment.”
People talking on their phones in the middle of aisles and losing touch with what’s going on around them (like other people trying to shop) are aggravating, too, others said.
So are people “who bring their obviously not a service
dog into the store,” Antoinette Spina of Greece wrote in an email.
That sentiment was echoed by Canandaigua shopper Alan Shepardson: “I am disturbed to see all of the pet dogs in our local grocery stores. ... Oops, watch out for the dog poop on the floor in the dairy section. Yes, true story, and dog and owner were nowhere to be found.”
Facebook commenter Lisa Fioco-Conger’s experience is that people tend to forget their manners or say “excuse me” when grocery shopping.
“Or they think they can just move your cart. Don’t touch my cart! Say excuse (me, and) I will gladly move.”
Shopping cart gripes
On the topic of carts, Tom Ross of Chili singled out people who leave them in the middle of parking lots.
A close second on his list of pet peeves: people parking in spots reserved for pickup orders.
Theresa Livadas of Webster wrote that her No. 1 pet peeve is metal carts rumbling over brick entryways at Wegmans stores, causing “bone-rattling” noise. “And No. 2, for some reason their small carts cause static shocks to my hands as I shop.”
Wegmans just started testing redesigned carts at select locations, including its flagship store in Pittsford.
Michael Brandt of Brighton wrote in an email that he prefers the small-cart iteration still available at most stores, because they have enough room for larger items and are easy to maneuver.
They can squeeze through tight spaces caused by — you guessed it — inconsiderate shoppers blocking aisles, he wrote.
Brandt is not a fan of the redesigned small carts Wegmans is piloting because they’re awkward to navigate, he said. “Worst of all, they have a fixed basket at the handle that does not collapse and thus makes it nearly impossible to reach over and place grocery items in your cart from the handle side of the cart. You have to walk around to the side of your cart to place your groceries in the cart.”
The disappearance of national brands
Joe Dougherty of Webster was one of several shoppers who expressed frustration with supermarkets replacing national brands with their own brands.
Wrote Bob Soper on Facebook, “In many cases, they are the only choice.”
Awkward displays and hard-to-reach items
Mike Brown’s biggest complaint is stores putting displays in the middle of the aisles and heavy items on top shelves. After someone takes the first of those hard-to-reach items, you’ve got to “climb up there to get (to) the second row of it,” the Wyoming County resident wrote.
Too few manned checkouts
Brown and others said they’re not fans of self-checkouts.
“The stores are built with 14 checkout lanes and there’s only three cashiers,” Brown wrote.
And having to bag your own groceries and then pay for the bag is kind of a double-whammy, according to Marisa Gibbardo-Dana on Facebook.
Stores charging for bags also is one of the pet peeves Webster resident Doughtery included in his email.
Stores being reconfigured
Finally, from time to time, grocery store layouts are changed or “reset.” Store owners say the goal is to increase space for new products and improve organization. Industry experts say it’s a way to force shoppers down aisles they normally wouldn’t travel, fueling impulse purchases and bigger sales.
Regardless, Irondequoit’s DeVisser has had enough. “STOP rearranging the store!!! It's like management realizes that we've finally nailed the layout,” she wrote on Facebook. “Well, we can't have that. Time to rearrange again.”
Reporter Marcia Greenwood covers the grocery business and consumer-focused grocery news, as well as retail development, openings and closings. Send story tips to mgreenwo@rocheste.gannett.com. Follow her on X @MarciaGreenwood.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Grocery store pet peeves: Rochester shoppers share what annoys them most | Exclusive
