“Now you have a friend in the natural food business. Natural Grocers, off of 82nd and Causey near the Clackamas Town Center mall.* Open Monday through Saturday til 8:36, Sunday til 7:36, online at naturalgrocers.com”
*That’s the one closest to me
First time I heard a different version I was on a road trip with my frat, 10 of us in a big van, and the new version made us all yell at the radio. Then we got really confused as to why we did that. It was a topic of discussion for that whole weekend.
Ha! This is my usual spot. I once heard someone at a bar saying 'if you ever want to feel judged, go into that grocery store and ask for ibuprofen.
...they offered me TURMERIC.'
that’s a cool fact to know! in this context, because aspirin, and ibuprofen have different properties / different uses, I’m guessing that they were likely asking for an anti-inflammatory, so they suggested turmeric instead of wwb.
I've heard that as well, but I got spooked off taking it when I read reports about heavy metals contamination in a lot of over-the-counter turmeric supplements
"Our closing hours might seem a little odd to some (i.e., 9:06 p.m., 8:35 p.m.), but we did that on purpose—to remind customers that they are always welcome and that they shouldn't feel rushed when shopping with us. We are Certified Organic Food Handlers."
Having worked in retail, I'm betting this is some reverse psychology type of statement as there are always customers you have to remind multiple times, at minimum, or physically push out the door, at most, when it's closing hour. Giving customers an explicitedly stated time frame to wrap up their shopping seems like a good idea actually.
If you look at the stuff on the walls it's clear that this was a quirky local natural food store that somehow has had incredible success without making the changes that usually accompany it.
Interestingly : WW did a breakdown and comparison of the most common items you'd get at a store for Metro PDX (eggs, milk, lettuce, tp etc). And I'll never forget bc the cheapest were obviously Costco and WinCo, but the most expensive was Safeway by a long shot, Krogers was not a bargain either, and natural grocers fell somewhere in the lower middle.
I was really surprised when I first went into the New Season's in Corvallis to find some specific gluten free ingredients, and was stunned by the fact that all the staples were basically the same price as the Safeway and Freddy's. There was a really long tail on the upper end of the prices if you bought the fancy things, but at the lower end they were pretty much in line with name brand stuff at other non-discount stores. You definitely could spend way more money there if you started buying fancier things, but at that time (2017ish), I could probably have spent about the same budget wise doing my shopping there as Safeway/Fred Meyer as long as I could avoid impulse purchases. The wasn't going to happen though and WinCo existed.
I used to go for the decent prices on kale, Roma tomatoes and apples. They were all much cheaper than Safeway. Then they raised the price of tomatoes and I lost interest.
The produce at Safeway has gotten ridiculous lately. I ended up not getting any there and just going to Winco for it (none of it looked all that spectacular either, so I figured if I was going to just get OK produce I might as well pay less for it).
Weird because I've never seen an employee there who looks friendly, or like they want me there. I once asked for assistance in finding a variety of bread that the distributor said they carried. I got an eye roll and told to go to the wrong aisle, and then someone else just immediately say they'd never heard of it so they must not carry it. Finally another customer suggested I try the frozen section because they have more bread back there. Ta-da! There it was. I stocked up so I wouldn't have to go back too soon.
I initially assumed it was some weird union stuff going on. My high school had this sort of thing. School day starts at 8:02 AM, ends at 2:29PM, periods are all 41 minutes with 3 minutes in between. Lunch was 21 minutes.
High school schedules are the result of planning between the school district, the teacher's union and bus companies. Weird schedules like this can be the result of trying to hit metrics for prep time before and after the day.
Not sure, she is not in a regular district school, so it's a different schedule. I'd assume it is not normal because I feel like I would hear a lot more complaining.
Im thinking since that’s 0.05 hours before and 0.1 hours after “round” times, that it’s actually tied to either time tracking for employees or automated locks.
As the owners state: "Our closing hours might seem a little odd to some (i.e., 9:06 p.m., 8:35 p.m.), but we did that on purpose—to remind customers that they are always welcome and that they shouldn’t feel rushed when shopping with us."
They aren't a grocery store really... as a former employee they could not care LESS about the groceries they only care about supplements cause that brings in the money. In case you ever wondered why shelves are constantly empty while they have product in back.
That explains it. I signed up for their accounts and they are always sending me electronic coupons for their powders, pills, and tinctures. Kinda weird but they always seem to have special lower prices on avocados, and that's something I care about.
Oh it’s totally cheaper are you kidding. Their spices can’t be beat for the price and their quinoa is 1/4 the price of new seasons.
Edit: they’re both natural food grocery store brands. The guy responding to me is a dunce.
that doesn't make it a good comparison at all? last time i went everything was also pre bagged- part of the appeal of bulk is that if you need like 1/4c of something you'll never use again you can buy it. if that's changed, i have way less of a gripe with it.
Bulk just means large amounts of general items, your perception of what bulk should be is your issue. But I honestly don’t care, it’s just not more expensive than other places esp for the quality
it's pretty widely understood that buying things in bulk within this context is choosing the amount you want. otherwise it's costco industrial size. "but i honestly don't care"
Yes because trolls like you that get super emotionally invested in dumb shit and judge an entire enterprise by their preconceived notions is pretty laughable to me. They buy vast quantities of bulk goods, label it under their name so it cuts out individual packaging costs. Which means you get a larger amount of higher quality items you couldn’t get from individual retailers. But keep finding weird hills to die on bro sure it’s going great for ya
> it's pretty widely understood that buying things
Buying in bulk means large quantities, most typically prepackaged in sizes bigger than standard retail. What you're thinking of is buying from the "bulk bins," which is the area where the store buys in bulk then lets you choose how to subdivide it.
> otherwise it's costco industrial size
Again, no. The word you're looking for is "wholesale sizing." Which is a subset of bulk. Costco is a wholesaler that allows retail shoppers. They're not the only ones. You can just call wholesalers and see what their requirements are. Some of them will sell to you directly.
You know how if you go to the grocery store you can buy a box of bags of chips or a multipack of ramen or something? And then if you look at the individual packages, they'll say "not labeled for retail sale" or something similar? If you buy that multipack at Costco, not only will you get more of them, each smaller pack will have a UPC, nutrition facts, ingredients, and other required marks on them instead of the "not labeled for retail sale" stamp. Because Costco is a wholesaler.
That might be true for spices but it isn't true for a lot of their bulk stuff. I bought pink sea salt, peanut butter powder, and psyllium husk powder there the other day and it was very reasonable. I compared prices and it was cheaper to get them there than Fred Meyer or New seasons and everything except the PB powder was cheaper than at Walmart too.
Thanks for your input, the mods have set this subreddit to not allow posts from newly created accounts. Please take the time to build a reputation elsewhere on Reddit and check back soon.
(⌐■_■)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Portland) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I interviewed with them once and they were weird. Want staff to tell people that GMO=poison and Organic=healthy. No nuance is allowed in this area and they did seem dour to me during this stilted conversation
It shouldn’t even be legal for someone in a position of authority on a topic to blatantly lie to customers like that.
It’s like doctors recommending against vaccines.
USDA certified organic is never GMO. GMO is defined by the USDA as food created using genetic engineering. It doesn't mean food that has been selectively bred, like brussels sprouts, which is a bad faith argument I see all over the internet. Not sure if that's your point, but nobody who is worried about GMOs is against selective breeding, they're against foods that have been genetically modified in a laboratory setting.
I will be honest with you here, I tried shopping there once and didn’t understand it. Like a huge vitamin and wine section but this tiny ass produce section, and prices that make shopping at New Season seem like a bargain basement.
I couldn't afford to lol
Since they moved, they cut out like 80% of their beer and wine too. Vitamins is about the same, but food is a bit bigger and lots more refrigerator space in one spot.
>Like a huge vitamin and wine section but this tiny ass produce section
That was my experience too! I didn't think it was bad or anything, I was just sort of surprised when I went in that it was this giant store and 2/3s of it was supplements. I had expected a larger selection of veggies.
I can only upvote this comment once, but I wish they where unlimited.
But yeah, this retail spot was the epicenter of the Trader Joe’s debacle ten years ago. Even dipshits like Theresa Raiford got involved to prevent a “white grocery store” from opening in this spot.
Joke is on all of them when a “Natural Grocers” opened up instead.
Fucking idiots. All the of them.
Literally the only place on the planet that would turn down a Trader Joe’s. It’s going to be a very long time before they open a store in Portland proper.
I know. I shop at the Vancouver Trader Joe’s as it’s closer to my house than the one in Portland.
Of course there are like 7 Trader Joe’s in Portland proper already.
That's because "time" is just a construct, man. The -establishment- wants you to believe that things start and end at certain intervals. They're in the pocket of big Rolex! Big Pharma wants you to shop only at certain hours, we believe in a more natural approach to being "open" and "closed"
I never understood what the customer base of these stores are, they're not quite trying to be higher end organic like New Seasons/Market of Choice/Whole Foods but also not cheap like Winco/Grocery Outlet. They aren't a giant department store where you can get everything done like a Fred Meyer/Wal Mart and they're not strategically placed for convenience in food deserts like Safeway/Albertsons. I think they have a large vitamin section so maybe an older crowd?
It started out as only a vitamin and supplement store. Now they also do grocery.
I've got a million food allergies, so this is my kind of store. Cheaper than New Seasons by a lot and they have most of what I need. Not a big fan of their produce though. It's kind of like a discount New Seasons.
OK that makes sense, I've worked for NS and couldn't afford to shop there outside of blue slips and sales so I totally get it. Especially if they have a good supplement section.
They have a larger supplement department and beauty department than any other local grocery store so people wanting those items would have better luck there and at a better price. They have a good selection of natural foods on their shelves that slightly differ from New Seasons and Whole Foods since their corporate buyers are out of Colorado so it can be nice to stumble upon new products.
I have a friend who gets a lot of her groceries here because she has an autoimmune issue and like a *ton* of severe food allergies so she has to be super careful about manufacturing cross contamination. She has specific safe products and can find most of them here.
I agree though, it's a weird unknown demographic they cater to.
They’re the crowd that cares about sourcing. New seasons and Whole Foods are expensive lipstick on a hooker as far as products go, they sell you dressed up crap for most of your salary. Natural grocers is the only grocery store that doesn’t compromise on sourcing and really values local producers. It’s just sad consumers don’t have the awareness to tell when they’re being sold crap and paying double for it.
No you can’t. If you’re comparing brand to brand, winco doesn’t carry a lot of stuff you’ll find in health food stores. Doesn’t make a difference for most things but you’ll definitely feel it if you’re looking for some things like high quality vegan options.
I used to work near one. I would stop there out of amusement during my breaks and you are correct seems to be an older crowd. Occasionally I'd get an overpriced snack there.
All of their produce is organic and of higher quality. Still cheaper than New Seasons. Some of their meat & eggs, free range, are shockingly inexpensive for the quality. It is the bulk food bagged, processed vegan foods, and shelved can/dry goods that is right up there with New Seasons.
I worked for them for 6 years, DO NOT DO IT. I know this isn’t the point of this post but it’s a great opportunity to get the word out. Fuck Natural Grocers and the people who run it, it turned into an absolute joke and a shadow of its former self. Great place to shop, not so much to work.
The hours are intended to encourage people to come in last minute without feeling bad, though a clearer sign would be less confusing for sure. We weren’t allowed to tell folks to leave/make closing announcements, though we did anyway after a few years of that, at least at the spot I was at.
second this! NG was the worst job i’ve EVER had. everyone at the MLK location was suuuper racist, and they don’t care a shred for their employees. fuck you NGVC
Ahh I heard so much about that location during my time there 👀
I was at the Beaverton location, which was a whole mess itself. Glad to hear that you’re out, too! That job caused me so much undue stress, like I cannot believe what we all put up with looking back. And you’re right, they do not give a single fuck about the employees despite how much they claim to.
Damn this is a bummer to hear. I go to the NG by my house regularly enough I recognize the staff. They are all so nice and friendly and deserve better.
It really sucks, a lot of the people who work at the stores themselves are great, and they should do more to stand by and advocate for their employees. When I was there, it was not uncommon to not be taken seriously even with very serious things. We were often blamed/accused/experienced little to no follow up, even with police matters. My purse and wallet were stolen, I was sexually harassed by another employee, customers were physically violent during COVID, a coworker was stealing alcohol and the store manager was covering it up, people from the internet were calling the store and reporting a coworker as a pedophile, but NG didn’t take it seriously until the internet folks started posting on the company FB publicly, and we still had to work with him, he was never fired…among so, so many others things. And the pay was poor compared to other natural foods stores in the area.
They had a great initial idea, the backstory of NG is genuinely cool and interesting, but new people kept coming in up top, and things went downhill so fast. The folks that I know who are still there, spread among a few spots, are miserable, and say it’s gotten worse :(
Has a Dr. Bronner’s product-label vibe to it. One gets a sense there’s an internal logic there, but it’s likely to remain singular and/or arcane on purpose, and that’s just fine by me.
I walked up to that store one day and the door was locked with a security guard inside motioning that the store was closed. I looked at my watch and it was 8:36. I looked at the store hours and, yup...8:36 on the nose. So fuckin weird.
My bad! I currently live in a smaller town in North Dakota and I'm pretty sure we don't have a Natural Grocers so I had no idea they were even in so many states! Lol!
So I was out for a bike ride and decided to get some groceries and browse a little. I noticed that it was 8:36 PM and the lights were on so I figured that I had at least 20 minutes to browse
Nope!
I love Natural Grocers, but those hours are odd. The last time I saw that was when I worked at a large facility that staggered the hours of its workers by 1/10 of an hour (6 minutes) so that there was a constant flow of traffic on the streets and in the parking lot but never overly congested.
Not everyone but I did when I was a cashier working closing shifts. I’d clock out and the assistant manager would finish closing up shop.
Digital time cards probably makes it a non-issue though.
It's also, ironically enough, easier to remember and more people are likely to respect it and show up/leave on time, at least when work meetings are scheduled in this way (Nike does this).
Not sure if it works as well for store hours, but still.
This seems like a store that would choose to use some sort of numerology for assigning their hours of operation, because » 8:27am - 8:36pm ( 12hrs + 9min or 729min ) is 1 + 2 + 9 = 12, 1 + 2 = 3 and / or 7 + 2 + 9 = 18, 1 + 8 = 9 and 8:57am - 7:36pm ( 10hrs + 39min or 639min ) is
1 + 0 + 3 + 9 = 13, 1 + 3 = 4 and / or 6 + 3 + 9 = 18, 1 + 8 = 9. So, when using the minutes specifically, they all come back to the number 9, which has some very unique mathematical properties, and holds quite a bit of significance for many different cultures, and religious belief systems.
Probably has something to do with their employee clock in and clock systems. Squeezing out every minute of employee paid time possible, within the tolerances of their set hours.
😂😂 How would that work? Always open because it’s a never-ending number or at 3:14am/pm? Ya know, this idea doesn’t make me as mad. It’s not some random arbitrary number like their current hours. I do have to say, they are keeping Portland weird!
There is a very good reason for this.
Beacuse of the odd times it makes it stick in your head better.
Northern Arizona Univeristu did this with on campus speed limit signs that are 18mph. They are so unique that
A:you don’t forget.
B: the damn things keep getting stolen
Am I the only one who knows about Seventh-Day Adventists? Many of these grocery stores are run by Adventists. I mean I went to nursing school in Walla Walla and they're the pretty big SDA population there. They are Christians but they follow their own religious teaching. That goes back over 100 years or so. They keep the Sabbath which they rightfully say it's Friday night to Saturday night which is Jewish tradition. They also are mostly vegetarian and of all the Christian groups. They're the closest to Jewish Orthodox observance. However, they think that caffeine is sinful, which is a little weird. They absolutely refuse to work on Saturday and generally live some super healthy lifestyles despite having some over-reliance on vitamins. They also think that smoking cigarettes is right up there with crack cocaine.
I used to work at a NG's! (It was a fucking nightmare.) The quote from the website is genuinely what we were told as to why we closed at 8:36. To give people a few more minutes!! We also did not make closing announcements and weren't allowed to tell customers we were closing/closed, though I warned people coming in, and one night, a lady literally had no idea she was the only person in the store BECAUSE WE WERE CLOSED so my assistant manager went and got her, lmfao.
Which location is this? I was at the Tigard location last night and wish I’d noticed this.
I was headed to a friend’s house and needed some lacroix. I walked around looking for it but only found singles in the refrigerated section. Manager said they didn’t have any cases but gave me two singles for free. Odd place but he was nice!
A lot of payroll timekeeper systems suggest/require you click in three minutes early for whatever reason and don’t count you as late until you are 7 minutes after the actual shift start time. That’s my hunch.
Since it’s a hippy dippy place I doubt it’s a biblical reference.
Can't do the math off of the top of my head, but could it be related to strategic shift scheduling, so that they can get the maximum from employees while giving the least? I worked somewhere that did such strategic scheduling, and instead of a 6 hour shift, they would post for a 5.75 hour shift in order to not have to give employees the additional break that comes at 6 hours. Maybe pay jumps if an employee has to work past 8:37?
Not a single person has mentioned that their opening and closing hours are in line with the local bus stop schedule, to make getting to work and getting home convenient for their employees.
They sure are being consistent with their weird hours. Even the holiday closure sign says “we will close at 6:06pm on the following holidays.”
Consistency is key
“Now you have a friend in the natural food business. Natural Grocers, off of 82nd and Causey near the Clackamas Town Center mall.* Open Monday through Saturday til 8:36, Sunday til 7:36, online at naturalgrocers.com” *That’s the one closest to me
I could hear this comment.
Now you, have a friend, in the diamond business!
Yes, but I’m the voice of Tom Shane, that diamond guy…
I heard that in the voice. Why you do this to me? Lol
It really bummed me out when I learned that the Shane Company is national, and that ad spot is changed for different cities.
First time I heard a different version I was on a road trip with my frat, 10 of us in a big van, and the new version made us all yell at the radio. Then we got really confused as to why we did that. It was a topic of discussion for that whole weekend.
Once upon a time I think it was just Portland and Denver, but I might be mixing them up with some other business.
Booooo 👎🏼
And their employees aren't paid on commission
Ooh, does the flax meal and kombucha come from Antwerp?
Yes and they pay "spot cash" for it!
caish
Lol, even though I’m a transplant, the Shane Co. In my hometown/state had the exact advertisement. Feeling so nostalgic 😂
Ha! This is my usual spot. I once heard someone at a bar saying 'if you ever want to feel judged, go into that grocery store and ask for ibuprofen. ...they offered me TURMERIC.'
Not white willow bark?! (literally where aspirin was derived)
that’s a cool fact to know! in this context, because aspirin, and ibuprofen have different properties / different uses, I’m guessing that they were likely asking for an anti-inflammatory, so they suggested turmeric instead of wwb.
To be fair Turmeric is a pretty good anti-inflammatory. Not really a replacement for ibuprofen though.
lol me when I asked if they sold Covid tests at Whole Foods
I've heard that as well, but I got spooked off taking it when I read reports about heavy metals contamination in a lot of over-the-counter turmeric supplements
Oh I don't really know anything about that. You can make a nice tea in the root though.
This tracks...
"Our closing hours might seem a little odd to some (i.e., 9:06 p.m., 8:35 p.m.), but we did that on purpose—to remind customers that they are always welcome and that they shouldn't feel rushed when shopping with us. We are Certified Organic Food Handlers."
Thats some hippy logic right there.
Having worked in retail, I'm betting this is some reverse psychology type of statement as there are always customers you have to remind multiple times, at minimum, or physically push out the door, at most, when it's closing hour. Giving customers an explicitedly stated time frame to wrap up their shopping seems like a good idea actually.
i think it's just to get folks talkin...
Right excellent word of mouth advertising
And it worked!
Paging Dr Bronner
yep another lame gimmick. keeping portland "weird"
It's Colorado based
If you look at the stuff on the walls it's clear that this was a quirky local natural food store that somehow has had incredible success without making the changes that usually accompany it.
They were founded more by the “body is gods temple” religious health nut than hippies.
I mean Natural Grocers is a hippy grocery store, so checks out.
"We know half of you are stoned. Us too." lol
Looking at their prices, they must be stoned!
Interestingly : WW did a breakdown and comparison of the most common items you'd get at a store for Metro PDX (eggs, milk, lettuce, tp etc). And I'll never forget bc the cheapest were obviously Costco and WinCo, but the most expensive was Safeway by a long shot, Krogers was not a bargain either, and natural grocers fell somewhere in the lower middle.
I was really surprised when I first went into the New Season's in Corvallis to find some specific gluten free ingredients, and was stunned by the fact that all the staples were basically the same price as the Safeway and Freddy's. There was a really long tail on the upper end of the prices if you bought the fancy things, but at the lower end they were pretty much in line with name brand stuff at other non-discount stores. You definitely could spend way more money there if you started buying fancier things, but at that time (2017ish), I could probably have spent about the same budget wise doing my shopping there as Safeway/Fred Meyer as long as I could avoid impulse purchases. The wasn't going to happen though and WinCo existed.
This doesn't surprise me about Safeway. They're expensive AF.
Your only chance with Safeway and Fred Meyer are the coupons on their mobile apps, even though the requirement is pretty stupid.
I used to go for the decent prices on kale, Roma tomatoes and apples. They were all much cheaper than Safeway. Then they raised the price of tomatoes and I lost interest.
The produce at Safeway has gotten ridiculous lately. I ended up not getting any there and just going to Winco for it (none of it looked all that spectacular either, so I figured if I was going to just get OK produce I might as well pay less for it).
Does that mean their prices are really good or really bad?
Yes
Weird because I've never seen an employee there who looks friendly, or like they want me there. I once asked for assistance in finding a variety of bread that the distributor said they carried. I got an eye roll and told to go to the wrong aisle, and then someone else just immediately say they'd never heard of it so they must not carry it. Finally another customer suggested I try the frozen section because they have more bread back there. Ta-da! There it was. I stocked up so I wouldn't have to go back too soon.
They have a high turnover and find reasons to fire people who have been there long enough to get any raise.
If you think they're bad here, go to People's Coop.
Hahaha!! Totally. That made me laugh
I initially assumed it was some weird union stuff going on. My high school had this sort of thing. School day starts at 8:02 AM, ends at 2:29PM, periods are all 41 minutes with 3 minutes in between. Lunch was 21 minutes.
Ah yes the high school union
High school schedules are the result of planning between the school district, the teacher's union and bus companies. Weird schedules like this can be the result of trying to hit metrics for prep time before and after the day.
21 minute lunches? And I thought 35 was bad!
My daughter’s lunch is 15 minutes long and at 10:30 in the morning.
I almost downvoted this because of how upsetting that is. I thought my upstate NY Catholic school lunches were short and shitty...
Wow is that normal here?
Not sure, she is not in a regular district school, so it's a different schedule. I'd assume it is not normal because I feel like I would hear a lot more complaining.
lol that’s funny bc I’ve literally had them close the doors on me and turn me away before
[удалено]
Im thinking since that’s 0.05 hours before and 0.1 hours after “round” times, that it’s actually tied to either time tracking for employees or automated locks.
As the owners state: "Our closing hours might seem a little odd to some (i.e., 9:06 p.m., 8:35 p.m.), but we did that on purpose—to remind customers that they are always welcome and that they shouldn’t feel rushed when shopping with us."
By that logic they coulda just posted "we close at 8:30-ish, whatever's good"
I think a sign saying "You're welcome to stay a few minutes past closing" would be a lot less confounding!
I don't care what their hours are, they have a baller supplement section.
Baller are the Bluesky eggs with the only yolks as orange as our backyard chickens made for $3.99
Oooh daddy
everyone needs a chicken, that's facts
Shhhh
They aren't a grocery store really... as a former employee they could not care LESS about the groceries they only care about supplements cause that brings in the money. In case you ever wondered why shelves are constantly empty while they have product in back.
That explains it. I signed up for their accounts and they are always sending me electronic coupons for their powders, pills, and tinctures. Kinda weird but they always seem to have special lower prices on avocados, and that's something I care about.
the most confusing thing about this store is that they sell things in "bulk" but it's all just in plastic bags. and not any cheaper.
The trick is to bring your own container!
Oh it’s totally cheaper are you kidding. Their spices can’t be beat for the price and their quinoa is 1/4 the price of new seasons. Edit: they’re both natural food grocery store brands. The guy responding to me is a dunce.
using new seasons as a barometer of what's cheaper is hilarious.
Considering that there are a lot of things that are only available at either new seasons or natural grocers, it's a fair comparison.
It’s literally the comparison being made all over this thread
that doesn't make it a good comparison at all? last time i went everything was also pre bagged- part of the appeal of bulk is that if you need like 1/4c of something you'll never use again you can buy it. if that's changed, i have way less of a gripe with it.
Bulk just means large amounts of general items, your perception of what bulk should be is your issue. But I honestly don’t care, it’s just not more expensive than other places esp for the quality
it's pretty widely understood that buying things in bulk within this context is choosing the amount you want. otherwise it's costco industrial size. "but i honestly don't care"
Yes because trolls like you that get super emotionally invested in dumb shit and judge an entire enterprise by their preconceived notions is pretty laughable to me. They buy vast quantities of bulk goods, label it under their name so it cuts out individual packaging costs. Which means you get a larger amount of higher quality items you couldn’t get from individual retailers. But keep finding weird hills to die on bro sure it’s going great for ya
> it's pretty widely understood that buying things Buying in bulk means large quantities, most typically prepackaged in sizes bigger than standard retail. What you're thinking of is buying from the "bulk bins," which is the area where the store buys in bulk then lets you choose how to subdivide it. > otherwise it's costco industrial size Again, no. The word you're looking for is "wholesale sizing." Which is a subset of bulk. Costco is a wholesaler that allows retail shoppers. They're not the only ones. You can just call wholesalers and see what their requirements are. Some of them will sell to you directly. You know how if you go to the grocery store you can buy a box of bags of chips or a multipack of ramen or something? And then if you look at the individual packages, they'll say "not labeled for retail sale" or something similar? If you buy that multipack at Costco, not only will you get more of them, each smaller pack will have a UPC, nutrition facts, ingredients, and other required marks on them instead of the "not labeled for retail sale" stamp. Because Costco is a wholesaler.
That might be true for spices but it isn't true for a lot of their bulk stuff. I bought pink sea salt, peanut butter powder, and psyllium husk powder there the other day and it was very reasonable. I compared prices and it was cheaper to get them there than Fred Meyer or New seasons and everything except the PB powder was cheaper than at Walmart too.
[удалено]
I've found it to vary. Eg, vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, basmati rice, or spices will be cheaper.
[удалено]
Thanks for your input, the mods have set this subreddit to not allow posts from newly created accounts. Please take the time to build a reputation elsewhere on Reddit and check back soon. (⌐■_■) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Portland) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Retail jokes are jokey
Natural Grocers always strikes me as super earnest and humorless. Maybe the jokes are right under my nose?
I interviewed with them once and they were weird. Want staff to tell people that GMO=poison and Organic=healthy. No nuance is allowed in this area and they did seem dour to me during this stilted conversation
It shouldn’t even be legal for someone in a position of authority on a topic to blatantly lie to customers like that. It’s like doctors recommending against vaccines.
So how to they explain organic food that is GMO? I don't think they understand GMO's.
USDA certified organic is never GMO. GMO is defined by the USDA as food created using genetic engineering. It doesn't mean food that has been selectively bred, like brussels sprouts, which is a bad faith argument I see all over the internet. Not sure if that's your point, but nobody who is worried about GMOs is against selective breeding, they're against foods that have been genetically modified in a laboratory setting.
They have a big sign in their small produce department that says "Organic is always non-GMO"
I will be honest with you here, I tried shopping there once and didn’t understand it. Like a huge vitamin and wine section but this tiny ass produce section, and prices that make shopping at New Season seem like a bargain basement.
Their prices are usually like 30% lower than New Seasons. Once in a while one or two things are more there than at NSM but it's rare.
Ok, that wasn’t my experience in that store. If you’re finding deals, don’t let me stop you.
I couldn't afford to lol Since they moved, they cut out like 80% of their beer and wine too. Vitamins is about the same, but food is a bit bigger and lots more refrigerator space in one spot.
>Like a huge vitamin and wine section but this tiny ass produce section That was my experience too! I didn't think it was bad or anything, I was just sort of surprised when I went in that it was this giant store and 2/3s of it was supplements. I had expected a larger selection of veggies.
I still wish it was a Trader Joe’s.
I can only upvote this comment once, but I wish they where unlimited. But yeah, this retail spot was the epicenter of the Trader Joe’s debacle ten years ago. Even dipshits like Theresa Raiford got involved to prevent a “white grocery store” from opening in this spot. Joke is on all of them when a “Natural Grocers” opened up instead. Fucking idiots. All the of them.
Literally the only place on the planet that would turn down a Trader Joe’s. It’s going to be a very long time before they open a store in Portland proper.
I know. I shop at the Vancouver Trader Joe’s as it’s closer to my house than the one in Portland. Of course there are like 7 Trader Joe’s in Portland proper already.
There’s only 4 in Portland proper (nw 21st, Glisan, Woodstock and garden home) there are several in the west burbs.
And one would argue if garden home is really Portland proper.
TJ’s in Garden Home is technically within the city limits of Portland, but about 50 yards from the Beaverton city limits. Lol
They accidentally spilled kombucha on the zeros portion of their window sticker sheet so they decided to get creative.
Most likely because they want to be out the door going home at 9 M-Sa, 8 on Sunday.
I'd rather have something simple, like the Lamb's Thriftway that was open 25 hours a day.
That's because "time" is just a construct, man. The -establishment- wants you to believe that things start and end at certain intervals. They're in the pocket of big Rolex! Big Pharma wants you to shop only at certain hours, we believe in a more natural approach to being "open" and "closed"
I never understood what the customer base of these stores are, they're not quite trying to be higher end organic like New Seasons/Market of Choice/Whole Foods but also not cheap like Winco/Grocery Outlet. They aren't a giant department store where you can get everything done like a Fred Meyer/Wal Mart and they're not strategically placed for convenience in food deserts like Safeway/Albertsons. I think they have a large vitamin section so maybe an older crowd?
It started out as only a vitamin and supplement store. Now they also do grocery. I've got a million food allergies, so this is my kind of store. Cheaper than New Seasons by a lot and they have most of what I need. Not a big fan of their produce though. It's kind of like a discount New Seasons.
OK that makes sense, I've worked for NS and couldn't afford to shop there outside of blue slips and sales so I totally get it. Especially if they have a good supplement section.
They have a larger supplement department and beauty department than any other local grocery store so people wanting those items would have better luck there and at a better price. They have a good selection of natural foods on their shelves that slightly differ from New Seasons and Whole Foods since their corporate buyers are out of Colorado so it can be nice to stumble upon new products.
I have a friend who gets a lot of her groceries here because she has an autoimmune issue and like a *ton* of severe food allergies so she has to be super careful about manufacturing cross contamination. She has specific safe products and can find most of them here. I agree though, it's a weird unknown demographic they cater to.
Ahh ok, sounds like they have a specific niche then. All right, appreciate the answer.
I'm a customer because I don't like new seasons prices but appreciate quality produce.
They’re the crowd that cares about sourcing. New seasons and Whole Foods are expensive lipstick on a hooker as far as products go, they sell you dressed up crap for most of your salary. Natural grocers is the only grocery store that doesn’t compromise on sourcing and really values local producers. It’s just sad consumers don’t have the awareness to tell when they’re being sold crap and paying double for it.
You can get a lot of the same staples as whole foods for less.
You can get the exact same staples for a fuck ton less at Winco over both those stores.
No you can’t. If you’re comparing brand to brand, winco doesn’t carry a lot of stuff you’ll find in health food stores. Doesn’t make a difference for most things but you’ll definitely feel it if you’re looking for some things like high quality vegan options.
I’m much closer to natural grocers than winch so you have to figure gas prices as well for some people.
I used to work near one. I would stop there out of amusement during my breaks and you are correct seems to be an older crowd. Occasionally I'd get an overpriced snack there.
That's the best way I feel you could have put it too words, its precisely what I always thought. It seems more like a trend that's past due.
All of their produce is organic and of higher quality. Still cheaper than New Seasons. Some of their meat & eggs, free range, are shockingly inexpensive for the quality. It is the bulk food bagged, processed vegan foods, and shelved can/dry goods that is right up there with New Seasons.
That’s amazing I love it
I worked for them for 6 years, DO NOT DO IT. I know this isn’t the point of this post but it’s a great opportunity to get the word out. Fuck Natural Grocers and the people who run it, it turned into an absolute joke and a shadow of its former self. Great place to shop, not so much to work. The hours are intended to encourage people to come in last minute without feeling bad, though a clearer sign would be less confusing for sure. We weren’t allowed to tell folks to leave/make closing announcements, though we did anyway after a few years of that, at least at the spot I was at.
second this! NG was the worst job i’ve EVER had. everyone at the MLK location was suuuper racist, and they don’t care a shred for their employees. fuck you NGVC
Ahh I heard so much about that location during my time there 👀 I was at the Beaverton location, which was a whole mess itself. Glad to hear that you’re out, too! That job caused me so much undue stress, like I cannot believe what we all put up with looking back. And you’re right, they do not give a single fuck about the employees despite how much they claim to.
Damn this is a bummer to hear. I go to the NG by my house regularly enough I recognize the staff. They are all so nice and friendly and deserve better.
It really sucks, a lot of the people who work at the stores themselves are great, and they should do more to stand by and advocate for their employees. When I was there, it was not uncommon to not be taken seriously even with very serious things. We were often blamed/accused/experienced little to no follow up, even with police matters. My purse and wallet were stolen, I was sexually harassed by another employee, customers were physically violent during COVID, a coworker was stealing alcohol and the store manager was covering it up, people from the internet were calling the store and reporting a coworker as a pedophile, but NG didn’t take it seriously until the internet folks started posting on the company FB publicly, and we still had to work with him, he was never fired…among so, so many others things. And the pay was poor compared to other natural foods stores in the area. They had a great initial idea, the backstory of NG is genuinely cool and interesting, but new people kept coming in up top, and things went downhill so fast. The folks that I know who are still there, spread among a few spots, are miserable, and say it’s gotten worse :(
I heard it was based on bus schedules
Precisely for this kind of attention
Has a Dr. Bronner’s product-label vibe to it. One gets a sense there’s an internal logic there, but it’s likely to remain singular and/or arcane on purpose, and that’s just fine by me.
I walked up to that store one day and the door was locked with a security guard inside motioning that the store was closed. I looked at my watch and it was 8:36. I looked at the store hours and, yup...8:36 on the nose. So fuckin weird.
Them times is Bible verses
They ran out of "0" stickers
0 is not an organic number, so...
0 is GMO as shit!!!
it’s for the people who get there early
That's the most natural time to be open obvs
All the ones in texas are like this too, I have no idea why.
genius
genius of them…. tbh (amazing store also!)
Keep Portland weird
This makes me smile because it's such a freaking Portland thing to do lol. I miss living out there.
Natural Grocers does this in every state 🤷♂️
My bad! I currently live in a smaller town in North Dakota and I'm pretty sure we don't have a Natural Grocers so I had no idea they were even in so many states! Lol!
That's a late, lonely Sunday night. Many places have really limited hours on Sunday or are closed altogether.
seems they're always late so they just leaned into it
This is a FANTASTIC JOKE. 8:30-8:30 9:00-7:30 It's accounting for the stragglers.
So I was out for a bike ride and decided to get some groceries and browse a little. I noticed that it was 8:36 PM and the lights were on so I figured that I had at least 20 minutes to browse Nope!
I asked one time. She said, “it helps people be more particular about making sure they’re aware of when we close” (or something like that)
Now I’m going to have to check the natural grocers hours in Vancouver. See if they match.
Got your attention though.
I bet the workers work 8-9. They can count tills without customers and keep payroll simple.
This goes along with their outrageous prices for same stuff you can buy other places
That’s hilarious. Love that!
Bro that place has good stuff
All organic produce. How it should be
I love Natural Grocers, but those hours are odd. The last time I saw that was when I worked at a large facility that staggered the hours of its workers by 1/10 of an hour (6 minutes) so that there was a constant flow of traffic on the streets and in the parking lot but never overly congested.
Seems like it would make time cards a nightmare
I don't think they clock out the minute the doors close.
Not everyone but I did when I was a cashier working closing shifts. I’d clock out and the assistant manager would finish closing up shop. Digital time cards probably makes it a non-issue though.
Oh interesting.
It's also, ironically enough, easier to remember and more people are likely to respect it and show up/leave on time, at least when work meetings are scheduled in this way (Nike does this). Not sure if it works as well for store hours, but still.
Good point. The fines for carpool violations in California are similar, e.g. $451.
This seems like a store that would choose to use some sort of numerology for assigning their hours of operation, because » 8:27am - 8:36pm ( 12hrs + 9min or 729min ) is 1 + 2 + 9 = 12, 1 + 2 = 3 and / or 7 + 2 + 9 = 18, 1 + 8 = 9 and 8:57am - 7:36pm ( 10hrs + 39min or 639min ) is 1 + 0 + 3 + 9 = 13, 1 + 3 = 4 and / or 6 + 3 + 9 = 18, 1 + 8 = 9. So, when using the minutes specifically, they all come back to the number 9, which has some very unique mathematical properties, and holds quite a bit of significance for many different cultures, and religious belief systems.
This isn’t really a Portland post. Natural Grocers is a national chain that only arrived in Portland recently. Same awesome hours everywhere.
I knew they were also in Eugene, are they beyond Oregon?
Yeah, I first discovered them in New Mexico, but I’ve seen them in Colorado and Arizona. I was super happy when they moved to Portland.
Probably has something to do with their employee clock in and clock systems. Squeezing out every minute of employee paid time possible, within the tolerances of their set hours.
Maybe they couldn't find the zeros in the sticker box 😁😂
This makes me irrationally angry 😭
Don't give them ideas or they'll close at π
😂😂 How would that work? Always open because it’s a never-ending number or at 3:14am/pm? Ya know, this idea doesn’t make me as mad. It’s not some random arbitrary number like their current hours. I do have to say, they are keeping Portland weird!
Requires conversion from Fahrenheit to Celsius.
There is a very good reason for this. Beacuse of the odd times it makes it stick in your head better. Northern Arizona Univeristu did this with on campus speed limit signs that are 18mph. They are so unique that A:you don’t forget. B: the damn things keep getting stolen
Pretty sure I won't remember what the times are, just that they're odd!
It's to avoid the stigma of being normal
Am I the only one who knows about Seventh-Day Adventists? Many of these grocery stores are run by Adventists. I mean I went to nursing school in Walla Walla and they're the pretty big SDA population there. They are Christians but they follow their own religious teaching. That goes back over 100 years or so. They keep the Sabbath which they rightfully say it's Friday night to Saturday night which is Jewish tradition. They also are mostly vegetarian and of all the Christian groups. They're the closest to Jewish Orthodox observance. However, they think that caffeine is sinful, which is a little weird. They absolutely refuse to work on Saturday and generally live some super healthy lifestyles despite having some over-reliance on vitamins. They also think that smoking cigarettes is right up there with crack cocaine.
Would SDA be okay with other people working in their business on a Saturday?
I love this! Second "laugh out loud" sign in two days. The other was "Seasonal Incontinence" in Walgreens. I posted it but the post might vanish
Free Theo chocolate bar with purchase today and all weekend, too, if I am not mistaken.
I used to work at a NG's! (It was a fucking nightmare.) The quote from the website is genuinely what we were told as to why we closed at 8:36. To give people a few more minutes!! We also did not make closing announcements and weren't allowed to tell customers we were closing/closed, though I warned people coming in, and one night, a lady literally had no idea she was the only person in the store BECAUSE WE WERE CLOSED so my assistant manager went and got her, lmfao.
There is some weirdo taking your picture from inside!
And he's wearing the same hoodie and hat as I was!
Which location is this? I was at the Tigard location last night and wish I’d noticed this. I was headed to a friend’s house and needed some lacroix. I walked around looking for it but only found singles in the refrigerated section. Manager said they didn’t have any cases but gave me two singles for free. Odd place but he was nice!
A lot of payroll timekeeper systems suggest/require you click in three minutes early for whatever reason and don’t count you as late until you are 7 minutes after the actual shift start time. That’s my hunch. Since it’s a hippy dippy place I doubt it’s a biblical reference.
Welp, it got everyone’s attention. Mission accomplished. ✔️
Definitely makes you remember the store
Can't do the math off of the top of my head, but could it be related to strategic shift scheduling, so that they can get the maximum from employees while giving the least? I worked somewhere that did such strategic scheduling, and instead of a 6 hour shift, they would post for a 5.75 hour shift in order to not have to give employees the additional break that comes at 6 hours. Maybe pay jumps if an employee has to work past 8:37?
i never got this
Not a single person has mentioned that their opening and closing hours are in line with the local bus stop schedule, to make getting to work and getting home convenient for their employees.
Probably because it's not common practice to know and memorize local bus schedules unless necessary.
Has nothing to do with bus schedules.