Grocery Stores

A word about Temecula Grocery Stores.


They are big, boring,expensive, poor in quality and approachable only by automobile.


Our problem is that we got accustomed to shopping in two very good grocery stores in Escondido: Vallarta market, a ten minute walk from our apartment, and Northgate market, a ten minute drive.


Both of these grocery stores are "Mexican" style supermercados--catering mainly to Mexicans or perhaps  I should say, "Spanish speaking people", which form the demographic majority of Escondido residents.


These are BIG grocery stores which combine bakery, fast-food eatery shops along with the usual foodstuffs.


An odd thing we noticed about them when we first moved to Escondido is that though they would be full of customers WE were often the ONLY gringos there. When we got used to them we used to play our own little game: "How Many Gringos Can You Spot Here Today?"--and we were usually the only ones in the store.


The check-out clerks were all bi-lingual--which we found meant they spoke Spanish and English. Their fruits and vegetables were plentiful and cheap and the Muzak tunes were down-home Mexican. They offered a wide variety of foods--their meat departments sold everything imaginable from both north and south of the border and their processed foods came from all over the world--at cheap prices.


Here  we find  the less expensive supermarkets: "Food 4 Less" and "Win Co",  and the high-priced stores: "Von's", "Fresh and Easy", "Ralph's" and "Albertson's"--and no Mexican supermercados at all.


The prices in these markets--even the less expensive ones--are ten to twenty percent higher  than the Escondido Mexican markets for EVERYTHING--  and the fruits and vegetable departments especially are far poorer in selection and quality.


There are NO walk-in customers at all since these stores can only be reached from their own huge parking lots. This does not sound important, but it is. The Grocery stores in Temecula are separated by miles of highway and can ONLY be reached by automobile. No car--no food. This may not seem like a big deal, but as gas prices continue to rise (over four dollars per gallon now) it will become more important.


All the grocery stores here in Temecula, thirty miles north of Escondido, are "gringo" supermarkets--and THAT, unfortunately,  means all alike:  expensive and heartlessly boring. Why do gringos put up with this? We are forced to the obvious conclusion: Because they are stupid.


I can say this knowledgeably because I AM a gringo.

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