PriceRite, We Hardly Knew Ye

Here in the 'hood we have a lovely, little known secret to frugal living - PriceRite. Some people consider it a little on the dicey side, what with all the funky ethnic foods, unfamiliar brands and the some what dingy interior, but I kind of like it. For one thing, despite all the ethnic foods and teenage Latinos and African Americans stocking the shelves, they play Journey on the PA! I even heard Duran Duran. They play the soundtrack of my generation! This being Rhode Island, I bet I went to high school with the store manager.

I love when I walk in to PriceRite, there's a greeter. If you hang around long enough, she'll start a Bible study right there in the doorway. (Wal Mart has a door greeter too but not Nordstrom's or Whole Foods. Hmmm, do higher income people not need a "Hey, How ya doin'?"). All the Latina moms enter and immediately grab fifty produce bags and start filling them up. Meanwhile, the produce in Stop N Shop looks like it hasn't been touched in ages.

And the bargins! For example:

At Whole Foods, "Robert, can you pass the $4.99 Farmland Nitrite Free Bacon?"
At PriceRite, "Ai, chica, di me este $2.99 Farmland Nitrite Free Bacon!"

At Stop n Shop, a display of dried cornhusks in the "Food of the World" section for $3.99 each.
At PriceRite, cornhusks thrown in a large bin with $.99 SALE! sign stuck on top.

and my personal favorite - Nutella!
Stop N Shop $3.69
PriceRite $1.99

Not only good deals but fun foods. No where else in the city can you get Chocolate Gelatin (gelatin, not pudding. Maria, Gail, give me a shout out on this) or Chubby Soda in sorrel! or cotton candy! By the way, Chubby Soda has 38 grams of sugar per serving; coke has 27, orange juice is 30, just to give you a comparison.

All this to say, I love PriceRite. Dicey, edgy, Goya bargain' filled PriceRite. So imagine my horror when I went into their new store.

They relocated from the heart of Olney-Falujah to the old Shaw's on Atwells. A brand new, clean building. Next to a Staples. Already I was nervous.

The first thing I saw when I walked in was - a coffee counter! A pseudo-cafe just like Whole Foods. They were selling espresso! and lattes! and little pastries! Oh the humanity! And it didn't stop there. I saw a girl stacking baguettes into a bin. Baguettes?!? WT???!~ Not even Goya baguettes! And sample tables! Fresh mozzarella! Where's the dingy? Where's the edgy? THEY'VE GONE MAINSTREAM!

Oh PriceRite, you broke my heart.