5 posts tagged “grocer”
I know that people complain that the prices at DeLano's IGA are higher than they were at Cala, but there are a couple of ways that they've added nicely to the neighborhood:
- B.A.R. editor Matthew Bajko (extra points if you can pronounce his name correctly) pointed out to me that DeLano's has been including an advertising flyer in the paper for the last few weeks. Because the B.A.R. is an advertiser-supported paper, the flyer is valuable income for an independent community voice. Plus, it keeps Matthew in his tidy expense account.
- DeLano's has added the word "CASTRO" to their outside sign. It's a small touch, but a nice neighborhood landmark which echoes the Castro Theater sign. However, it could yield confusion for mai-tai-addled customers stumbling out of The Edge at 2 a.m. wondering which way to Castro and Market.
Some recent changes in signage in the Castrohood:
- SF MUNI has installed these new signs in the Castro underground station, and judging from the comments people have already been left, a lot of you don't like them. I actually like the font and the use of lowercase for the header words "castro" and "outbound," but the "Boarding Zone" looks like it was designed by an entirely different committee.
I wish they had installed signs like the ones that they have on train platforms in Japan, which give the names of the next station in either direction. Here's an example which I took from jpellgen's Flickr stream:
Not that our train system is so complicated, but when you are riding an unfamiliar line it is very comforting to know where you are headed next.
- And speaking of signs, DeLano's IGA has finally removed the outside Cala signs are replaced them with the new name:
Signs on the inside of the store have also been updated.
- Probably the best sign I've seen in a while is in the window of the yard-sale-like store which occupies the space which was Lot'sa Stuff which was Browser's Nook. According to signs in the window, right after the "big sale" this retail melange is "closing soon."
Although the store started out with a specialty in posters, its stock has been evolving and now funky peasant handbags, colorful scarves, and huge nativist wood carvings (no joke) fill the window. What is it about this space that only attracts these crazy, thrift-shop, do-it-yourself stores?
This week the transfer of our local grocery store from Cala to DeLano IGA Market finally occurred. The outside signs are draped with tarps lamely half-covering the old "CALA," but inside they have more aggressively obliterated traces of the old massah. On Wednesday workers carefully scraped the offending "Cala" from the awning:
Note how he is carefully saving the rest of the decoration on the sign. This odd pattern is repeated inside, as all of the signs which previously loudly proclaimed "CALA FOODS" now just read "____ FOODS":
I did a quick walk-through of the store, and it pretty much looks as it did before. The shelf tags have changed, and the produce display which used to greet shoppers at the door is currently replaced with shopping carts. I didn't check to see if the Kroger store-brand items are still on the shelf, but my guess is that any that were left will be sold through. If any big changes are coming, they haven't shown up yet.
This week we also received our first DeLano IGA ad in the mail, and it seemed to imply that it would skew a little up-market and California-crunchy:
We hope to bring you a better grocery shopping experience, where quality natural foods and honest-to-goodness savings go hand in hand. We have a passion for organic foods and a zest for customer service you'll find refreshing.
The ad also notes that they will not have a frequent-buyer card.
The ad is otherwise unremarkable except that it needed a proofreader or design editor. At the top of the ad it proclaims, "Open 24 Hours" and further down it says, "We're open 7 am to 10 pm daily." Above the paragraph about not requiring a frequent-buyer card, the clip-art cartoon shows a butcher under a sign that says, "Choice meats." But maybe I'm the only retail queen reading the ad that closely.
Updated: I edited this to correct the spelling of the store from "Delano" to "DeLano". In my mind I'd been pronouncing this like FDR's middle name (stress on the first syllable) but I guess it's supposed to be pronounced with the stress on the second syllable. I'll have to confirm with an employee.
It's official now. According to this sign posted on the Cala's front door, this store will be rebranded as Delano IGA Market on this coming Monday night, opening with the new name on Tuesday. Considering that the changeover will happen within the span of one evening, it sounds like not that much is going to change.
One thing that's sort of curious is the fact that this seems to be a mass-produced sign that had the date filled in by hand. Is Delano IGA opening so many stores that they had to make these in bulk? Odd.
I've heard rumors for over a year that the Cala Supermarket at 18th and Collingwood would be closing with another chain such as Trader Joe's or Andronico's supposedly taking its place. I've heard the rumor from multiple sources, but no one could ever pinpoint a closing date and the store itself never seemed like it was winding down in any way. They still carry every day a full refrigerator case of handmade sushi, piles of preschool-worthy pastel frosted cupcakes, and more vodkas than you knew existed. (Irish vodka! Danish vodka! Who knew!)
Well, it looks like the time may be drawing near. This change-of-ownership notice was posted this weekend, and it appears that the new owners are Delano IGA Market. In this case IGA probably stands for "Independent Grocer's Alliance," a grocery chain of sorts -- or rather an "anti-chain," because they seem to pride themselves on having their individual stores operate with the autonomy of an indie store. From their website:
The decisions concerning your local IGA are made in-store by the people who know you and know your needs. While it is required that IGA stores pass a rigorous sanitation and safety assessment, we at IGA, INC. do not control pricing, procedures or policies in any store.
So it will be interesting to see what happens to the space. I've seen the IGA signs in other parts of the country, but apparently the closest one to SF is in Santa Rosa, so I don't know what their stores tend to be like. This Cala has always seemed like one of the better, cleaner ones in the Castro, so I hope they keep the standards high and don't let this slip into Valley Pride territory.
Until we know for sure though, best to stock up on the vodka and cupcakes. Just to be safe.
