Meijer vs. Walmart!

I went on vacation, and I finally got a chance to see Meijer stores and other Wal-Marts. So, what was the prognosis?

First, let's go over a few things. I was spoiled by size by my local Walmart: 254,000 is huge, and I'll rarely get more than that.

I visited two Meijers and one Walmart Supercenter (in Marquette, MI)

The first Meijer I visited was north of Ann Arbor (en route to Flint, I believe) and was very dated. Signage was all in teal and had early-90s-type italic fonts. There were no drop ceilings, but it was still low. There wasn't even alcove shops in front, just a large window. It was the type of store that almost felt like a craft store, but the 1990s look was just enough for me to think "this needs a renovation" rather than "I wouldn't be surprised if I saw a Lisa Frank notebook around here somewhere" or "why don't they stock Nintendo 64?"

Photos coming soon.

The second Meijer I saw was much more akin to an actual hypermarket. It had alcove shops, higher ceilings, and more. It had towels and more. Unfortunately, I couldn't check the departments and Made in Whatever as well as Kmart. I do, however, have a directory.



I was disappointed that the "restaurant" was only a Starbucks Coffee, but they did have a barbershop, an actual butcher, a substantial produce section, and non-food dry goods.

The Wal-Mart Supercenter (it was branded as "Walmart", but a "Wal-Mart Supercenter" labelscar was visible) in Marquette was much better than the local one, despite being smaller. It too was an expanded Wal-Mart, and had a McDonald's (instead of a Subway), a pharmacy as an alcove shop, a portrait studio, and even an arcade. The arcade, sadly, was just a bunch of animal crane games and one of those "bubble of plastic" things. Said Wal-Mart also had some gourmet cheeses.

Finally, for the sake of completeness, the College Station Walmart directory, showing us that bigger isn't necessarily better.


Leave comments, ask questions. And another blog post will follow by tomorrow.

York Peppermint Patty Pieces

TWR's creator, Pseudo3D, always has his eyes open for tasty food. It was a surprise to him that the local Walmart had opened up part of the space that would be the Food Center department of the Supercenter. Pseudo3D passed through and walked into a room with very high, warehouse style ceilings with a small selection of food. Garbage bag-like tarps blocked off the rest of the store-to-be, and Pseudo3D looked back at the main store. A yellow wall was where the ceiling dropped to its normal general merchandise Wal-Mart height. Had he been in the same place only a year ago, he would've been in a parking lot, staring at a cinderblock blue wall.

But back to the present. He wandered through the food department until he came to a selection of candy. There, on the wall, were Reese's Pieces, York Peppermint Pattie Pieces, Hershey's Special Dark Pieces, and Almond Joy Pieces. He had seen commercials for them, and bought one to find out.

Specifically, it was the York Peppermint Patty Pieces. And how were they? Pseudo3D blogged about them a day after he bought them. And here it is.

You've probably seen the commercials of people grabbing for candy only to have it disintegrate into M&M-like candies, with the designation of "(Candy) Pieces". This, of course, is an extension of the Reese's Pieces line which dates back to the late 1970s/early 1980s and rose to fame with a certain certain movie. Since the E.T. trend died down, it's back in the shadows of M&Ms but are still widely available.

So, when I bought the York Peppermint Pattie Pieces, it was $2.50 for a 10.5 ounce bag. Factor in a 6.25% sales tax, and it came to around $2.71, which is a bit expensive for candy but worth a try. And how was it?

Well, it was pretty good, make no mistake on that but if you strip out the creamy mint center of a York Peppermint Pattie and the perfect dark chocolate, it's not really a York Peppermint Pattie anymore. So what you get is essentially a dark chocolate-mint M&M. Not even to freshen your breath. I was hoping that it would have creamy stuff inside (after all, that's what Reese's Pieces have) but alas, no. Factor in the slightly-chemical, ever-so-slightly-salty M&M-style shell, and that's actually a loss.


Anyway, here's some relevant links. According to CandyAddict, the Almond Joy Pieces actually contain coconut pieces and are bigger than norm. I've tried Coconut M&Ms before and those are good...

ANYWAY, I do have some upcoming blog post plans. Not terribly big ones, though...

IMAGE CREDIT: CandyAddict.com (see link)