Spar ..... there you are

So I am a bit of a junkie for a new store.  I want to see and know.  Not every brand that opens, but as you know me by now - if it were a coffee beans or capsule store or a coffee shop, I am camping over. 

So a brand new shiny Spar came to our hood.  We are excited around here. We were desperate for one. The closest shiny one is the Superspar in Grabouw and that is a road trip, not a pop to the shops. There is another one, but it is in need of a revamp, redo, liven up job. Coming from Pretoria 2 years ago, where massive and impressive Superspars are everywhere, the lack of one here did irk.  

So with online fanfare, and a long construction period, the aforementioned shiny and new Gordons Bay store opened yesterday at the Mountainview Mall, complete with ribbon cutting, parking bursting at the seams (that will still be addressed and finalised) and happy owner pics.

Since the parking situation was being kept up to date on social media, we elected to go at 630pm.  Parking was adequate and although busy, the store was not maniacal. It is impressive upon entry.  Bright, different, modern and the first thing that my eyes hit was Sip. A coffee, pancake, donut, cake, all things lekker to eat section.  Front and centre. Having just had a snack, we did not sample, but it seemed popular. 

What did draw my adult son's eye was the Grill Bar.  It is a Spar Hot Foods to take home counter (like stores normally have) that got married to a very lekker new concept section. The Fire&Grill menu offers a big choice of Prego rolls, Flame grilled chicken, Seafood and much else and the Chikka Chicken section has burgers galore from Cheeky Chikka, Double Stack all the way to Hot Chikka wings. Chips optional. My son chose a rib burger and chips. It was R35 which is a very substantial price challenge to other places. It was a great meal. R35 to R45 is the average cost here. Definitely worth a test drive peeps. Lekker crispy chips. Also well packed and sealed for transporting. 

Now let me tell you now ..... best face forward is something I learnt in fuel station retail, and I have a big desire to see store management teach their packers this concept. On all products - grocery items, fresh produce and through to cooldrink fridges. They had it spot on .I will watch with interest if this is kept so. It adds hugely to the aesthetic of a store. Woolies Foods Waterstone Village obviously is the platinum standard of this. it would be great for Spar to join them. I was in wonder of an entire fridge door of 6 big shelves, just dedicated to a lot of different types of crushed garlic. Immaculately packed.

The refrigerated shelves offer a mouthwatering array of ready to freeze or heat up meals. Not just the standard fare. Brands like their own Freshline, lie side to side with the Pasta Factory, The Family Kitchen, and others. A great rack of Asian and Mexican items to rustle up interesting meals and many other brands fight for shelf space. Neatly. You are really spoilt for choice. Definitely look into the El Burro Chipotle Chili and Lime Tortilla chips. Yummy. Healthy is your thing? Step two steps to the left of the Chili guys above and drown in great sugar free and healthy eating options. Spar also has an impressive array of their own brand vegetarian meals, giving the well known brand a run for their money. 

Many retailers are defined by two very specific things - the meat section and the fresh produce section. These are both Spar-worthy. The glass door covered selections are really good. The doors are clean. Both sections are well presented and will for sure, especially the meat section, pull from other retailers with great cuts placed neatly below their neighbour's prices. Meat and chicken must look fresh ... and this certainly did. 

The shop fitting is unique. They have modern and chic lighting and they manage to make the greenery and wood fittings look very smart and not like cheesy plastic décor.  They must surely be receiving lots of comments about their granite walling by the tills. It is truly a work of art. 

I didn't see, except for the medicine and toiletry aisle, boards marking what is where in the aisles, but I may have missed it. 

Pricing is a tricky thing in life. However just like very price conscious people (and with fuel prices, most are), if you know your prices you will find that most stuff is the regular price. Spar has their own specials on fast moving lines or those items that are vital e.g. loo paper and cheese. These pamphlets will surely find their way into our 2 local knock and drop newspapers each time. You have to look at your basket total as a whole.  But that is normal.  

And then the make or break of many stores - the staff. Everyone is really on point on day one, but it is day 2 to forever that matter. Given that, the staff went beyond good levels. Friendly, smiling, no cashier muttering or anyone making you feel like you are an intrusion, instead of the customer. The supervisor apologized that we had to wait to have a double scan of an item corrected. It was literally five seconds. High 5 to the management. I was also impressed with their till system where the drawer does not ever open. Advanced and safe. I assume this means that no supermarket cash withdrawals can be done. 

So. No blog is worth its salt if it only gives golden accolades and no less positive observations. To be clear - these are personal observations. 

It is weird for me and a bit off putting to have the crisps / chips / popcorn shelves directly opposite the laundry powder, softeners and bleaches etc. Those, plus hardware and pet stuff t are a logical group in the aisle, and then spot the odd one out .... the chips. I wish they were with their friends, the groceries. Also, the store has the sweets along the till queue line, not on shelves. All supermarkets used to do this, but you can no longer dawdle and make your selection without disturbing the queue. Probably better for my self control. Chocolate is my weakness. 

And then, probably my biggest disappointment. I am a coffee addict. We are power coffee buyers, especially capsules and then filter coffee. We have a variety of machines at home on a counter (even a "coffee bar" sign - that is serious) . And there .... like a beacon of light ...... Nespresso capsules. The real deal. In a very impressive assortment of blends. Both the normal size ones and the fancy new Vertuo ones. And then I saw the pricing. The normal retail price for the "old" type is between R92 - R98 for both the "plainer" and the limited edition ones. From Nespresso stores and well as retailers in Stellies and CT that sell them. The Vertuo ones are in the R125 to R135 vicinity at those stores. Spar does not seem to clearly discern between the usual size and the new big ones, despite the big price point difference, and the shelf packer was unable to locate any at the usual R92 to R98 price range. He did point out one normal sleeve for well over R100. A store with the Spar buying power and a company like Nespresso would have found a way, just like Starbucks and Vida do with Checkers / PnP, or Vida with Woolworths, to keep the instore price exactly the same as the retailer price. So that was a pity, especially when the two people next to me also changed their minds when they saw the mark up. I would have been a great supporter. The only other option is the different strengths Spar brand. No Terbodore, L'Or or others. So it will be Somerset Mall Nespresso who will earn my purchases, or a competitor, which is a great pity. 

Martin, Christi, management and staff ..... wishing you huge success and a lot of joy with your new venture. May the doorstep see many footprints.

Go support them people - they are worth it. 

The nitty gritty fun of moving aka you thought you knew it all

Let me tell you, just in case you ever plan to move, have an unplanned move, are forced to move, decide to do something spontaneous or such. 

You. Are. Never. Prepared. For. What. Lies. Ahead. 

Unless you are a serial mover.  Or have a minimalistic home décor lifestyle.

We were neither of the above.  We had last moved in 1996. That's a long time till 2019. 

We didn't have the minimalistic thing.  We had the maxi-malistic thing going. 

So, in the interest of the common good, let me give you these snippets of wisdom:

• Buy double walled boxes. You'll thank me later. There is nothing worse then packing a box, picking it up and having the entire content spill all over the floor.  
• When you think about packaging tape, think large, think "out of the box" (get it?) - don't get those shrink-wrapped packs of 10 or 20 rolls.  Don't buy a box full.  Rather book one of those shipping containers and buy that amount of rolls. Buy one of those little gadgets that you can roll the tape from one side of the box to the other, because by box 50 you are sick of the manual method.  And NEVER lose the open piece of the roll - never, because it will take you longer to find that place to pull the tape, than the move itself. 
• When booking your box estimate with the movers, calculate an estimate based on what you have already packed. Then multiply that by 632. 
• Buy bubble wrap. A lot. See packaging tape rule. Remember you are going to need a lot extra for all the times you walk on it or pinch it between your fingers to hear it pop, just for fun. 
• Mark boxes. I found the Pinterest method of writing on each box e.g. Kitchen or Dining Room or whatever.  I said I found the Pinterest method.  I never said I used it.  I tried. I really did. But then I got the "mixed" items boxes, a bit like making a mixed tape (in the 1950's) so what did I mark it then? Kitchen/Garage and a bit of Bedroom? 
• Number boxes. Make a list of 1 to 100 and each time you mark a box, cross off that number.  Focus. Else as in my case when the mover arrived, my son asked why we had 3 x number 16.  2 x number 44.  No numbers 7, 23 or 70.  OK, I got a bit distracted.  
• When the boxes are delivered to your new address, cross off the numbers as the boxes are carried in. Due to the issues around the numbering above, and despite the movers having numbered as well, we seem to have lost 2 boxes. Part of the problem was that I was still hyperventilating whenever I thought of the packing up of the garage and "that" room at previous address (to be enlightened about "that room", read my previous blog post). In addition, the movers arrived at our new address whilst I was fetching my daughter's boyfriend at the airport, to surprise her.  Naturally we arrived home to 4 rather sulky adults who had found it stressful to handle this event without me. Imagine. They couldn't manage the movers arrival without the person who couldn't number the boxes correctly in the first place. 

I do have dozens of more moments of wisdom, but let me leave you with a final snippet.  We have 2 large dogs and 2 small dogs. A husky sheds tons of fur. If you open the window for her head to be a out a smidge, the car interior looks like New York in December. Snow baby. Our Alsatian was 10. She just wanted to get the 1600km move done. With whimpering for the first 362kms. Our Jack Russell found it necessary to swop sitting in the front and then in the back, 493 times over the 1600km. That was after double the dose of Calm Eeze for dogs. Our Piebald Daschund only wanted to sleep under the seats. They were not seasoned car travellers. In fact they were not car travellers. Full stop. Little ones in one car and big ones in the other car, we did this. We will not do it again. Trying to get them to pee at the allocated stops, was difficult.  As was getting them to stand together, or stop growling at each other, or drink their water. It caused squabbling and irritation amongst the 4 of us. On three separate stops on the journey my husband considered divorce :) we ended up yelling at each other at more than one fuel station. You are warned. 

Moving is not for sissies. Thousands do it. The next place I go will hopefully be heaven. You don't need luggage. But not now. 

Till soon 

K xox