Today was the second half of my participation in a focus group regarding grocery shopping. I was invited to an in-home study. Emily who was leading the discussion on Tuesday arrived promptly at 10am with her assistant, Sherry. They came with recorders and video equipment and promised I wouldn't be on any "You Tube" video and since I didn't have to sign any releases - I trust this to be true.
Sherry set up the camera on a tri-pod and Emily started the recorder. We sat around my dining table and Emily had a set of questions on her list. Mainly she wanted to discuss my shopping habits. I had all my Wednesday circulars and coupons ready for her to look at. We talked about all the different stores in my area and I gave my opinion of having Aldi's in the neighborhood which I think will be an asset.
Then they wanted a peek into my kitchen. Looked in the cupboards and the refrigerator. Questioned what I liked to buy and then asked me to choose 3-4 items in my fridge that would best represent me. I said - "milk, coffee, chicken, spring greens and cold cuts". Suddenly Emily pointed to one of the drawers in the fridge and asked "Is that a chocolate bin" and sure enough...yes it was!! I keep all my chocolates in there among other things but essentially it's chocolate and she had to take a picture! She said this was the 2nd time she had seen this and was amazed!! Although the other lady kept her veggie and crisper bin stuffed with chocolates and I have much less since I just can't have that many sweets. LOL
Then it was time to go shopping. First I was "miked" since they weren't going to start taping me inside a public store. They had a car and Sherry drove. I led them to Met Food where I picked up 2 dozen eggs on sale for 99 cents...(for Kathy) - 2 bottles of seltzer for $1 - Downey softener on sale for $2.99 and I had $1 coupon. My total came to $5.42 which included the bottle deposit and tax.
I showed them the Korean market right across the street and pointed out the other Korean market up the street across from a Key Food. I said that with all these stores within a 3 block radius, they were all still in business so there must be enough for all to go around. Aldi's would be located across the boulevard and they had not seen the area so we got back in the car and did a drive-by. We drove around the entire area...I wanted them to see the huge apartment complexes behind the mall and Emily exclaimed that they would make a profit just from those apartment buildings alone!
From there, I had Sherry drive us towards Trader Joe's to give them an idea how far away it was and still so many people shop there. We drove through the parking lot to let them see how inadequate the parking situation really is. During this time, I asked why I was chosen to be part of this study. My zip code was a factor and since it is costly for the in home participation, they chose people who have lots to say!! As Emily said...they do not want a "dud". She did say that New Yorkers shop like no other people! It was fascinating to them that "we" are willing to go to several different stores to buy different products.
Then they drove me back towards my home and I asked if they wanted to come back inside but basically I was done. I took off my mike. Emily gave me a white envelope that had her business card and $250 in cash! It was 11:30am when I walked back in my door. One and a half hour of work...how can I sign up to do this on a weekly basis??? :-)
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