Did I miss something, when did some of the stores close? I'm at Dominick's all the time but I guess I failed to lift my blinders and look right (and maybe even left) to see closed stores...
I have shopped at the soccer store 3 times, the toy store a dozen times, gone to the JJ's a dozen times, and gone to Chicks and Salsa two or three times in 14 years. If that is the definition of the average Glen Ellynite's shopping pattern at Baker Hill, it is a wondrous miracle that any of those stores remain open.
I go to Dominick's with the sole purpose of seeing how much I can save on the bill. It's merely a sport for me now. A game. I would never shop there if I didn't like the taste of Diet Coke so much (please withhold your comments). I do not remember the last time I went there and paid full price for anything. I hate the store, most of the employees, the fact that every time I go there no registers are open. I hate it...and since it probably generates very little tax revenue for the village, I could not care less if it went the way of Bennigan's, Hollywood Video and the dodo.
My full-price purchases are now reserved for Mc Chesney and Miller and Valli Produce. Springbrook is out now, too. Sorry Springbrook.
Well, I certainly shop at Dominicks several times a week. I don't know how the rest of you live, but I have to buy so much pop, frozen crap, boxes of Cheerios and Pop-Tarts, that I simply can't do all my shopping at McChesney's - they never have all the things my sons require. They also don't carry enough toiletry items, either (Although I do try to shop there when I can.) Still, I always end up having to go at least once a week to Dominick's to stock up on all the brand label stuff. The only other alternative is to go to Jewel, and I loathe that store. Too hard to get to from here - I'm right at Spring & 53, which makes Dominicks super convenient - and that store is too dang small, anyway.
I'd love not to have to shop at a big supermarket, but I'm just not there yet, demographically speaking. Maybe when the kids are truly out of the house.
However - to the point of this post - I haven't been to any of the other stores in Baker Hill in ages. Our kids outgrew both Learning Express and the Soccer Post years ago; the name "Chicks & Salsa" totally puts me off (I can't imagine chicken and salsa together. I just can't - and that's what the name of that place conjures up to me) so I"ve never been there, nor have I been to the Chinese restaurant there, and I've never stepped foot in a Bath and Body Works in my life. So - nope. Don't shop anywhere else.
Oh - I do go to Jimmy John's, now and then. And we used to go to Hollywood when it was open.
When I lived in the city, Gymboree was PACKED. It was THE thing to do with toddlers. I've gone by the location there a few times and haven't seen a soul in there. And I'm still wondering who works out in that gym, and who sells their crap at the eBay store...
Yeah-I was there on Thursday - and Ebay store -gone, Bath & Body Works gone - the reason I went up there I frequent Dominicks I sometimes go into that smoke shop for my husband. Good prices for those of smokers on this board. I fear he may leave next. I miss the Hallmark stores being gone. We don't have any do we?
Scribbler, I agree you need to go elsewhere for the namebrand items but I would suggest Super Target. So much cheaper than Dominicks! Maybe not conveniently located but you will see a difference in the bill.
I just got home from Valli...got a ton of produce and spent only 22 dollars. Amazing The deli was too busy. I will have to go back one morning during the week. Cold cuts for under 3 dollars a pound in a clean deli.
Posts: 790 | Location: glen ellyn Illinois usa | Registered: April 05, 2003
Originally posted by US4: Scribbler, I agree you need to go elsewhere for the namebrand items but I would suggest Super Target. So much cheaper than Dominicks! Maybe not conveniently located but you will see a difference in the bill.
Yeah, I've been there - but you can't get meat & produce there. That's the rub - I'm not willing to spend the gas or time to go to more than one place to get all the grocery & household items we need in a week. Thus, I continue to enable Dominick's.
Super Target has meat and produce. I go to the one on Schmale and Army Trail. The meat, in my experience, has been very good. I also bought some nicely sized shrimp that were pre-bagged. We grilled them and they were delicious! I've purchased some nice produce there too. My husband went to Valli and said it was good. It's hard to believe how many choices there are...you know more things will go under. I don't think we can support so many stores.
"The most valuable things in life are not measured in monetary terms. The really important things are not houses and lands, stocks and bonds, automobiles and real state, but friendships, trust, confidence, empathy, mercy, love and faith. " -Bertrand Russell V. Delong
Posts: 3238 | Location: Glen Ellyn, IL | Registered: April 04, 2003
Originally posted by Amy: It's hard to believe how many choices there are...you know more things will go under. I don't think we can support so many stores.
This is so true, and not just for grocery stores. But for Starbucks and restaurants like Bennigans. Yes, I know the economy is sputtering right now but holy moly, did we go through a period of rapid expansion in the last few years! Not just in housing but all the rip-offs of rip-offs in the restaurant biz, the coffee biz (I mean, c'mon. Do we really need a Dunkin' Donuts, multiple Starbucks and a couple of Carbiou's in one three-mile radius?) And how many Bennigan's, Friday's, Chili's, Applebees, Houlihan's, Ruby Tuesday's, does anybody need, no matter how much extra disposable income we have?
Yes, it's tough out there but now is the time for great business models - not to mention places that excel in customer service as well as number of goods available - to stand out. And that's good for all of us.
We don't need a Starbucks or Caribou, but yes, we definitely need a Dunkin' Donuts. There's one on North Ave (drive through) and there's one on Naperville Rd in Wheaton (Danada). Need one closer. They have the best coffee - ever.
