Archive for April 6th, 2006
In a moment of self-indulgence tonight, I ordered an Olympus Evolt E-500 digital SLR.
I can’t wait until it is delivered. Back in the day, I used my trusty Fujica SLR all the time. Film is so much costlier to work with, as well as time consuming. Once I bought my first digital camera last year, a Canon Powershot A400, I’ve been wanting a digital SLR. I’ve been very pleased overall with the quality from a 3.2 megapixel Canon, but look forward to 8.0 megapixels and all the control I will have over the exposure settings.
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Business First of Buffalo: $60M makeover planned by Tops - 2006-04-06
After spending more than one year shedding under performing stores and ancillary divisions, Tops Markets LLC is preparing to re-assert itself into its core Western New York region.
The Amherst-based supermarket chain, which still dominates the Erie and Niagara County markets, is under taking a series of initiatives to upgrade customer service but also reinforce the message that the Tops brand name and organization are not leaving the area.
Chief among them:
* Spending up to $60 million in the next two years remodeling and renovating up to 26 stores. The stores run across Tops’ local frontier including ones in West Seneca, Amherst, Medina and Lockport.
* Restoring the Tops’ brand name to the Martin’s Super Foods supermarket on Maple Road in Amherst. The change over takes place on April 16, ending a one-year experiment with the Martin’s brand name at Tops’ flagship store.
Tops needs more than a facelift. I used to do virtually all of my grocery shopping at Tops. Now, I try to avoid the store. The prices on many items have gotten ridiculous. I am now shopping primarily at Wegman’s with a fair amount of my business also going to Budweys. The main reason is prices. I have found many items at Wegmans with everyday prices lower than Tops “sale” price. I have been surprised to find price differences in the $1.00 to $1.50 range on some items.
Another big problem at Tops is out-of-stocks. I got fed up going in with a list of 10 or 12 items to buy and only finding 6 - 8 of the items on my list. Royal Ahold has managed to turn shopping at Tops into a royal pain.
