random thoughts - Day 2,035 (Sunday) - bargain outlet

We were promised rain and it arrived. It has been accompanied by some wind, which had the rain slamming against different sides of the house. Luckily, the errands were done earlier in the day after dance class.

There was a trip to Fitchburg for a visit to the recently opened Ollie's Bargain Outlet. The grand opening is this week, but there was a soft opening going on. It's in the former Big Lots location, and shortly after noon today, the parking lot was busy. 

The place was packed with merchandise and felt a bit like the love child of Ocean State Job Lots and the much-beloved, now-defunct Big Lots. The front of the store was loaded with Christmas decorations. Like Ocean State, there is a large area in the back of the store with stacks of flat area rugs. Like both of the other retailers, there is clothing, but it was not a very impressive assortment. There was an oddly large number of toilet paper stands that can store a few rolls in the open base with the active roll on top.  There was a large section of books which I avoided like the plague, having recently moved approximately 10 tons of my own books which are still waiting to be organized. Book buying and I are on a break for now.

Bargain outlet score.

The grocery area was heavy on potato chips and salty snacks. There was a spice section and jelly and jam assortment that rivals Ocean State. The rest of the grocery section wasn't that impressive, except for the major score of a 30 ounce bags of dried cranberries for $6.49. I'll probably regret not buying more than one.

At checkout, my cart had just a few items, and most were because I didn't want to stand in the checkout queue for just a single decorative soap dispenser ($1.99). On my second loop through groceries when it was less congested with carts I added a can of corn, three packages of potato gnocchi, a can of diced clams, two pounds of jasmine rice, and one or two other items. I got out of there spending only $17 for nine items which felt like victory. It felt less triumphant when I got home and discovered several packages of gnocchi already in the pantry that has fallen into disorganization and disarray. That didn't take long, but my pastime lately is grocery shopping and not grocery displays.

The store was full of adult couples loudly discussing their shopping items like they were determining the fate of the world. One guy wase badgering his companion with the repeated question, "What did you come here for?" I wanted to jump in and say "Dude, chill the heck out. The store is new here, do any of us even know what they have or where to find it?" I held my tongue and continued my careful squeeze through the too-narrow aisles. You can barely squeak two carts through the aisles without crashing and it's like they set up to maximize the display space while creating the perfect environment for fisticuffs.