Long Lines in Grocery Stores

At the Greenbriar Kroger and  grocery stores across the nation long, long lines now (and all day) after the federal government released WIC and food stamp payments for February.  Could have  avoided these lines if I had realized this impact.

And since it is late in the day, items as eggs and some produce (including kale) were sold out!  Lots of bare shelves around the store.  Yet another unintended consequence of the federal government shutdown over the past 25 days.

Thanks Kroger for calling in more workers!!

Tropical Storm Irma Pics

In these three pics, we see a huge tree that fell away from the house earlier today. This homeowner on DeLowe Drive must have a guardian angel!

In anticipation of today’s severe weather, a state of emergency was called in Georgia for today and tomorrow.  With that comes the closing of all schools (K-12), colleges and universities, state and local government offices, and most businesses.  Many of which are without power today.

Power has been out in large sections of metro Atlanta, including my home, with few exceptions. The latest report is 1.4 million metro residents are without power until tomorrow. That includes traffic signals being out and those intersections being treated as a four-way stop.

Continuous heavy rain and high winds make driving conditions extremely dangerous.

While generators are busy keeping Home Depot on Research Drive, near Cascade Road and I-285, they are already out of most battery sizes.  Others areas around Lithonia, Decatur, Greenbriar Mall, Ben Hill, Campbellton Road, and East Point are in the dark. That includes the local 24-hour Kroger at Greenbriar.  😦

Both the Citco and Valero gas stations at DeLowe Drive and Allison Court were open for business.

To the delight of locals who dared to venture out driving to find batteries, flashlights, candles and food after it was announced that power may not be restored until tomorrow because there are so many trees down on powers lines.  And, some of our power company people may have been sent to the Florida and Georgia (Jekyll Island, Savannah) east coasts before it was known that Irma would turn to cause destruction along the West Florida Coast (Tampa, St. Petersburg, Ft. Myers) and the pan handle.

Then Irma, continued north and died down to a “tropical storm” as it travelled across Georgia today.  It has lowered temperatures to the low 60’s, packed 40-60mph winds blowing torrential rain sideways, saturating tree roots, and loosening the ground around top-heavy trees that easily fell over.  Unfortunately, two people have died from this so far.  One person was in their car while the other was in their home when the trees came crashing down.

Hunker down in place, relax, and stay safe!

How the Amazon Purchase of Whole Foods Affects You

Whether you shop at a Whole Foods or not, what Amazon is about to do with its’ newly acquired 500 plus stores affects you.  According to Melody Hobson of Ariel Capital Management and the TJMS “Money Monday’s” segment (on Atlanta’s KISS 104.1 FM), these 500 stores are located in America’s riches zip codes.  That combined with its’ five million Amazon Prime customers gives it leverage to change the grocery store business and affect how and where you shop.

Cincinnati based Kroger recently lowered their grocery prices and eliminated their 5%  senior discount on Wednesdays.  In an all out price war with Walmart, Kroger is not satisfied with their 9% market share.  Being the nation’s largest retailer, Walmart has 20% of the grocery market.

Here is the link for Melody’s segment about Amazon.  It will broaden your vision on how Amazon is aggressively increasing their market share and changing how we buy everything.  Now they are focusing on groceries which will affect the entire industry:

Money Mondays: How Amazon Just Made Groceries A ‘Whole’ Lot Cheaper