Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

Since the pandemic, I’ve been a pretty consistent Giant Eagle shopper, predominantly using Curbside Express or Home Delivery. I like supporting a locally owned company, a unionized company, and a company that includes people with disabilities in their workforce. I know the financial prices might be higher, but those things are prices we pay or don’t as well.

It does make me snicker when folx say “Giant Eagle is high” meaning the prices are high. Ah, Pittsburgh.

I have limited access to a car. I have a vehicle, but I have to avoid stopping on hills and she uses a lot of diesel so I have to be conscientious.

I previously reviewed Giant Eagle in 2018 and 2019, . and you can read every post we’ve ever written about Giant Eagle.

Curbside and Home Delivery

Curbside Express is pretty much the same. The big difference is to pre-tip the shopper, but it is a service like any other. I know that when i have a special request or complicated last-minute ask, I appreciate them!

Home Delivery has changed a little bit. Drivers must leave items at the curb, not offer to come inside which I think is a very good policy. On the downside, I can no longer select my store – I have to use the one they assign to me. Why the South Hills Market District is assigned to Manchester I do not know. But stores have different inventories so I’d like to control that for myself.

Both services contact the customer by text during the shopping itself. There can be bumps with that system – sometimes I don’t get a text but there is a substitution. But that’s probably not the worst thing in the world. I’ve found the shoppers are more than willing to go back to pick up something for me or the front “desk” Curbside person will do that.

The fee for Home Delivery is $9.99. An Uber would cost well more than $20. I try to be judicious in what I purchase to minimize trips and orders.

Another downside is that they use SO MANY plastic bags. I assume they pack at they go which makes sense, but they don’t repack at the end so I have eggs in a bag, lunch meat in a bag, milk in a bag, yogurt in a bag, etc. The former retail cashier in me winces.

Mobile Market

Something new-to-me is the Giant Eagle Mobile Market – a big tractor trailer converted into a grocery store with just about everything you might need, perhaps not the brand you prefer. They send these to food deserts and Manchester on the Northside is such a spot. We have a little bodega and a 7-11 (technically in Chateau) and that’s it. There’s a Giant Eagle in East Allegheny and one in Brighton Heights as well as a little Kuhns in Brighton Heights. If you don’t have a car, that’s like going to the moon. There’s a bus that comes down Allegheny or maybe Brighton and heads that direction, but that’s a walk home with groceries.

I have reasons why taking a bus or walking long distances is a bit difficult for me. As do other people I’m sure.

Our mobile market is Saturday afternoon. Last week, I was able to get the following: deli sliced lunch meat, oat milk, watermelon cubes (discounted), a pear, a peach, an orange (also discounted), three kinds of pumpkin cookies – including my favorite, a prepared turkey meal, GE orange juice, ground coffee, and a few other things I can’t bring to mind. The lunch meat is exactly what I would have purchased in the store and the oat milk is my preferred brand.

There’s a ton of other things I didn’t need – sugar, sour cream, eggs, bread, mixes, jars, ice cream, ground beef, chicken breasts, spices, cereal. They claim they have 700 items. I can see it. There are specials and produce can be marked way down.

There’s a ramp to enter and exit the market, with a handrail and an employee to offer assistance if needed. You can bring your own bags or use theirs.

The downside is that they don’t communicate over social media if there’s a schedule change, often due to parking limits. The other downside are the parking constraints due to Pitt football games or other big Saturday afternoon events at the stadiums.

This is how Heinz Field and PNC Park Can Help

It has been suggested that neighbors put out parking cones the night before. Not a bad idea. Maybe Giant Eagle could donate the parking cones with plenty of stickers. Technically, they aren’t legal but they are a time honored Manchester tradition. Violaters beware.

Actually, Heinz Field/PNC Park should address this. They could handle the parking permitting with the City and set out sawhorses each weekend. It would take 45 minutes tops. Maybe they could be stored in the MCC parking lot or a nearby church lot. If they put up No Parking permit signs (issued by the City), the game day towing companies could enforce.

Free Delivery Zones

There’s more … I learned that Giant Eagle offers FREE DELIVERY to those of us who lives in the mobile market neighborhoods. I just placed my first order tonight for delivery in the AM. THey claim they can deliver within four hours. They decide what store to use so the selection is a little limited but again for the basics – it is fantastic, At least, I hope.

I intend to finish and publish this post after that’s delivered. So I have thrown tense out the window.

UPDATE – my free delivery groceries arrived promptly, packed in paper bags as I requested. There was only one item they were out of, but offered me substitutes. The delivery came from the Swissvale GE. This is a great service for folx like me on limited incomes.

It is important for Northsiders to patronize the mobile-market so we don’t lose it. It is not just for “poor people” as there are no restrictions about who can enter. It is very clean and organized. Make it a habit to get your milk and bread there on Saturdays. You’ll be helping a lot of neighbors. Also poor people deserve clean, organized, accessible, and friendly shopping experiences, too.

My suggestions

The issue of bags is certainly an annoyance. I’ve proposed this before, but here goes again. Giant Eagle can pack groceries in a new tote bag and the customer pays a deposit, not a fee. Like in olden times when we puts deposits on pop bottles. So if I need five bags, I put down $5.00.

When I return the five bags, the deposit is credit to me. But wait, can they use used bags? No, they cannot. But 412 Food Rescue and Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank CAN. So I return my bags, Giant Eagle donates them for the credit and the glory, and I either remember my own bags or the process starts again. The Advantage cards makes these transactions easy to track.

Give Home Delivery folx a few store options. Or explain your choices. Why on earth did they assign me to a store in Bethel Park when there are two Market Districts and two big stores, probably more several miles closer to me?

There’s a technical glitch that causes the payment page not to load. I’ve called several times. Yes, I cleared my cookies and tried multiple devices, multiple wi-fi sources, etc. I turn my ad blocker off. I turn off my VPN. I turned around, touched the ground, and banged my forehead against my laptop. Finally, I discovered that I could use Firefox to get through. I don’t know why. But someone does. I’d like that to be explained to me because it just started the past few months.

The inventory issue. There’s no reason the Curbside website can’t show the inventory. I’ve had weeks when they were out of so many of items, I canceled. Or I was just annoyed. Everything that goes in and out of that store is scanned by some device. So they should be able to say “As of the end of business day on Sunday September August 7, we have 12 bottles of orange juice left.” The other option is to price match. They never price match.

Finally, there is the matter of the lady locks. Giant Eagle has two types – the prepackaged kind with a black Styrofoam backing, a soft flaky crust, and shelf stable cream filling. They also have ‘French Twirls’ at the Market District bakeries – a slightly more crisp shell, cream filling, and jimmies, the type of pastry most of us associate with lady locks. After extensive research, I have learned that these are shipped in each week and stores in the freezer – the bakery staff fill them with cream and decorate. I have also learned that I can call ahead to the bakery, order the quantity I desire, and ask my shopper to pick them up. It took me months to get this information.

‘French Twirls’ should be available at all major stores. I will die on this hill. Those flaky things with that pasty cream like Prantl’s uses are just subpar. And one more than one occasion, I have found one or two tucked amidst the real thing to make up an even number. I see you, deceptive bakery person.

Giant Eagle customer service is pretty good except for the IT problem and they are trying. I suggest getting a freshman intern from CMU, but … I’ve had small hiccups that they fix. I don’t begin to understand the point system, but points are points. Now that I don’t shop at Target, Wal-Mart, or Sam’s, I buy more household goods at GE.

I know Aldi shoppers are loyalists and God Speed. Kuhn’s shopper are also diehard. I don’t love them because the owners are uber-Catholics who support the LIttle Sisters of the Poor – the group that took birth control away from Obamacare. Keep religion out of the grocery store. There’s no Foodland or Shop ‘n Save near me, but I like them fine. Trader Joe’s is beyond my means.

Things to remember

Support the mobile market if it comes to your neighborhood.

Look into free delivery if you live in those neighborhoods.

Sometimes a lady lock is a gussied up French Twirl. Not a tart, but not a lady, either.