When I came to Bangalore last October' I had no clue from where I should buy my grocery. Having spent most of my married life in Delhi I was used to shopping at the wholesale market.....quite a few of Banglorean's laughed when I mentioned that.
The only option which kept screaming at me was the Big Bazaar ads - Isse sasta....kahin Nahin. So one Saturday all of us trudged to the store(near Forum).As we walked in we realized it was more than a store ,it was a battlefield.....no different from the whole sale markets we used to buy in Delhi. People were literally pushing and shoving to buy stuff. Almost everything was available - sabse sasta - I was not sure. But after spending 3 hrs and more than 3000 bucks I was really exhausted and I wished I could have a beer. No such luck....but by a stroke of luck the cashier charged us Rs 65 for a 2kg Surf Excel - which was actually the cost of the free container. So unintentionally I saved 250/-
My next stop was Subhiksha(next month). Why? As they keep saying in retail Location Location Location.......Subhiksha (there are 2 of the within a radius of 2/3 km). Less said the better. Out of a list of 25 items we could just buy 5 items and this was true in both the outlets. I don't think I will ever walk in into that store again. For once location failed and inventory / supply chain won :-)
Then I visited Fabmall - the impression I went with was "let me try it out...". I was quite amazed by the neatness ,speed of billing, helpful stuff and some interesting innovation like a basket of regular items - dal / chawal / masala etc which saved us 20 minutes.........For once we felt everything fell in place.
No ,it does not end there.....after 6 months last week I went to the Big Bazaar at the old madras road and was quite amazed by the experience. Neat and clean - 11/12 billing counters - 4-5 floors with never ending variety for all - escalators - samosas / pizza / milk shake......still no beer....but I know it's not too far.
