Supermarket drops discount day
(CNS): Shopperswho have become accustomed to getting cut price groceries will be disappointed when they visit Hurley’s supermarket after tomorrow as the store is discontinuing is long standing 10% Off Wednesday Promotion. After eight years Hurley’s management said it could no longer offer the discount as a result of rising operational costs. The cancellation of the long standing promotion by the local grocer will come into effect on Wednesday 26 May. The promotion which provided customers with a 10 percent storewide discount on all groceries every Wednesday began after Hurley’s opened their Grand Harbour store location
Owner Randy Merren said the company was disappointed but “with ever-increasing operational costs” the decision had been made to cut the discount day.
“While we are disappointed that this program must end, it lasted for more than eight years,” he pointed out. “Hurley’s is committed to providing our loyal customers with additional ways to save through our Advantage Reward Card Program, which was launched in January of this year. Hurley’s now has several thousand active cards. Each time a customer makes a purchase they earn points that can be redeemed for gifts.”
He said the store would soon be launching a new ‘Eat for $8!’ meal deal and there would still be weekly sale items on the store’s flyer.
Category: Business
This food debate turned nasty! The food here is awful but those that don’t know better probably live in blissful ignorance. We have to accept that while we are here stockpiling cash, we are living far away from civilization and culture and accept it. Just keep your mind on the cash while you chew the tasteless meat. And chew some more. And some more.
I will still shop at Hurleys. The quality is better than some other options, even though the price is much higher. You get what you pay for. The fact is that in Cayman, everything is much more expensive (then the UK, Canada, US etc.) no matter which way you look at it – its part of the cost of living here. We do not pay taxes (well, yet…) but we make up for it in other ways. In regards to the Famers Market, I would absoluely love to shop there! Unfortunately it is only open on Saturday mornings and I work. So too bad for me. Having said that, the local fishermen are great and are open all the time. Their seafood is the best! Sorry Hurleys, local fishermen win on you there. : )
Hurleys thank you for the 8 years of discounts and specials.Everyone has to tighten their belt in these dire economic times.
I will continue to stick with you. I will bypass those with the narrow aisles and loud clientele. I will stick with quality service, products and staff.
go to the FARMERS MARKET in SAVANNAH and support FRESH LOCALLY GROWN produce.
The prices and quality are great !
I must have been at a different Farmer’s market in Savannah then. Because the one I went to was ridiculously overpriced and only stocked a small range of products that I could actually buy in any supermarket for 1/3 of the price.
I would always prefer to support local traders and growers but will not be ripped off.
Interestingly enough the locally grown tomatoes at Hurleys yesterday were the exact same per lb price as the imported ones. So why bother? I would be happy to buy them but they are going to need to be better value for money first. Seems like everyone trying to make a quick buck, local farmers included, which is why they will never make it. If it’s local, it must be cheaper, end of story.
That’s exactly my point raised previously on similar topics – how can locally grown produce cost the same or more than what they import? How can they justify such prices?
A lot of it is going to be economy of scale. The price of produce grown off island will benefit from large factory farms, cheap, often illegal labor, and often government subsidies. It can be very difficult for small farmers even local ones to compete.
I like the Farmers market, but it is a drive to get to and it seems to end earlier and earlier every week. If you get there at 10 am there is no produce left.
They’ve been doing the farmers market at Camana Bay every so often and thats quite nice, it’s in the afternoon and evening.
1. Less overall production, so very dissimilar economies of scale
2. Higher wages for workers
3. Higher cost of fertilizer, land, equipment, etc
If the costs the same why not buy local? You’re supporting the local economy and keeping the money here.
I had local beef last week from hurleys and the quality was very very poor. I try to eat local food but not if the quality suffers. The imported rubbish is bad enough.
I’m sorry, when was the UK ever known as a culinary superstar? Mushypeas anyone?
I do agree that the bread selection is horrible, but that’s because I’m used to the lovely bread we could get in NY (part of the unsophisticated taste of America), have you ever been to a Wegmans or Traders joes?
I don’t think the poster was suggesting the UK was a culinary superstar. All the poster said was that the supermarkets here are pretty crappy in comparison to those in the UK – and he/she is 100% right. I absolutely agree that this is the case. The product selection, quality and prices here leave a lot to be desired. See for yourself:
http://www.waitrose.com/index.aspx
http://www.tesco.com/
Well exactly, I think we all know the UK is no culinary superstar.
I was surprised that someone who’s cuisine includes chips placed between 2 slices of bread, (not that there is anything wrong with that, I just wouldn’t call it particulary sophisticated) would generalize about the overall quality and sophistication of American tastes.
"largely because the supermarkets cater for the unsophisticated tastes of the American mass consumer (mass in every sense of the word)."
Funny how English chefs are so popular in the States like Gordon Ramsey and Jamie Oliver yet American chefs don’t get a look in outside the states. Could it be that Amecians chefs only cater to their own tastes, being huge burgers and fried chicken.
Most English food is indeed very bland but there is a better selection of foods available in an average English supermarket than either in Cayman or in the States. Sorry but that is a fact.
This was not a point about comparative cuisines (a hackneyed debate if there ever was one), but rather the produce readily available in the larger supermarkets. The US tends to have delis or specialist high end retailers which provide some respite from the blandness of American supermarket fare. Alas we don’t have that option in Cayman. And yes the Trader Joe’s and other such establishments do rival the quality of a Waitrose but they are exceptional in the US (generally in places that don’t vote Republican – I wonder what that says about Republicans).
People’s political views generally don’t tend to influence their grocery shopping. I’ll spend some time tonight and research Trader Joe’s location and the affluence of the neighborhood. I’ll post back some info.
It’s always nice to have some facts to back up random assumptions or personal points of view!
One of the most depressing things about Cayman for someone moving from the UK is the food in the supermarkets. Rubberised, over processed, low quality, taste optional produce.
Decent cheese – nowhere.
Prosciutto – we only get the tasteless rubber substitute,
Bread – yuck.
One walk around a Waitrose or a Tesco just reminds one of what a culinary wasteland Cayman is, largely because the supermarkets cater for the unsophisticated tastes of the American mass consumer (mass in every sense of the word).
AND PLEASE GET SOME REDCURRANT JELLY!!!!!
I absolutely agree.
Cayman should be growing its own fresh fruit and veg and the stores should be buying this for their shelves rather than importing over processed, force-riped, pesticide and chemical-ridden crap that we’re currently given to choose from. I definitely hear you on the cheese, and why do they always have pork in their beans? … and what I would do for a roll of Andrex, LOL!
Why don’t you go to the farmers market on Saturday to buy fresh veggies? Perhaps if more people would go out there and support it, more local grown fruits, veggies etc would be sold and more vendors would be encouraged to set up a stall and sell there products.
Because unfortunately I live miles away and travel by public transport. Whilst its possible to get off the bus near there, its a heck of a long walk up. Once you’re loaded up with vegetables (which I agree are excellent quality and price there) I’m afraid with my bad back, its simply too heavy to carry all the shopping back to the main road to catch the bus home again. If the supermarkets were to sell the same produce rather than import from abroad, I would gladly buy it as I can take a bus to and from any supermarket without a problem.
Bet if it were free booze you would find a way to get there?!
No. I don’t drink alcohol so if they had free booze I would be far less likely to go actually.
MMM. Redcurrant jelly. Need some.
Kirk’s have a permanently empty section of a shelf which purports to be where they have it. Fosters does not have it at all.
How many Americans do you think shop in these stores, especially Hurley’s as there aren’t many weekly rental places around!
Maybe it is just inexpensive, quickly prepared foods that are available for families of two working parents.
Sorry they don’t carry fresh Foie Gras for you either — XXXXXXX Why don’t you just fly your special supplies in and have one of your helpers go pick it up at customs.
How RUDE!!! Go back to the UK then!!
if you dont like it then, go on back to tesco’s and waitrose………….. as they say when in rome, do as the romans do, so stop your whinging………
Hold on a minute ya now. And yes, let me put this to you exactly how we would say it to you because I know it won’t be long before someone jumps on the band wagon about illiteracy and spelling but look ya, dis is our islandanddis is deh way we do things.
But getting back to your whining about the food in the supermarkets now. So because you chose to move here, we’re supposed to run off and cater to your every need a wha? No one begged you to come here and maybe you should’ve investigated all areas of availability before leaving the UK. Obviously, food is very important to you so maybe if you had buddies that arrvied before you with the same arrogant attitude, then you should’ve listened to their experiences and went somewhere else. You nah easy! You know wha u do? Go United States and walk into one of their major supermarkets with your bloody complaints about what they have to offer. I dont think they would give you the time of day.
You need to remember that you are a visitor here so be humble and appreciative and if you are unhappy with the food here or whatever else it is you find so inconvenient about the island, I know that big as* plane I see coming in and out of ya gah enough seats to hold ya. Cha!
Perhaps, just perhaps, that big as* plane has so many empty seats because of people like you who make this an unpleasant place for tourists to come to?
Enjoy your agouti, it will soon be all you have left.
Well, perhaps, just perhaps, you might have some soldier crab fat left when the time comes. We can still survive off the land you know. And we don’t have to whine about not finding jellies in the stores here. We make our own.
That’s where you are wrong buddy. The land is ours now, you sold it to us. Soon we will have filled it all with concrete and asphalt. Woohahahaha.
Twas greed that led to the demise of Cayman
I have absolutely no idea what this man is saying.
]However I doubt that he has much recent experience of the foodstuffs available at Tescos and Waitrose so he has nothing to contribute to the discussion of the comparative merits of the food available in Cayman, the US and the UK other than hot air.
now da wha ah tlk’n bo’ut, mon!…… if u co’m ya’w, tri eat su’m cassava child it mek yah fe’el good, ya nawh!…..
If any of the supermarkets stocked redcurrant jelly then I would probably go there for all my shopping. I have not seen it in a store in Cayman in the last four years.
My God, what a tragedy, Redcurrant Jelly Please. I feel your pain.
As a UK immigrant, I can’t believe this horse manure. Or is it English irony and I am missing it? If it’s not irony, then Jesus Wept.
Here you go. Order your own.
https://www.jollygrub.com/OnLineStore1/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=32_42_7&products_id=208
Pit Bull:
I am from the UK. Your comments are total (pit) bull crap. I have lived here "donkey years" and can’t believe your stupid ignorant comments. Are you just trying to be limey and disagreeable to make people respond to your condescending views about Cayman and the US?
Ah Waitrose and Tesco! And redcurrent jelly! And, Christ, Marmite is so expensive here, my dear! Why ever did we leave the UK?
Spit!
I doubt you are from the UK the way you write – Brits would not say "bull crap", would know its "donkey’s years" or "donkey’s" not "donkey year" and the English don’t tend to call themselves "limeys".
Even assuming you are from the UK, since you can’t spell "redcurrant" and have apparently lived here so long that you have no experience of the revolution in supermarket quality in the UK the last few years then I don’t think you have much to say on this topic.
Personally, I accept that living in a cultural backwater has its drawbacks. From the way you post you probably never had much by way of cultural exposure anywhere or anytime.
Spit the Dog!
I just gave you a thumbs up for your robust response to my post and the fact it gave me a laugh! I just wish you knew who I was! The use of bull crap and donkey year was deliberate misleading on my part. The mispelling of redcurrant was my not deliberate mistake. I am indeed a limey-those of us here a long time with Caymanian friends/spouses are not so sensitive as the more recent arrivals.I am aware the food in the UK is better than when I grew up there -thank God- as I return and have returned regularly for over three decades. The UK as a whole is much better and much worse than in my day….just like Cayman.
My first degree is English (despite redc….). I have two others (yawn). All three are from "ancient universities". Not a red brick among them. If you are a young English person, you may not even understand these terms. Ah so it go! (That was a little bit of West Indian for you)
I still get pissed off (note the UK term not the US one "pissed"-something different in Blighty) at the nasty "Brit" attitudes to Cayman displayed over even simple stuff like redc….jelly. And, come on, the food is not so crap as some of the posters claim. Or is it that they all live high on the hog in South Sound, Yacht Club, etc etc pretending to lament the fact that they can’t get everything just as it was "back in the UK", when in fact "back in the UK" life was fairly humdrum for them as opposed to their new life here.When I first arrived, we used to laugh about the fact that "bank clerks" in England when they were recruited and arrived here to work, suddenly became "trust officers". Their behaviour – and that of their wives – quickly reflected the change.
No personal offence, Spit the Dog! I could write a lot about your last paragraph but what would be the point?
Spit the Dog wags his tail in response, but still eyes "anonymous" with some suspicion.
A chocolate treat might calm Spit, but it better not be that waxy American pseudo-chocolate . . . .
Glad to see the tail wagging, Spit the Dog! Your suspicion is misplaced but understandable. We agree on American chocolate – amazingly enough! The only chocolate treat I would be prepared to offer is a Cadbury’s one (now owned by Kraft, for God’s sake). I bend to no one in my love of Cadbury’s milk chocolate – any kind – and note with resentment the European Union’s onslaught some time back about its not being real chocolate etc etc. But then, I am just an old reactionary who still prefers his gin from a green bottle, in brave defiance of the EU and its nonsense.
And cranberry sauce that is not a "jelly" in a tin. How ghastly is that tinned stuff?
Prices at Cost U Less are great. They also bring in great stuff. I found their prices are very very competitive and in some cases very much cheaper than other major super markets. People should check this out by themselves.
The former FS Kenneth Jefferson must have been their Accountant. Isn’t this the same (and only) supermarket that would support a discount to the Civil Service as suggested by the Premier…boy.. how we provide lip service until we get a reality check.
Well, Mr. Merren you better had recovered that operational some other way, because with the Civil Service having to undergo a pay cut and the already high amount of unemployment, I am much afraid your business will take a big lick. With the rising costs and less earning power families will become more conservative shoppers, so your prices better be competative otherwise you will get pushed out of business.
Hurleys, I have been a customer for 10 years. I am sorry to hear that you have taken this action. I am afraid I will have to take my business up the road to Fosters as this was the one thing you had going for you.
Actually this is a sign things are picking up. Stores only put their prices up when they think the customer can stand it. Must be a sign sales are picking up.
Operational cost is effecting everyone!
Senior Frogs is closing down too. Last week they announced it!
Good.
Senor Frogs and the other GT bars only really cater to cruiseshippers and forget their local client base that reside here.
If these places appreciated their potentially long term clients and offered some attractive promotions to get us in the doors they would be in less trouble.
XXXXXXX
What da H@#%& is going on in this island everything going up rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer Cayman is heading in bad direction am i am really worried or trouble by what i am seeing.
Given your post, perhaps the reason you are on the wrong side of the line is your obvious illiteracy.
This little dinosaur studied hard and now is bringing home the dino-bacon. Sweet delicious dino-bacon.
Dicklodocus we’re not a school and you are not grading a pupil’s papers – get a life!
Njoy your bacon.
Absolutely Agree, I couldn’t agree with you more! I dont know what’s the big deal if some posters don’t write like others that boast and brag about how much they studied.
Dicklodocus, you go on deh eating all dat bacon. You must be one of dem I see huffin and puffin on deh road every morning before daylight trying to walk off the result of dat same bacon that unna big time degrees are allowing unna to bring home. And by the way, if you can’t understand some of what I just typed, ask a real down to earth Caymanian to read it for you!