Farmer's Bounty

[teko.livejournal.com]

A lot of people mourned the potential loss of Farmer's Bounty after this earlier post; I'd recommend you stop in soon if you're one of those people, because it sadly won't be around much longer. A visit yesterday revealed empty shelves and dwindling stocks. The guy behind the counter said that the place will be closed before the end of the month. I asked what was happening, and he said he had no idea, "but I hear some dude on the internet says that we're becoming a frozen yogurt place."

Comments

[ron_newman]

I heard second-hand (via Brandon Wilson) that the owner claims his business dropped off after CVS opened.

This doesn't make any sense to me, because I can't think of anything that his store sells (fresh fruits and vegetables, British and Indian food, beer) that CVS also sells.

[enveri.livejournal.com]

The one time I went in there, the cashier was yelling at another customer because he bumped into some cereal boxes and they were no longer lined up perfectly. It was a pretty off putting experience and I never went back.

I suspect things like that hurt his business far more than CVS.

[makoshark.livejournal.com]

The one thing I see a lot of people in FB buying (like in front of me in line) is lottery tickets. Do you think that CVS sells those?

[ron_newman]

I guess I've been lucky never to encounter that at Farmer's Bounty. (I hate when it happens at Tedeschi's.) I don't remember if CVS sells them.

[maelithil.livejournal.com]

I don't get the love for Farmer's Bounty, sorry. Couple times I stopped in to buy something on the way home they had expired wares on the shelves and expired milk in the fridge. Ugh.

Pemberton's is just down the street and has great produce. I know it's not in the square proper, but I have no need of a closer sub-par grocery joint when I can walk a block or two and find everything I need at Pemberton's (or Dave's, in the opposite direction).

[ron_newman]

I like Pemberton's but its produce is much more expensive than Farmer's Bounty.

[teko.livejournal.com]

I've half-jokingly said to friends that Farmer's Bounty went downhill after they stopped doing their Sunday Special, but I'm not really joking anymore -- that seems like it was the end of them being a cozy neighborhood market and the start of a new, off-putting, intense attitude. I've been in there before and felt almost hassled when I didn't buy beer. "Don't you want any beer? Didn't you look at it? You should spend more time looking at it! We have so much beer!". I've also gotten weird comments from the owner while perusing the Indian/British food like "I think the food YOU want is in a different area."

(When I first moved here, Farmer's Bounty had a big sign in the window for their Sunday Special: a dozen eggs, a pound of bacon, a quart of orange juice, and a Sunday paper for something like $10.)

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

Yeah -- I once bought bell peppers and couscous and before I checked out, the guy who was at the counter wanted to make sure I wasn't cooking them together, because , apparently, only college students cook like that, and I look like a more mature woman and should know better. Hey, thanks for the 17 insults in once sentence! And like the commenter above, I have also had trouble finding non-expired stuff on their shelves.

[wallacestreet.livejournal.com]

My understanding is that FB was sold a few years ago. Certainly the faces behind the counter changed at that time. I think I date its decline (including a big reduction in the cool British candy selection) to that transition.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Oh, I didn't know that -- that makes a *lot* of sense. Thank you for that info!

[squirrelitude]

This makes sense -- there used to be a different (better) produce and dry goods selection. I don't really have any use for them now.

[trtls.livejournal.com]

I will miss FB, I stop in occasionally to buy fruit for my kids when we are out instead of packaged food. I was hoping that selling beer would help, but it's far too close to Downtown.

[etana.livejournal.com]

I agree with this. I once bought salad (in one of those plastic containers) that was gross. Also hummus that was expired. Their' spice packets aren't great. Every time I've walked in (in the past 12 months or so) I've walked out, rarely with a purchase.

You can get some produce at McKinnon's too....

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

I used to drop in pretty frequently, usually for last minute dinner supplies (oh crap out of pasta AGAIN), and never had any of the bad customer service other people here are reporting. (they're also closer to me than McKinnon's, and open later)

But I haven't been in much over the last year because the selection of stuff I tended to buy (eggs, pasta, other random items) got thinner and less appealing :\

I will also miss the fact that they sold pomegranate wine that was quite tasty!

[makoshark.livejournal.com]

I live in the center of the square and it was the go-to place to go for some veggie or other grocery we needed while cooking. I still go to FB a few times a week and quite like the place. Their prices were good, their prices on Opa-Opa Growlers was much cheaper than Downtown, and they were open later than any place other than Shaws. Daves and Pemberton each close hours earlier and Shaws is large, impersonal, and comparatively quite far away.

I never noticed any real attitude and generally speaking, I thought the stuff they sold was pretty good. I'm really going to miss them. :-(

[ron_newman]

They've still got plenty of Opa-Opa; in fact, it's the only beer they still sell.

[ron_newman]

I stopped by today to buy bananas, broccoli, and grapes (which aren't available at the Armory Farmers' Market). While there, I took a look at their beer section, or what's left of it. The only brand of beer they still sell is Opa-Opa, in a variety of flavors and sizes (including some growlers).

[fishkiss56.livejournal.com]

I'm suprised no one has mentioned McKinnon's as an alternative to Farmer's Bounty. I've found that as the quality of produce declines at FB, it's improved and expanded at McKinnon's. If you can get past the smell of raw meet when you first go in, I think a vegetarian would be relatively satisfied with the selection there. Certainly cheaper than either Dave's or Pembertons.

[etana.livejournal.com]

and they have great cheese selections!!! and they let you try the meat at the deli and help you pick one if all you ever like is Boar's Head and they don't carry it! I <3 McKinnon's and I rarely buy meat! :)

[mega-tsunami.livejournal.com]

The Somerville Theatre used to play Bollywood and Hindi films for a long time up until 3-4 years ago. Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons would fill Davis with suburban folks coming to catch a flick... and FB served those customers for their Indian + South Asian treats, groceries. Not all of the reason, but maybe some of it.