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The Panera Era Begins

10 Nov

Panera Bread has finally opened up in the space formerly occupied by Zathmary’s.

Now, I know you’re not supposed to embrace national chain stores opening up in Coolidge Corner, but as these types of places go, I have to say I think Panera makes a great addition to the area. After all, it’s hard to get too upset about a new chain opening when it’s one like Panera and not a new McDonald’s or another coffee place.

Between this and the Citibank and Qdoba next door, they’ve given new life to that chunk of the sidewalk with their clean, modern looks, and I welcome a new food option that actually offers good food, as opposed to the unhealthy Quizno’s or the cramped unworthiness of Finagle-a-Bagel. Continue reading →

Maybe They’re Just Really Messy Eaters …

16 Sep

As I’ve previously written, there is perhaps no greater source for comedy — not including my apartment building — than the Shaw’s in Allston on Comm Ave. It’s like the place is a Bermuda Triangle for common sense (and common decency, but let’s stay positive here for a change).

To wit: Tonight at around 6:30, I got in the line to self-check-out. In a different self-checkout line was a mother with her young son, wheeling a full shopping cart filled with … napkins. I counted as the son slid the 180-count packages of Marcal napkins across the scanner and the total was 10. Ten packs of 180 napkins. Now, I don’t know how many people there are in their family, but based on what else was in their cart, I have to believe these two don’t run a small business or have a large family. So I ask, what do they need with 1,800 napkins? Perhaps they’ll use them to wipe up the case of iced tea bottles they bought. Or to clean their hands after preparing the ground beef they bought. Or maybe, just maybe, they’re having a really big party, or inviting all of Allston to dinner. I don’t know. Either way, it’s not like napkins don’t ever go on sale. I buy a package and it lasts for a few months. Sometime between now and when they finish, oh, let’s say the second package, I’m sure they’ll see the same ones on sale again. And also, if they were going to buy 10 packages of napkins — again, a total of 1,800 napkins — why didn’t they just go to Costco?

Of course, what was additionally funny was — well, take your pick. Was it watching the mother just stand there while her son scanned all the packages, never quite knowing where the UPC symbol was, even though it was in the same place on every single package(!!!) and then scrambling to put them into shopping bags even though they all couldn’t fit on the shelf? Or was it seeing this twosome leave the store, and struggle to carry all those napkins and the case of iced tea and the ground beef and all the other stuff they bought. I guess they hadn’t seen the pick-up option? (No, I didn’t laugh at the fact that these two were on a line that had a 15-item limit, and they clearly had more than 15 items.)

Shaw’s, that great big melting pot of age, culture, attractiveness, and intellect. When will the laughs end?

Is Summer Over Already?

19 Aug

Everyone has their favorite way of marking when seasons change. For example, does summer end on Labor Day? On September 1? On September 21? On Rosh Hashannah? When baseball season ends? When the Red Sox’ season ends? When football season begins? When the new TV season begins? Well, if you look around, you may see signs that summer is coming to a close are all around.

One of the biggest is that the gate to the parking lot at the Allston Shaw’s on Comm Ave. is now closed and you need to get a ticket before entering. When the college kids leave town, Shaw’s opens the gate permanently and laxes the restrictions on parking in the lot. But the gate going down means the students are returning. And sure enough, there were plenty of them all over Shaw’s Sunday night. Ugh. It means do your grocery shopping earlier (by all means, before 4pm on Sundays). It means the streets and the T are going to get more crowded. It means … summer is ending soon.

Another is my annual excursion with Dave and Scott (and their families) to Rye Playland and T.G.I. Friday’s. We started doing it back in 1992 before we (and five other friends) left for college, and we’ve made it a tradition to go sometime in August every year. This past Saturday we rode the Dragon Coaster and all the other rides for the 16th straight year. (Sixteen!) Amazing, I thought, that we’ve been going there that long and the park is basically exactly the same as it was when we first started going. It means people still enjoy an old-fashioned good time. It means Dave, Scott, and I are all still in touch. And it also means … summer is ending soon.

And then there’s the whole moving thing. My apartment building is emptying out. It’s largely because of the excessive increase in rent, and I’ve heard that come September 1, the place will only be about half full. That’s crazy. My across-the-hall neighbor is gone (bummer). My next-door neighbor (the loud one I don’t like) is gone (woo hoo!). Who knows who’s moving in (or when I’ll be moving out as well), but it means the place is going to be quieter for a little while. It means I have a better chance of doing my laundry whenever I want (for at least a couple weeks). It means soon there may be new people moving in — here and in other buildings all across the city. It means … summer is ending soon.

But living in Boston, I choose to go with the Head of the Charles as my marker for the end of summer. After all, the season starts late so it should end late too, and while the temperatures do get cooler in late September and early October, there’s always at least one weekend where we get a last gasp of warm weather. It means there’s still plenty to look forward to. It means there’s no need to worry. It means … summer isn’t ending just yet.

Calling All Nannies!

16 Aug

I received a press release from the Weinstein Company this afternoon alerting me that to promote the new movie The Nanny Diaries, which hits theaters next Friday (8/24), companies around the country have banded together to create Nanny Week, and to offer special discounts to those who toil each day supervising children. How nice, right? Well, the cool thing is, why limit the promotion to just those few people? So the coupons — which are good at places like Baskin-Robbins, Blockbuster, and Victoria’s Secret — are available to anyone, no proof of child supervision required. Click here to check it out. The promotion and coupons are only good from tomorrow (8/17) to next Friday, so don’t wait too long to take advantage. Enjoy!

Geek City

14 Aug

As the saying goes, If You Lived Here, You’d Be Blogging Right Now. I read in the Boston Globe this morning that according to the Web site Outsidein.com, Boston is the bloggiest city in the country, with 89 posts per 100,000 residents recorded in March and April of this year. Good for us. I guess we have a lot to say. But it brings up an interesting question: what was I saying back then? Let’s take a trip in the wayback machine, shall we?

Ahh, March and April. Those were the good ole days of Haley Scarnato. When Dice-K was just bad, not quite awful yet. Back then I was listening to Amy Winehouse and making fun of Best Buy (how times have changed). There were good movies and not-so-good ones. Ah yes, March and April. Those were good times. No wonder I was blogging so much. And to think, we only had one more post than the greater Philadelphia area. I wonder if they counted this one or this one. Either way, I say Ha! Take that, Philly! (And yes, that was said with all due sarcasm.)

It’s More Like Lame Buy

11 Aug

Saturday was day one of the tax-free shopping weekend, so I did what I assumed many other folks would do and headed out to Best Buy. And not just any Best Buy, but the brand spanking new one at the corner of Newbury St. and Mass Ave. I figured it’d be crowded when I got there around 12:30, and that I’d be one of many looking at the TVs, DVD players, CDs, DVDs, and other stuff (not that I needed anything, but it’s fun to look).

Well, the place was practically empty. But more depressing — at least for me — was the feeling that this was the worst Best Buy store ever. It’s partly because I knew what was there before, and I had fond memories (all things considered) of spending — alright, wasting — an hour or more listening to CDs on listening stations or watching movies in the DVD section, or browsing through magazines or books. Even when it was the overpriced Virgin Megastore, there still was plenty to do and entertain yourself with. The sterile blue carpets of Best Buy conveyed a whole different atmosphere, and on the demo TVs wasn’t any cool new whizz-bang DVD release, but Discovery Channel crap. And of course, Best Buy doesn’t do listening stations, so that option was out. And worst of all, the CD and DVD section — located all the way up and seemingly hidden at the back of the top floor — was so meager that the couple DVDs I might have bought weren’t even on sale (and wouldn’t be, I was told, because everything that was at the warehouse had been put out). Add to that a lot of space — empty, wasted space (particularly on the first floor) — and a ton of salespeople just standing around, and it really felt like a great crime had been committed against a beloved city landmark.

As a frequent music/movie buyer, I had hoped this new Best Buy would have been good for Newbury St. At the very least, it might have spurred some price competition with Newbury Comics. But given that the focus of the store is squarely on electronics (and stuff people can’t even walk out of the store with), it looks like that won’t be happening. And given that the store is so sterile and clean and, well, boring, I can’t see myself having any real incentive to hang out or spend money there anytime soon.

The Day After

30 Jun

Since I was in the vicinity of an Apple Store today, I decided to stop in at the Burlington Mall and see the iPhone for myself.

Big mistake.

Huge.

Not because the lines were so long or because the crowds were so off-putting, or even because the store had run out of them. None of that was the case.

No, it was a mistake because I’ve been hearing the buzz on the thing since CES and had read so many rapturous reviews and articles over the past week, and now that I actually had one in my hands and was having such a good time playing with it, all I could say was instead of simply wanting one, now I really wanted one. Continue reading →

I Saw That

17 Jun

To the guy in the grey shirt and khaki shorts in the “baking needs” aisle at the Allston Shaw’s late this afternoon who thought no one was looking when he started to do the Macarena when the song came on the PA system … I just wanted to say, nice job. It was pretty funny. Who knew people still knew how to do that one?

Not Really a "Best" Buy

5 Jun

So here’s what I don’t understand.

I went to the Fenway Best Buy Tuesday night to pick up Bruce Springsteen‘s latest release, Live in Dublin.

It’s out separately as a 2-CD set and a DVD, or you can buy the CDs and DVD together, with the same track listings.

And I figured, since I had a $5 off coupon and new releases are usually on sale, that I’d spring for the combo pack. After all, the DVD looks great.

Well, the 2-CD set was on sale for $11.99 and the DVD was on sale for $9.99, but the combo pack was still at regular price, $27.99.

When I asked a salesperson why buying the two items separately was cheaper than buying the combo, and why they weren’t just charging the same price (i.e.: $21.99) for the combo, he told me, “You raise a good point.”

So I decided to only buy the CDs and save myself $10. I likely wouldn’t have watched the DVD anyway, despite how good the clips on Amazon.com are.

And what’s more confusing is that on BestBuy.com, the combo is on sale, for just $19.99. Maybe it’s something about moving units and not making money, but whatever it is, I just don’t get it.

Martin: 15, The Man: 0

13 Apr

It’s one of my favorite Passover traditions: the day I go back to Shaw’s and return all my unopened, unused food. My philosophy on this is simple: if they’re going to overcharge me for food I need for only a week (and that in some cases really isn’t very good), then they’re going to take back whatever I have left after the holiday. Last year I got back $27 for my extra food. This year, thanks largely to smarter buying, I didn’t have as much to return, so I got a smaller amount back. Still, it was worth it. Here’s what I returned:
* two cans of tuna fish
* a box of cookies
* a two-liter bottle of soda
* a box of chocolate lollipops
* a jar of gefilte fish
All that was worth about $15 back in my pocket.

Now, I realize some may say doing this (and bragging about it) is chintzy, or worse, that it confirms a stereotype. I counter by saying there’s no reason why I should have to pay $5 for a box of 24 subpar bite-size cookies, or $2.59 for a can of tuna fish, simply because I have no choice in the matter. Every year we’re taken advantage of on Passover, and if I can even the score by returning what I don’t need and getting my money back, then I see nothing wrong with that.

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