Shopping locally is much changed

It is very interesting to roll black the clock and revisit Waseca forty years ago. Local historians like Corey Boje, Denny Hofmeister and Terry Roemhildt could probably answer any of your questions about the many businesses we had in town. Five grocery stores, several hardware retailers, Herter’s, Ben Franklin, a Sears catalog store, E.F. Johnson, Brown Printing, two lumber yards, clothing stores, a shoe store, a couple of bakeries, and many more. 

They are all history.

So what happened to the days we didn’t have to leave Waseca to buy anything, since every need could be satisfied here? The arrival of the shopping malls in Medford and Owatonna, River Hills in Mankato–that changed the way we shop. Big names like Cabella’s, Costco, Menard’s, Lowe’s, Fleet Farm, Walmart, Sam’s Club brought even more changes. 

I remember regularly visiting the late Pete Mahler’s hardware store. I’d buy my hunting license; Pete would bless it, then he’d give me a couple boxes of free shotgun shells. He’d say, “Zeke, enjoy hunting this fall. Make sure you drop me off a few pheasants and ducks.”

When Pete closed his doors, I remember him saying to me, “Times have changed. Customers are now leaving town to shop so they can save a few bucks.”

Every city, large or small, still needs a grocery store. When Hy-Vee left town, Waseca was without one. Waseca cried for help and CashWise answered the call. Unfortunately, they didn’t last long. Maybe prices, maybe service, maybe presentation–who knows? Waseca’s residents didn’t shop and support them, so they left town.

“Today we still need a real grocery store and I, personally, feel thankful and blessed that all my needs for grocery shopping are available to me without one. I can shop at Walmart or Kwik Trip and find everything I need. If I need a specialty in the meat department, I can always visit Morgan’s. Many shoppers still feel a need for a produce or meat section, and if they so choose, they can always shop out of town. 

I am responsible for our grocery shopping and find the prices reasonable, competitive and many times lower than in the big grocery stores. The employees at our stores are always helpful, delightful, and make my grocery shopping an easy chore. If you find yourself waiting in line at Walmart at, maybe, understaffed checkouts, don’t complain. Everyone is having difficult times finding employees. If you shop earlier hours during the day, you’ll find very few people in the Walmart aisles. The fact that Walmart still offers sanitary wipes to clean your shopping cart is very special. Most other big-time stores are no longer offering them. I like all of their great value, lower-priced items with lovely roasted peanuts being my favorite.

As I grow older, my senior moments are becoming much more frequent. A couple of times, Walmart has saved my day. Just last week, I forgot a bag of groceries at the checkout. Upon unloading at home, I found items missing from Lisa’s shopping list. I raced back to customer service and there was the bag, waiting for me.

Luckily, no refrigerated goods, only canned items and chips. I asked the ladies behind the counter whether I am the only one who forgets things. They replied, “Heavens, no!” They said they find bags of groceries, purses, wallets, and credit cards. Sometimes they sit unclaimed for days. The one item everyone races back for is their cell phone.

Just the other day I was going through checkout with a ton of groceries. Two people were behind me, a lady from Waterville and Jerry Summer. Jerry only had a few items and the nice lady said he could go in front of her. I visited with Jerry and we shared our health problems; he has real difficulties with his back. While I was loading groceries out in the parking lot, over comes Jerry. He shared with me something that had just happened to him for the first time in his life: Not only did the lady let Jerry take her spot in line, she did a “pay it forward” and covered the cost of his purchases. What a fantastic act of kindness.

Lisa was entertaining ladies at the cabin and sent me to Walmart to pick up a couple of “lime-ades” frozen juice to mix for a beverage. They had a variety of frozen juice, but no lime-ade. We called several grocery stores with no luck and finally located it at CashWise in Owatonna. Off I went for a quick road trip. After getting a couple of my target item, I noticed their wind chimes were on sale for half price. Lisa has several of them at the cabin, so I thought I’d buy her another one to complement the sweet music they make in the wind.

I was playing with one when a lady came by and commented, “Terrible things! My neighbors have several and they keep me awake at night. I have to close the windows!” When I went through the checkout, the lady there said, “Noisy little buggers, aren’t they?” I guess wind chimes aren’t for everyone. We got to the cabin and unloaded–there was only one frozen lime-ade. Where was the other? We searched everywhere and couldn’t find it. 

My vehicle isn’t the cleanest, but I noticed driving for a month that my Escape sure smelled wonderful, fresh and fruity. After a fishing trip with grandchildren in the back seat, I cleaned up their mess. And there it was, far under the seat, an evaporated, empty can of lime juice. Turns out, you don’t have to buy air fresheners for your car; just roll a can of your favorite frozen juice under the seat and you’ll enjoy a wonderful aroma for a month.

Have a great week, and a terrific time grocery shopping.