Would quilters notice 1/2"?If you go to the quilt shop and ask for a fat quarter, would you notice if it were 1/2" shorter than before? 17 1/2" instead of 18"? Of course you would when you got ready to sew with it. Can you imagine the quilt shop giving you 17 1/2" and saying they were "Just-shy-of-a-fat-quarter"? Yeah, that would work! Or worse, NOT telling you the size?
We are used to receiving what we pay for. Quilters are always willing to buy what they need. We do not expect the quilt shop to give us fabric for free, we pay the full price. Most times when you get home and measure what you bought, you are surprised to see that it is a bit more than you ordered. That happens because each shop adds a little bit for straightening your edges. You are not charged extra for that, it is just something shop owners do to help you with your quilting.
Now why am I telling you this? This weekend I was putting groceries away and noticed something significant and it had the word "quilted" on it. I prefer Quilted Northern bathroom tissue and have purchased it for years, even when the commercials showed the quilters using knitting needles to make it. As I was stacking the double rolls of tissues I was instantly struck by the fact that they are now a full 1/2" more narrow than the last ones I purchased. (see photo).
Now that may not seem like much, but when you see that the packaging says it has 2 1/2 times the number of tissues as a single roll and nowhere does it say that it is more narrow, and you pay the same price as before, you have to wonder. It says that they have donated over $500,000 to the Susan G. Komen Foundation and that is GREAT, how did they donate it? Are we now paying for that donation by smaller rolls of paper?
Now seriously, I do not care if my toilet paper is more narrow than before, it will not stop me from buying a product that I prefer. I just want to point out the value that you are receiving from your local quilt shop and small businesses in general. This just would not happen.
Small businesses could never get away with this type thing. You would raise Cain with us if we shorted your purchases. Especially if we did it without tell you.
So next time you go to the quilt shop, think about the value of the product you are purchasing and the quality and honesty of the small business person with whom you are dealing. October is Small Business Appreciation Month. We thank you for your patronage of our shop and I am certain that all other small businesses appreciate your support as well.
Yes,we the average person, pays for the shortage.The cereal people went to large boxes,saying bigger and better,but there was no increase in the amount of cereal in the boxes. We get a half a box of cereal in those big boxes with the bigger price. Jo Lofland
ReplyDeleteI have noticed our local newspaper is not as wide, there must be at least 1 inch difference. It is funny when you get use to something a certain size and then you pick it up and notice something is different but not quite sure just what. Cereal boxes are thinner also but the price hasn't changed. Arla in Arizona
ReplyDeleteJust a note to the cereal box comments. Cereal is packaged by weight and not by fullness of box. Thus there is always "air space" inside the box. The smaller box reduces the "air space" and reduces the amount of box material used. Are you really getting less ?? Check the label for net weight. If that is the same then you have lost nothing more than waste material - in other words "trash" - unless you participate in a recycling program and even then the issue of waste could be debated.
ReplyDeleteThere must be something about women that we notice such things. I got about half my hair cut off the other day. After an hour and a half at home with my husband, I finally pointed out the change.
ReplyDeleteThe one person commented about the weight of the ceral opposed to the size of the box. I decided they must work for a ceral company. We can do with less box and feel like we are getting more. Our quilt shops know this already.
ReplyDeleteO' Times are a changing!
ReplyDeleteI remember back in the 50's my mother doing her shopping and four of us kids in tow. She would buy groceries and come home with about 4 bags for $20 I can't even get 1 bag for $20 today.
Prices have gone up and wages have gone down, will there ever be an end to it. I live in a small rural area in the Sierra foothills in CA.
I prefer do my shopping with small businesses and mom and pop stores here where I live and where everyone knows you, it's just like the good old days.
did everyone else notice several months back--o my lord, maybe even a year???--when tuna went from 6-oz. cans to 5-oz. cans *and* became more expensive?
ReplyDeletetuna had been (sale price) 59 cents for a 6-oz. can. I know; I'd been looking for work a long time, and under-employed for even longer. My DH and I kept our house going in the very expensive san francisco area with only one income. so I knew the sale prices of all of our basic foods and would not put them on the grocery list unless they were on special.
so...the previous sale price of tuna was 59 cents for a 6-oz. can. since "the change," it has been exceptional to find the 5-oz. cans on special for less than 89 cents!
When are we as people going to really see what we are looking at these days,it's not just toilet paper or tuna it is everything and we just sit back and look at it. Start really looking at everything.
ReplyDeleteYou can't buy a half gallon of ice cream anymore either. It was 2 quarts, went down to 1.75, and now is 1.5 - and the price didn't go down as the quantity went down.
ReplyDelete