Earlier today, I received an e-mail from a reader who complained about a recent visit to Central Market. Hear him roar:
We have noticed over the past few months a general slippage in store quality. On our most recent trip, our frustration with the decline in quality came to a head when the bakery was out of the single most important item we needed – hamburger buns – at 3:00 p.m.
Frustrated by the lack of buns and a number of other irritating things I noticed walking through the store, I asked to speak with the store manager. While waiting for him in the bakery area, I noticed two other women also upset at the lack of hamburger buns. I told the women (none of us knew each other) that I was waiting for the manager to discuss the situation, and they decided to wait with me. During the 10 minutes it took for the manager, Steve Tarantino, to show up, we chatted and I learned that they were every bit as frustrated as me about the decline in store quality. In fact, one of them told me that she had just tried to buy some cheese, only to pick it up and discover that it had expired in November!
Hmm. Lack of buns has never been a problem for me, only a dream. Sorry, I’m off topic. I wrote the guy back and theorized that perhaps many people hit their outdoor grills on Saturday and caught the bakery department off guard. Then, low and behold, I find I am right! And souper scooped by our sorta own, Teresa Gubbins, who reported this stunning development. Meanwhile, I put the bun-less customer in touch with CM and after a flurry of back-and-forth e-mails, it sounds like they have reached a peace agreement.
