The Grape Lady

"That will be three bags of grapes, two bags at $3.49 and one bag free."

That was the result of a recent trip to the grocery store with Dr. K. She is rapidly becoming the grape lady of Charlotte.

Readers here know that Dr. K returned to work this year. She really loves her job and her coworkers. Everyday, she like to share snacks with the office during breaks. Dr. K supplies grapes.

On the way home last week, she asked me to stop with her at our local grocery store. I knew what was on her mind as this same grape issue had played out twice in the past two weeks, though at a different location of the same store.

The grapes in this particular store are bagged and stacked on a produce display. The sign on the display clearly shows that the grapes are $3.49. Dr. K looks close and does not see what she is looking for, so instead of buying two bags, she decides to get three.

We pick up a few more items and head for the checkout. As the casher is about to cash us out, Dr. K asks, "How much were the grapes?" I think, "Here we go!"

The casher scans the register tape and responds "The grapes are three forty-nine A POUND."

Now it's on.

"No...", says Dr. K, "those grapes are $3.49 a bag."

"Manager to register 3!"

Actually, we had to walk over to the Customer Service Desk to talk to the very nice manager. He explained to us that the "/lb" label is really small and hard to see. He is trying really hard to not embarrass us for our mistake.

Dr. K says "OK, show us."

So we head back to the grape display. The manager looks at the price sign. Then he looks again. Then he cocks his head to the side and looks some more. The he stands up and says "Those grapes are $3.49."

We go back to the front and he starts to ring up three bags of grapes at $3.49 when I notice that there is a store policy sign right out on the desk. The last policy says something like if an item scans for a higher price than what is marked, then you get one of those items for free.

I point this out (not wanting to leave any chips on the table, of course) and he rings it up, two bags of grapes for $3.49 a bag.

Grocery stores of Charlotte - Beware of the grape lady.