Was it the Peter Principle at work with New World Technology?

Interesting sidebar ~ the Talosians were all played by women actors with male voice overs. Not the only time Gene used this technique to portray aliens.

And if you want to see me (Talosian) up close and personal in full dress uniform, see the (direct to DVD) movie from Paramount, "Trekkies." I have f major parts in it.

Even have some pictures of me on the set of Voyager (friend with the L. A. County Fire Marshal who had to be on the set a lot of times).

S.T. fan here --BG TIME!

Quick, Scotty.........BEAM ME UP !!!

Now, about Costco items, markups and so on: Not being fans of the drive to Guadalajara, we have been using Lakeside Express in the last few months.
Here's the deal with them: you look on their website for your Costco needs. It's well organized.
On Tuesday, you place your order and on Thursday, they call first with the amount and likely time of delivery, then they deliver to your door.
Minimum 5 items; 12 pesos per item charge. No markup. Such a deal, as compared to the significant markup at SL.
This really works for me, but if you enjoy wandering the aisles, sampling the goodies and trying new things......go for it. I do miss the pizza and the wraps at the food place, though. lol.

One of the first chuckles I had at SL was when I noticed the aisles of Campbells Soups; the Mexican side of the aisle was lower priced. The soup is actually better, IMO. More stuff in it. But there are those who somehow think anything coming from NOB, from food to doctors, has to be "better" and they aren't going to change their minds. Some of them might as well "Beam me back NOB".

gringal, I use Lakeside Express too--great service. But two problems for me doing it all the time: large sizes of everything and five item minimum. If all I need is kitty litter I go to Superlake. Because of the 12 pesos delivery charge and (I believe it is) 15 pesos surcharge for large or heavy item, the cost for me at SL is only 15 or so pesos more. Now, if I need more items and can find a friend to split the 36 freakin´rolls of TP with me, I go for Lakeside Express delivery.

Oh, hey Talosian: cool!

Lady Otter Latté wrote:gringal, I use Lakeside Express too--great service. But two problems for me doing it all the time: large sizes of everything and five item minimum. If all I need is kitty litter I go to Superlake. Because of the 12 pesos delivery charge and (I believe it is) 15 pesos surcharge for large or heavy item, the cost for me at SL is only 15 or so pesos more. Now, if I need more items and can find a friend to split the 36 freakin´rolls of TP with me, I go for Lakeside Express delivery.

We made a deal with a few neighbors, so we sometimes combine orders to meet the minimum.

Here's one caveat: My husband ordered plastic wrap and aluminum foil this time around. He failed to notice the SIZE , and since the prices aren't listed we now have a giant box of each which should last at least ten years. OY!

Oh yes, I have plastic wrap from three years ago--and I do not seem to have made a dent in it. But it is wonderful wrap and works like a charm. I LOVE the cutter blade. I have impressed dinner guests with it. One even asked me if she could please wrap the leftovers and chuckled in delight through the process.
I have trash bags for two years. Oh, and paper towels? A year. That is one Costco problem. There are some items you "invest" in.

For those who haven't been around for all that long, the "trekkie" has been competing with the wife for trying trying to prove her habit of shopping SL to be wrong. JELLO is just the latest attempt. Years ago, the entire Lakeside community became indebted to this "trekkie's" due dillegence when he publicized his weight testing of items repackaged by SL.

For those who like to slam SL's pricing policies, they might wish to visit Goiti, La Cabana, Bon Appetit or any of the other imported food shops in Guadalajara for some real sticker shock!

Cheena, I don´t know if it so much a matter of how long you have been around but the threads you tend to read. I usually skip the SL bashing so am not familiar with the regulars who participate. I had forgotten this thread began with the great Jello Scandal.

New World has been through a few owners in the last 10 years. They were all "local" with the latter two in partnership with a guy from Guadalajara. He was rarely here to see how things operate, and eventually let Bertha take over management of the store. Which is good, because he was so typically unconcerned with quality of service. Bertha was usually pretty good at running the place, but the inventory was of necessity pretty skimpy. He even used to have a "no returns for any reason" policy, which she managed to change.

Their technical staff was always two, and one of them was always some new guy in training. The good ones got hired or went back to school. One of the best now has a very good position at the Technologico up on the carretera. Another got hired by Rob of LagunaNet a few years ago. The final remaining guy... I don't know, he certainly had the experience, but after Bertha "left", he just seemed to go downhill. Probably they wouldn't let him have the tools to do his job.

Fewer people went to the store. Their bread-n-butter was repairs. Money got even more scarce, and I have no idea what the Guadalajara guy ended up doing. The first sign that went up said "Closed for renovations", and I think we all know what that means around here...

SuperLake: If you know the history of that family, and how they built SL up from a fruit & vegetable stand into the businesses and properties they have now, you'd be pretty impressed. Pancho knows what the people want, and he is always trying new things. Look at the cafe he introduced (although I don't think it's going to last). Look at the great pizzas and the freshly-baked breads. Wow.

My Mom would always naturally grab the imported Oreo cookies at 80 pesos a pack or something, when right across the aisle was the Mexican version. She just never thought about it. (Of course, in this case, imported Oreos are a LOT better tasting.) And as someone mentioned, the Soup!

Pancho has bent over backwards many, many times to stock that store with everything I could want almost. He made the deals with the importers, by seeking them out and haggling over prices; he made the deals with CostCo to deliver inventory on a timely basis, and he's the one who is always trying to figure out which items he should bring in. I think the whole business-planning thing is worth paying those prices for; it's not like he's a WalMart that can afford to buy in mass quantities.

VERY WELL SAID, HG! Absolutely right and I really admire and appreciate his marketing skills.

Agree, the tables and chairs are not a winner and a waste of selling space and I don't think it will be long before that idea gets shelved. :P Good of him to give it a go tho, if nothing else he's flexible.

There is one thing though that I think he might be missing out on, and that's a small gourmet deli. All the specialty food stores in California have them and they sell so much food by the pound you have to take a number and wait in line to get served. I think he could sell a lot of fresh salads, sliced freshly roasted turkey and other meats, sandwiches, entrees, soups, etc. All could be made in the kitchens at HIO and brought over.

Good idea, Trailrunner. I'd like to see a deli but unless he acquires some extra space, I can't see where he could put it. It's already a one way street in most of the aisles.
I've been wondering about the "closed for remodeling" sign at HIO. We know what that often means........anyone got the inside scoop on it?

When it comes to operating any type of deli, one is walking a very slippery slope. I can envision all of the comparisons and complaints that whatever SL is carrying either doesn't meet expectations developed either from the "hometown" deli NOB or even worse what people's mothers raised them on. Furthermore, I can just hear the Kosher/Jewish Deli comparisons and the pizzing matches about which city offers the best.

For a 180 degree comparison, I visited Pro's Ranch Market (an 11 store chain of Mexican food products) the other day. Not only was I blown away by the size of the inventory but also the variety of Mexican porducts being offered:
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Why does this work in Albuquerque? Because the population is thankful to finally have a source and probably are not sitting back bitching about one thing or another!

Talosian wrote:

Trailrunner wrote:I dunno, Talosian, I think I need to see proof on the Jello claim. The Soriana brand is probably made in MX and the SL Jello is probably imported by a distributor from the US.

Both are J-E-L-L-0 (sing it if you want).

As far as I can tell, they both taste the same. I'll see if I remember to take a camera next time and prove my statement.

A dead cow is a dead cow, north or south of the border. "Gelatin is a mixture of peptides and proteins produced by partial hydrolysis of collagen extracted from the skin, boiled crushed horn, hoof and bones, connective tissues, organs and some intestines of animals such as domesticated cattle, chicken, pigs, and horses http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin

If one is imported it makes sense it ss more expensive but why anyone would even look at that stuff imported or not is beyond me.

For those who complained about SL I have a story on how our shopping trip went today in Chiapas: my husband to the local butcher to buy some arrachera the answer was "no hay" and that meant going to some other butcher we do not know so we have to think about something else.
I went to the local supermarket to get butter , could not find any so I asked where the butter was, I was shown some margarine, when I said no I want butter notice that I did not bother to ask for salted or not salted , I was told they had to get it from the back as people stole it..
Not sure who the butter thieves are since the supermarket caters to indigenous and they do not use butter. The woman asked me how much I wanted and I got the last 4 sticks. I know that they look at me as a rich woman as no one in their right mind buys 4 sticks at a time,-
No point asking for the price as I would have to walk to another supermarket or take a cab to get more..


Dr Thelin you forgot about the artificial flavoring and the food colorant. Jesus I cannot believe any one would even touch the stuff..

You guys do not realize how spoiled you are and how lucky you are to have Super Lake. I will never complain about their prices , they have what I want when I want it and I am thankful for that.

gringal wrote:Good idea, Trailrunner. I'd like to see a deli but unless he acquires some extra space, I can't see where he could put it. It's already a one way street in most of the aisles.

If it were me, I'd use one of the deli cases over by the bulk foods section. Combine the cheeses and meats into one case (don't think they sell much there anyway and they could consolidate the meats and cheese in the refrigerated shelves to the right and if the deli took off you could use both of the reach-in cases)

I'd fill the cases with casuelas of gourmet and old stand-by salads, dips, and other cold dishes and hang hot lamps over the top for the entrees of the day and make sandwiches on a counter behind. Almost everything is already in place but there is no kitchen there, the food would have to be prepared and cooked over at HIO. A sink, a counter, and some small fridge space would have to be installed in the deli. I spent a few years doing this in natural food stores before studying medicine. That whole area could be much more attractive and mouth-watering, which is what sells food!

Big Daddy and I used to talk about doing it, we both thought it could be a mini gold mine. Whew! Dodged the bullet on that one!

gringal wrote:I've been wondering about the "closed for remodeling" sign at HIO. We know what that often means........anyone got the inside scoop on it?

According to my last chat with Pancho, they tried the cheaper Mexicanized version at HIO, which no one seemed to care about, and it costs him an arm and a leg to run that place, so he consolidated into the coffee-shop thing, knowing that crazy white people spend way too much of "specialty" coffees up north, as Mexicans seem to do at places like Black Coffee. It's in store and he can control it, and I would hope that he adds that you can eat your pizza there, too... although the atmosphere is certainly not conducive to even taking a coffee break.

I think that "Closed" hanging on any door is a sign of failure, while "for remodeling" is just an variation of manana...