This morning , I received a errant to buy some food stuff for my daugther , May. I took my wife to the wet market in Farlim and the car park was packed. This is the usual condition on week ends. After spending sometime in the wet market, she told me that they could not get some of the spices at the wet market. So, I suggest we go to Giant which is next door to the wet market.
We reached Giant at 9.30am and we were particularly the first few customers for the day. The parking at the hypermarket was very convenient and spacious compared to the haphazard parking conditions at the wet market. We could have came here in the first place and enjoy the air-condition shopping.
I was amazed at the items in Giant. For one item, there are so many brands and it has line and line of food items and its different brands on its row and row of shelves. I do not know how a customer could differentiate quality of the different brands. The price of these different items are only marginally different. I, for one wsa really confused and just check the price and buy the cheapest unless I have already a familar brand in mind.
Giant, is a one stop center for food, drinks and sundries. It is a very convenient shopping outlet and the prices of its selling items is known to be reasonable.
My wife was searching for a packet of ground nut powder and it was very difficult to locate among the endless rows of shelves. I have to resort to the supervisor and he directed one of the helper to help me to locate the item. He took some time to locate the item which was hidden among the thousands of items on the shelves. The small packet marked RM2.95 and I took it and show it to my wife. I recommend to buy a few packet as this was the quantity requested by May. She told me a flat "No" and she suggested me to get wet market in Air Itam. I argued with her as the priec could be only marginally different. She was firmed about her decision and I have to put the packet back.
After dropping her, I took my sister , C to the Air Itam market. Before reaching the market, she concurred with me that the price of the ground nut powder would be only marginally different. Yes, our trip will be wasteful. I dropped my sister C off to the market and waited for a while for a parking slot and I went to search for my sister. The Air Itam wet market have been renovated but it is still a wet market with water on the floor and the stinkey smell of the chicken and fish.
I located my sister and I ttook over the heavy plastic bags from her containing the purchase for the day. She smell at me and told me that my wife's decision was correct. The packet of groud nut powder from the Air Itam wet market was three times the size of the packet at Giant and only for RM2.00. Suddenly, I realized the cost impact at the different locations. I was so wrong.
I was always with the imprssion that Giant is buying the items on bulk basis and the items will be cheap and this benefits is passed on to their customers. How can they be so much more expansive than the traditional wet market? I began to think that it might be due to the air-condition cost, the advertisement cost and the business risk ,etc. Nevertheless, it is really an amazing discovery and it breaks my belief that business man make reasonable profits. No, there is always Greed and opportunity to make more and more money.
It is really a Dog eat Dog world. Well, I maybe wrong to based on only just one item but this is representative of the business world.
Namaste.
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