Grocery Life March 10, 2015

Grocery Life March 10, 2015

By Tom Butler 

Good afternoon from Butler and Bailey Market. I hope everyone had a good weekend. We finally had two warm and beautiful days. Now it’s back to rain but at least it’s a warm rain.
 

All the ice and snow that has been in our yard for the last three or four weeks has now been replaced by weeds. Apparently they like cold snowy weather. We will see if they like the round-up I sprayed on them this weekend. It will take me a week or two to get my yard all shaped up for the spring but I got a good start on it this weekend. This may be the year that I start hiring out some of my yard work but I say that every year and never do it. I have trouble paying for something I can do myself but as tired and sore as I am after a few hours of yard work, this weekend maybe I will change my mind.
 

The store business is finally back to normal. The last few weeks have either been feast or famine. We would much rather have consistent, predictable business.
 

We have a new two week ad that started Sunday. You can find that on our website if you do not already get a copy in your News Sentinel. We have corned beef and cabbage on sale in this ad for Saint Patrick’s Day, which is next Tuesday. I don’t care much for either one of those so I can’t offer you much advice on preparing them. Google can probably help.

 One of my favorite things in this ad would be the Ribeye steaks. They are $8.99 a pound this week. When we started here twenty- five years ago we would put Ribeye on sale for $3.99 a pound. Some of you still remind me of this. I am going to go out on a limb and say they probably won’t be that cheap again unless you buy them out of the back of a truck.

Those trucks come through our neighborhood every now and then trying to sell steaks door to door. I think the last sign I saw on the truck said “25 Ribeyes for $25 dollars.” I have spoken to them when they have come to our door and I have to say, they are a lot better salesmen than I am. If our store depended on my salesmanship, we would be in trouble. I have never bought anything from them, but I will give them an A for effort. Maybe I should give them a try; they may be the best steaks ever?
 

I guess we could prepare you 25 steaks for $25 dollars. They would be pretty thin. So thin you could probably read the newspaper through them. You could use them for beef jerky or they might make a good book mark, I just wouldn’t plan a cookout around them.
 

I admire anyone that tries to sell door to door. That has to be a tough way to make a living. I would have starved to death long ago if I had to do that. I do have a good friend that has spent most of his career selling door to door. He started out selling books and then he figured out that if he could sell books door to door he could probably sell insurance policies the same way so he started an insurance company. He specialized in cancer policies and the best I can tell, he became quite wealthy doing this since he retired at about my age. He has since started a consulting company and travels the world working with large corporations training their sales forces. He also donates a lot of his time consulting with non-profit organizations in third world countries. The last time we communicated he was in Tanzania. He told Erica and I that we would love it there. He’s a good salesman, but not good enough to get me to Tanzania, wherever that is.
   

I guess all of us have been given different gifts. I think the hard part for most of us is figuring out what our gifts are and how to apply them to our lives and careers. I am still not sure if I have figured out what my gifts are. I think I have done a better job of figuring out what I am not gifted at. I guess through process of elimination I will get it figured out. I have determined that regardless of what my gifts are, the best place for me to realize  them are at a grocery store in Rocky Hill alongside all the other gifted people that work and shop here.
 

Thanks again for your business and have a great week!

Thanks for letting us be a part of your community,

Tom Butler

Respond to:tom.butler44@gmail.com

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 Butler and Bailey Market

7513 Northshore Dr.

Knoxville, TN 37919

(865)691-8881