Bait and Switch
The good folks at Treehuger.com wrote an article a while back about how much more expensive Whole Foods is, compared to WalMart. This of course, isn’t a surprise to anyone, but what was a surprise to me was the last time I got almonds. I like to duck in and grab a bag of almonds from their bulk foods section, and all through 2005, it was a pretty good deal at around $7/lb. Then comes 2006, and with it, a price change to $10/lb. Yes, folks, now it costs three bucks more for my almonds. That’s an almost-50 percent markup. Did I get a 50 percent markup in my salary? I don’t think so!
Also tugging away at my purse-strings is the movie theatre in Woodinville. They’ve long been the lone holdout in matinee prices, the place that was charging six bucks per ticket, when everyone else was charging more. In fact, last month, they ran a coupon for five-dollar-tickets during the week — a fabulous price at any time of the day or night. And this month? Up to $6.75 like everyone else. I stood staring at the ticket sales clerk for the longest time, before asking her if I was crazy, or if they had upped their prices. No, I wasn’t crazy, she assured me.
The theatre in Woodinville is where my friend and I went to see Firewall this week. A movie set in Seattle, it starred our favorite Seattle star, The Rain. It’s too bad The Rain didn’t get top billing, because let me tell you, we saw more of The Rain than we did of earringless Harrison Ford. In fact, aside from the sunny day start of the movie, and the watery-grey-but-clearing end, The Rain featured in every scene, plopping dramatically against Ford’s wide brow, and dashing itself against every window. I saw more of The Rain in that one movie, than I’ve seen here for the entire winter. Do you hate the sunshine we’ve had recently? Go see The Rain in Firewall.
Of course, you know, it’s not real rain. And it’s not real Seattle either, beyond carefully panning around at the beginning of the movie. Almost everything was shot in our sister city, Vancouver, and then, get this: for the view outside his office? They erased what was there, and put Seattle in! Because apparently it’s so horrible being here, with all the sun and all, that it’s easier to do it all on computer!
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How is $7 to $10 a 150% markup? It is only up by $3.
faulty language skills, “me” — I meant to say that the new price is 1.5 times greater than the old price. Thanks for reading!
Hate to say it, but $6.75 is still a deal for a movie ticket. Most theaters are charging $8.50 to $9. :(
matinee prices, JC. If you’re getting charged $9 for a matinee, you must be living in Australia.