#marissakirshenbaum

[allaboutfoodgwu]

I’ll Stop the World and Melt with You

           I really screamed for ice cream these past few months in Washington, D.C.! Choosing ice cream as the subject for optical research and fieldwork was a sweet one. By paying attention to the location of the ice cream sections, the types of customers visiting the store and the section itself, the branding, and pricing, I learned a lot about ice cream’s place in a grocery store as well as what establishments will do to market certain items for the general population. In my five different field visits, I explored Whole Foods in Foggy Bottom, Trader Joe’s in West End, Foggy Bottom Grocery on the George Washington University campus, CVS Pharmacy in Foggy Bottom, and Gallery Market on GW’s campus. Although my research was inductive, there was a commonality that I retroactively focused on while visiting the five different stores: pricing and what it means for marketing.

           Every store besides the CVS Pharmacy on E Street Northwest carried mostly pints of ice cream. I did not come across many larger sizes except when I ventured right off campus to CVS. There, I found reasonably priced tubs of ice cream for six dollars, the same price as the smaller pints. In the other stores, I only found pints that ranged from five to seven dollars each, a high number for the amount of ice cream. The price was dependent on the place and its location; for example, the most expensive pints were located at Gallery Market which is in the basement of a residence hall on campus. I found that this was most likely due to the fact that they have a monopoly over the student market: they know that people will shop here anyways because it is so convenient. Unlike a chain store like CVS, they can price things however they want.

           In my study, I am making the claim that stores who only sell pints of ice cream are marketed towards single professionals living in the city. This is related both to the layout of the stores and to the ice cream selections. Whole Foods is not very stroller-accessible: to get to the main selection of food you have to either ride down an escalator or go down the stairs. The ice cream section had mostly pints and a few larger containers, but only one flavor so there was most variety with the pints. Trader Joe’s is more compact, and did not have a great ice cream selection. I went at a busy time, so it is possible that they might have a better selection at a time when not as many people are shopping, but the open drawer freezer of ice cream did not have a lot of space for many more items, so I stand by my assumption that this store catered its ice cream to single people. Foggy Bottom Grocery is located in a townhouse, and you must walk up steep steps to get inside the little place. It is also marketed for students, as it is located right across the street from South Hall, a resident hall on GW’s campus and sells marijuana products, Juul pods, red solo cups, and ping pong balls. This wouldn’t be the place to take your young child to get some ice cream. CVS had the best selection of ice cream, as it was the further off campus. However, there still weren’t many big carts to shop with and it is located in a non-residential area on E Street near the Red Cross and the Foreign Service Association. Finally, Gallery Market only sold Ben & Jerry’s and Halo Top pints at the high price of seven dollars. Although unaffordable for students, this selection is definitely marketed towards them.

           During my time conducting fieldwork, I thought a lot about the weather and how this might have affected how many people I saw buying ice cream, which was close to nobody. According to NDTV Food and Meher Rajput, a nutritionist at FITPASS, ice cream can make cold, flu, and infection symptoms worse. In the wintertime, these illnesses are more common, so they advise to stay away from ice cream during the winter and state that you should keep it away from children, since the sugar additives and phlegm-increasing dairy could be disadvantageous in the cold winter months.

           In terms of the package sizes, I was shocked at the amount of ice cream I saw. It seemed as though the people in charge of stocking the grocery stores did not have an affinity for the frozen treat and only put the most basic flavors and brands out for consumers to purchase. According to researchers Metin Çakir and Joseph V. Balagtas and their study of package downsizing and customer reaction, people shopping in Chicago were found to be less responsive to package size than to price, so companies can get away with package downsizing more easily. Perhaps I am just more passionate than the average person in regards to package sizes and ice cream amount, but I found the package sizing too small. However, if people are generally more concerned with price, then stores like the ones I visited could get away with selling pints at higher prices if there is nothing else to compare it to: if there were bigger tubs of ice cream next to pints more often, then stores would have to sell the pints for less than they could if they only sold pints. Therefore, this could also be a ploy to sell more while taking up less space.

           Performing optical research at five different grocery stores in Washington, D.C. was an experience that will help me to view grocery stores and specific food displays in a different way. I learned that the sizing, pricing, and location of a section is related to whom the store wants to market the products. In these five stores near GW’s campus, ice cream was marketed for the single person who is most likely a student. The people working in these grocery stores did not expect to sell to families or groups larger than two, and the sizing and pricing reflected this fact. Also, I learned that not as many people eat ice cream in the winter! Whether or not this is actually a healthy thing to do, I say that we shouldn’t discriminate ice cream by putting it into a literal box. Well, you know what I mean. Let’s make ice cream a year-round phenomenon! Who wouldn’t want this frozen treat just because it’s cold outside?

"Is It Safe To Give Your Children Ice Cream During Winters?" NDTV Food. January 11, 2018. Accessed April 22, 2019. https://food.ndtv.com/food-drinks/is-it-safe-to-give-your-children-ice-cream-during-winters-1797860.

Çakır, Metin, and Joseph V. Balagtas. "Consumer Response to Package Downsizing: Evidence from the Chicago Ice Cream Market." Journal of Retailing90, no. 1 (2014): 1-12. doi:10.1016/j.jretai.2013.06.002.

[allaboutfoodgwu]

Gallery and Gross Ice Cream Prices

           Who doesn’t love Gallery? No matter what you are in the mood for, Gallery has got you covered.

           It is located in the basement of a residence hall on GW’s campus whose name is Shenkman Hall to everyone at GW except for seniors who still call it by its older name, Ivory Tower (but this can be debated by students). The residence hall sits on the corner of G and 23rdstreets, NW, a location that attracts mostly students but also professionals leaving work on their way to the Foggy Bottom- GWU metro stop that is only two blocks away. The basement consists of a Gallery food place that serves French fries, mozzarella sticks, and anything else a college student might want at all hours of the day. There is also a Dunkin’ Donuts, a Chinese food restaurant called Teashi, and the Gallery Market, the final site for my fieldwork.

           On Sunday afternoon around 6:30pm, I went downstairs to Gallery market to check out their ice cream selection. it is a small space that probably takes up the size of a large apartment. It sells chips, frozen foods, pasta, and basically anything the average college student might shop for in a grocery store. Although it is on GWorld, the only caveat is the price of the products. It is similar to FoBoGro in its expensive nature.

           In Gallery Market, the ice cream is located at the back of the store, next to the other frozen food items like Stouffer’s Mac & Cheese, Lean Cuisine meals, and Pizza Bagels. There were only two brands of ice cream: Halo Top and Ben & Jerry’s, and the display was a little messy and empty. However, there were many different flavors of each, including two Ben & Jerry’s flavors I found pretty interesting such as the reduced fat “Chocolate Cookie EnlightenMint” and the “Salted Caramel Core”. These unique flavors definitely appeal to students in acknowledging the new healthy ice cream craze.

           Also important to mention is how expensive the ice cream was! Each pint goes for $6.99, which I found pretty ridiculous. This is dollars more than a 1.5-quart size would cost at a regular food store. For a place catered to students actually located in the basement of a residence hall where GW students live, it is not very affordable. I wonder if they feel like they can raise prices because they accept GWorld cards as payment: sometimes GWorld money doesn’t feel like real money, so perhaps students are more inclined to spend it at a convenient location even though it is overpriced since they don’t have to use their own funds?

           What I expected to see at Gallery Market in terms of their ice cream selection is exactly what I saw. I expected to see a limited amount of pints with some cool flavors. However, I did not expect to see such a high price for a small amount of ice cream. Not surprisingly, the people who looked like students who were shopping there did not go near the ice cream freezer. It is no longer cold enough to say that this may have been due to the weather, so I’m starting to think that people are turned off by the high cost it pays to enjoy some ice cream.

           For the sake of the ice cream lover, let’s lower those prices! Ice cream for all and for all a good night.

- Marissa Kirshenbaum

[allaboutfoodgwu]

CVS Cures Your Ice Cream Craving!

Spring has sprung! Warm weather means it’s time for more ice cream, right?

On Sunday night, I went to CVS Pharmacy on E and 22ndStreet in northwest D.C. around 10pm. I didn’t expect to see many people shopping at this hour, but there was even a line to check out! This CVS is close to GW’s Elliot School of International Affairs, the Red Cross, and the Foreign Service Association. Not technically on GW’s campus, it seems to be marketed towards the average D.C. shopper instead of for students. This meant great things for the ice cream section!

In order to get to the ice cream, you’ve got to walk a little. When you first enter the store, there are refrigerated beverages that line the entire right side. You have to walk about 20 feet and then turn to the right to find the ice cream selection along the back wall. It was pretty hard to find and was definitely not something you would just stumble upon. Next to the frozen foods and perpendicular to laundry detergent was the ice cream section.

Overall, I was pretty satisfied with what I found! There were the usual pints of Ben & Jerry’s, Halo Top, and Talenti gelato mixed with big containers of the Edy’s, Breyer’s, and Turkey Hill brands. This was the first time I had seen a decent selection of larger ice cream containers. It seemed like CVS was encouraging the sale of these bigger sizes too considering they were the same price (around six dollars) as the smaller pints. It was shocking to me that they could sell a smaller ice cream for the same price as the bigger one, but I guess that’s the price you pay for the popular brand names. I didn’t expect to see such a decent ice cream selection considering the other stores I have checked out in the same area. But who doesn’t love a good surprise?

The ice cream selection was bright and eye-catching. Even though it is tucked in the corner, it definitely catches your eye! The set-up was a little messy, but this can be expected from a 24 hour CVS since people aren’t restocking everything all the time. Nobody was hanging around the ice cream section when I was at there, but I will be optimistic and say this is probably because it was late at night and whoever wanted to eat ice cream probably already had some in front of them. Maybe I will start to see more people stocking up on their favorite frozen treat as the weather heats up.

All I know is that for my ice cream fix, I am heading to CVS. It will cure whatever illness you’ve got! After all, it is a pharmacy, right?

- Marissa Kirshenbaum

[allaboutfoodgwu]

Go to FoBoGro for Ice Cream!

           FoBoGro for the win! Filled with snacks and booze, this convenience store seems to have got it all. But does it match up to my expectations for a good selection of ice cream? Stay tuned to find out!

           It was a Sunday afternoon around 5pm when I ventured across the street to the Foggy Bottom Grocery, nicknamed “FoBoGro”. The store is a little townhouse with a colorful mural on its side and some stairs leading up to the entrance. Directly to the right sits the cashier, usually a college-aged person, and the snack and drink selection goes back about 20 feet. When I visited on Sunday, there was only the cashier, a person speaking with the girl checking out items, and myself. In FoBoGro, there is nowhere to hide, so I have to admit that I felt more self-conscious taking pictures and examining the ice cream selection.

           Next to the frozen foods is the display case of ice cream. Underneath the “Good Humor” sign is a row of Talenti gelato, then three rows of Ben & Jerry’s, and a row of Halo Top on the bottom. To the left sit rows of wine and champagne, almost as if you would pick up a pint of ice cream and some champagne as a package deal. All of the ice cream is packaged in pints, and the prices are comparable with other grocery stores. There are many different types of each brand of ice cream, more than I have seen on my other grocery store ventures.

           FoBoGro is undoubtedly marketed towards college students: it sits directly across from South Hall, the senior residence hall, and is a short walking distance from four others and the entire Greek townhouse row. It’s got Easy Mac, Juul Pods, and Ramen noodles. Therefore, the “pint” sizing is unsurprising as well as well as the fact that there are only Halo Top, Ben & Jerry’s, and Talenti: what more could a college kid want?

           All in all, I was pretty satisfied with the selection at FoBoGro. Its variety was better than I have seen in other places, and there were so many cool flavors that I want to try! Although the cashier has a direct line view to you and it is pretty close quarters, FoBoGro has a cool atmosphere and is a one-stop-shop for anything you might want on a given night.

           Planning a movie night with your roommates and thinking about bringing some nice frozen treats? You should go to FoBoGro!

[allaboutfoodgwu]

I-Screamed at this Ice Cream Selection!

           I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! Well, at least not at Trader Joe’s. On a gloomy Sunday afternoon I walked from the gray outdoors into the sunny and bright grocery store situated in one of the most high class neighborhoods in D.C.: West End. Around the corner there is a Soul Cycle studio, a squash room, and luxurious hotels like the Westin and Ritz-Carlton. When I think about Trader Joe’s, I think about their branding and advertising. Everything looks like it is handwritten, and they even have little sketches on some of their products! It is alive with color and makes grocery shopping a fun experience!

           I visited Trader Joe’s at around 5pm, and the store was buzzing with people picking up food around dinnertime. The people were mostly young and there was a good mix of men and women shopping. TJ’s seems like a grocery store more geared for the average person: prices are affordable because they buy directly from suppliers and sell their own brands to cut costs. However, if you are an ice cream lover, you need to keep looking for a place to pick up your favorite dessert!

           The only word that comes to mind when I think about the ice cream selection is weak. Located next to yummy frozen treats and below peanut butter, the ice cream section had only six different options to choose from. Yes, they covered the basics like vanilla and chocolate, but say you wanted some cookies and cream or rocky road: you are out of luck! I was very surprised at how little effort seemed to be put into this selection and was discouraged as an ice cream lover.

           Trader Joe’s is known for its bright branding. However, this was not what I found in the desserts aisle and it was for that reason that I barely stumbled upon the ice cream section: nothing really caught my eye. This might also be due to the fact that the section itself is not labeled, so I had to search through the frozen food aisles for my ice cream. It makes me think that if I wasn’t searching ice cream out, I wouldn’t find any in the first place. I did enjoy the pictures that some containers displayed on the front showing gooey and melted ice cream. However, I felt like TJ’s could have done more to brighten up their marketing of ice cream.

           Although I am not the biggest fan of sorbet, I did think about how there was only one option in this category for Trader Joe’s shoppers. What if your sole purpose in visiting the grocery store was to pick up sorbet and this was all they had for you? What would you do? The same went for gelato. What if you want chocolate instead of pistachio? Would you have to go to Whole Foods and pay an extra few bucks for it? That doesn’t seem right.

           Speaking of pricing, the ice cream quarts ranged from $4-$6, which is neither expensive nor cheap considering the size of the container and how expensive it could have been if not for TJ’s supply chain. However, there was only one tub above a quart size, so once again, the grocery store seems to be marketing their products for single people instead of families.

           I also need to mention Trader Joe’s use of the open drawer freezers. They make perusing the frozen food aisle so much more accessible, and for that reason everything is either at eye level or below. You would think this would make the ice cream section more popular, but once again nobody paid it any attention. Just because it’s cold out doesn’t mean ice cream should be ignored! Or at least, that’s how I feel.

           All in all, an experience shopping at Trader Joe’s is always an enjoyable one. Want a big selection of ice cream, however? Just keep walking.

- Marissa Kirshenbaum

[allaboutfoodgwu]

Marissa Kirshenbaum

Fieldwork Store 1: Whole Foods

You can see as soon as you walk into Whole Foods that this is not the type of store that will leave you impressed at their dessert selection. Everything about the grocery market screams fresh and organic, and most people do not associate these adjectives with ice cream. Some people love ice cream during a hot day in the summertime, usually paired with multi-colored candies and oozing chocolate. Whole Foods is not just a grocery store but a “market”. It’s a simulation of farmer’s stations where the food comes right from the ground to your plate and everything is as healthy as it can be.

I visited the Whole Foods on I Street NW at around 1:30pm on a Sunday, which could have influenced the type of people that I saw as well as the quantity of customers searching throughout the store. What I saw were mostly white upper-middle class women sporting big black coats that oftentimes adorned the “Canada Goose” logo wearing Air Pods, sporting expensive athleisure, and carrying reusable shopping bags. I assumed that everyone was picking up their weekly groceries as part of their Sunday errand activities. Whole Foods has an “upper-middle class” aura with its hardwood signage and dark floors with green letters that spell out “organic” plastered along every corner.

The ice cream in Whole Foods can be found along the back of the store on the bottom floor only a few feet walk from the escalator that leads customers back up to the cashier line. Freezers and refrigerated items outline the perimeter of the store so that frozen or cooled food can be spotted at any point from inside an aisle. Ice cream falls into its own designated section next to “Dessert” and “Breakfast”. 

The dessert section houses ice cream bars and fruit pops, while the ice cream section includes small and large containers of ice cream. This section was not visited very much, perhaps due to the cold weather. It does not appear as though you can find ice cream at any other place in the store.

Located in the ice cream section are different types of containers and ice cream treats such as dairy free, almond milk, Halo Top, Talenti gelato, Whole Foods brand gelato, fat free sorbet, Ben & Jerry’s, organic, and Breyer’s brand ice cream. Besides the Whole Foods brand gelato and the Breyer’s brand ice cream, everything else was packaged in a pint-size container. The other kinds were 1.75 quarts.

 In terms of pricing, the pints where on average $5-$6 depending on the type of ice cream and whether or not it is an organic or fat free brand. The Breyer’s 1.75 quarts went for $6. Brands like Halo Top are popular at Whole Foods and are advertised as “healthy” ice cream, with the whole pint containing somewhere from 200-360 calories. At Whole Foods, I could not find any “normal” ice cream brands besides Breyer’s, and I recognized that the pints were not economically efficient for more than one person in a household.

At Whole Foods, the ice cream is more expensive the smaller and more “add-ons” (i.e. dairy free, fat free, organic) there are. If you are an ice cream lover, Whole Foods may not be the best place to purchase your ice cream fix due to its high prices for small amounts of food. It would not be economically feasible. 

Whole Foods may not be the best option for parents shopping for groceries for their families, because due to the sizes the family would run out of ice cream quickly and have to keep purchasing ice cream at high prices. Therefore, the ice cream at Whole Foods is meant to be purchased by single people who are health conscious. 

Anyone looking for an indulgent bowl of ice cream that won’t break the bank every time would have to look somewhere else.