Just stopped in here to pick up a few essentials on the way home. What a rotten atmosphere! Ironically, what made me hesitate before turning into this supermarket was the potential 'snob factor'. That was the one thing that wasn't an issue, as it turned out. But both staffers I encountered were so rude! Made me feel about 'this' big with their attitude. The lady at the deli counter was mopping when I approached her section. She looked up at me, then continued mopping the floor for a good half-minute while I stood there, feeling like some kind of impediment. She sets aside the mop at long last, and -- without washing her hands -- comes and attends to me with patent reluctance. No trace of a smile or greeting. She makes it abundantly clear she'd rather be anywhere else. I mean, I don't envy her her job, but what good can come of projecting such an air of misery?! She asks if I want anything else, to which I say no thanks. I carry on down the long deli counter, and the potato salads catch my eye. So I wave her over. She says something to the effect of, "Oh, so you DO want something else, then?" as though I've just revealed myself as a flaming hypocrite. The potato salads were perhaps 10-15m away from the cold cuts! I hadn't seen them before!! She (again with patent reluctance) whams my choices into the little punnets and, without any parting salutation, turns to the next customer. The lady attending the self-service checkouts, which I passed through, had a similar air of being held at gunpoint. My machine thingy was malfunctioning and she swanned up and, with an air of fantastic exasperation, sorted the problem. I wouldn't normally be too affected by something like this, but seriously, this kind of attitude is just so perfectly pointless that it really grated on me. Especially since the folks at my usual supermarket (Pak n Save in Wairau) are without fail so lovely, smiley, friendly, that I just don't see any reason at all for the people at this place to have such a rotten attitude. As for the store itself, it's very smart in appearance, very 'manicured', which makes for a nice ambiance I guess. Or it would do, if the staffers turned that frown upside down. read more