Stop & Shop Offers 50% Off (and People Go Nuts)

"If you build them, they will come," but if you offer everything for fifty percent off, they will come in droves.

It was mayhem on Friday when shoppers got wind that Stop & Shop in Milford was selling everything in the store for half off. The store is one of the six locations closing in New Hampshire on or before Sept. 21 this year.

Being a bargain hunter, I had no choice but to join in the feeding frenzy.

The rain poured down as I drove into an extremely full parking that Friday. No shopping carts could be seen because customers were snatching them up in order to fill them to the brim.

I managed to nab one by stalking an outgoing shopper to her car and asking for her cart. I apologized for being creepy, but she said she did the same thing to get a cart when she arrived.

My cart was empty and I was ready to fill it with bargains.

Lines were long that afternoon and tired customers lined up around the registers. This made navigation pretty tricky, but I managed to waltz my way around other shoppers.

Within the first minute I had already come across shelves cleared out. Bread, soda, beer and other hot items were nowhere to be seen. My cart weaved in out and of the aisles grabbing what I could. I grabbed my usual staples like cereal and yogurt, but made sure to grab one of the last remaining six packs in the beer aisle.

You could tell which items people weren’t fond of as they sat lonely between empty shelf space. People must not be fond of Beck’s Sapphire around here, but cheap beer is always welcome in my fridge. The books and DVDs were cleared out of one aisle, except for a workout series and a Michael Jackson CD.

New Hampshirites are apparently not fans of the 10 minute workout (or Thriller.)

Nobody was really going for the frozen products because waiting in line was expected. I chose the self-checkout line, which should have been a lot faster.

One shopper in particular took about an hour to get her overflowing cart bagged and paid for. She would be out of a job if I were a grocery store manager. I went through the checkout like a madman in order to make up for her sluggish pace. The line behind me was longer than the one I got into, and I hate to keep people waiting.

The stress on the employee’s faces was apparent as they worked hard to manage the chaos of bargain hunters.

I bought $200 worth of products for half the price, which is a victory in my book. It was all worth it even though it took two hours.

Strutting out, and feeling victorious, I made my way to the car to unload my haul. My fridge and cabinets would soon be filled with discounted groceries, and nothing tastes better than cheap.