Groceteria.com

Welcome to the Groceteria.com Message Board!

The basics:

The first thing you should know is that this is not a general interest supermarket message board. It is a somewhat tightly-moderated board on the subject of supermarket history. Posts about current operations are generally off-topic and subject to deletion. If you're curious about my rationale for this, read this thread. That's the primary guideline you should keep in mind, but please read on.

Those who wish to post about issues related to current retail operations, trends, and news should check out this excellent board.

You should consider yourself a "probationary" user at first. Consider lurking and getting a feel for the board before posting. If you make twenty posts on your first day, understand that you will probably be viewed warily by me and by other board members. If a significant number of these posts are off-topic, you may even be banned right off the bat.

Here are some suggestions for new users.

The subject of the board:

The focus of this board is retail HISTORY and HISTORICAL ARCHITECTURE. Posts about current operations and issues will be DELETED.

The following are generally acceptable:

• Supermarket history

• Supermarket architecture (pre-2010 or so)

• Operations and corporate structure in HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE.

• Historical operations of other chain retailers and related businesses within the appropriate forum.

Some other topics may be acceptable as well. If you see a category or forum title that fits, you're probably OK.

The following topics are unacceptable in ANY forum and will result in your post being deleted:

• Discussion of current labor or strike-related issues, current operational issues, or customer service issues and complaints.

• Questions about pensions, how to get in touch with old coworkers, or similar issues not of general interest to all participants.

• Inquiries and discussion of the value of collectibles, etc.

Repeated violations may result in your being banned from the board. Also, if you have questions or comments about the operation of the board; please email or message me rather than posting them in a thread.

Things that are likely to get you banned immediately:

• Rude or abusive comments directed toward any other member.

• Political posts. No one on this board cares about your politics; the topic here is supermarket history and architecture.

• Bigoted, or prejudiced comments based on race, ethnicity, political affiliation, religion, sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation.

• Repeated off-topic or unacceptable posts as defined above.

• Spam or any type of advertising.

Posting etiquette and style:

• Please use the correct forum for you post. Messages posted to an inappropriate forum will be moved or edited. Identical messages posted to multiple forums/topics will be deleted.

• Please use a descriptive term in your subject when starting a new topic, like the name of the chain and any specific location your post is about. Subjects like "A Question" or "Need Some Info" are virtually useless.

• If your reply is not related to the original topic at hand, please start a new topic. Also please use the board's search function to make sure that there is not already a topic covering what you want to discuss.

• Keep the discussion friendly. Rudeness is the quickest way to get your post removed and yourself banned.

• Please leave your sense of entitlement at home; people are here because they enjoy the research and subject matter, not to listen to your demands and criticism that their contributions are insufficient.

• Private conversations should be carried out offline.

• Please divide long posts into paragraphs, and please skip a line between each paragraph. This will make your posts MUCH easier to read.

• Please use correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Avoid annoying shorthand and jargon that some people might not understand. Messages with such significant grammar, spelling, or punctuation issues that the average person would find them difficult to read will be deleted or edited.

• Avoid irrelevant "me too" type posts or those which add nothing but "we have those in my city too" to the discussion; your post should state or ask something specific. These may be deleted or edited.

• No "bumping", or attempting to move the topic back to "the top" without making some new and relevant contribution.

• Please do not under any circumstances post inline links to photos hosted on someone else's personal website without obtaining their permission first. Be wary of copyright on photos and articles as well as trademarks. Please do not use a current logo as your avatar.

Thanks!