@cstross I love 'the Excited Snakes of America'

That's a keeper.

@cstross Whirl-marting is also okay in my book.

@cstross I wonder what wine pairs well with both sushi and cinnamon rolls…

@cstross Targets' earnings are down, perhaps they could add this as a promotional feature?

@stevendbrewer Inari sushi I can see working okay-ish with cinnamon rolls? (It's got that sweet thing going.) Also mochi. But the wine is a head-scratcher. I'm guessing it's MD 20/20; if this had happened in Scotland it'd be Buckfast Tonic Wine (but there's no Target here and Scotmid just doesn't have the same bottomless-pit-of-despair vibe).

Please read my pitch deck and front me $250M for my new AI-crash-proof startup idea?

MAKING SHOPPING FUN AGAIN: A supermarket that's also a dodgem cars arena with wine and sushi bars (credit card required for running tab before admission)

@cstross Back in the day, it would have been Boone's Farm. But I don't know what the current thing is. https://vinepair.com/articles/boones-farm-wine-history/

@stevendbrewer Ah, so that's what American X-ers drink instead of scrumpy!

@stevendbrewer @cstross I can confirm that, at least in Atlantic Canada (which is something like a Diet America), Boones is still very much a thing.

@cstross Florida Woman proving she's a match for Florida Man.

@stevendbrewer @cstross Oh, I thought the rolls had both sushi and cinnamon in them. Otherwise, where's the crime?

@cstross

It sounds a lot like this incident at a Wal-Mart, except that she also ate most of a rotisserie chicken, oh, and the methamphetamine.

Story mangled in transmission, or is this a standard behaviour in that country?

(www.seattletimes.com)

@cstross And, just for reference, Target (pronounced "targé") is where Walmart shoppers go when they want to feel upscale. If you really want to experience the true depths of despair, go to Ocean State Job Lot, which is stocked with stuff that didn't sell anywhere else. Or was returned. https://www.oceanstatejoblot.com/

@stevendbrewer Hey, this is the UK! We have Tesco here. (WalMart tried to break into the supermarket biz, bought ASDA—the third-ranked chain—and made a big noise. A few years later they ran weeping to the anti-trust people. Then they gave up, sold most of their stake in ASDA, and got out. Retailing in the UK is hardcore!)

@cstross @stevendbrewer Reminds me of Target’s entry to Canada a decade ago where they bought over 100 locations from a failing retailer, renovated them all, and launched without having inventory or pricing under control.

Strange how US retailers keep forgetting that things are different in other countries.

Within 2 years, they were gone.

@david @stevendbrewer The crazy bit is that ASDA *was* competitive, as a major supermarket chain: WalMart couldn't improve on them, and meanwhile Tesco just did Tesco (cue background sound effects of a Roman legion marching past in lockstep)

@cstross @stevendbrewer
Gewurztraminer, or maybe a sweet Hungarian blaufränkisch red.
Don't know if the US has a domestic equivalent- maybe the reason for arrest was ostentatious drinking of a foreign wine?

@cstross @stevendbrewer Walmart took over Woolco here a few decades ago and are still going strong, and have moved into groceries as well. They’re still here, with an awful shopping experience. I generally avoid.

Then there was the Hudson’s Bay Company, founded in 1670, which went out of business last year after a run with American owners who were more interested in real estate games. Killing the oldest company on the continent is an achievement of some kind, I guess.

@cstross @david @stevendbrewer Do you remember Tesco's attempt to enter the US market? "Fresh & Easy" - except it turned out to be neither of those things.

@stevendbrewer @cstross The idea of stuff that was stocked in the US and didn't sell elsewhere has instilled in me the fear of the Endless depths of the cosmos.