Discussion:
Larpenteur Rainbow Foods reopens as Cub on Saturday, July 19
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Lutsen Lumberjack
2014-07-18 19:01:37 UTC
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So, what can we all expect from the change in the Rainbow grocery store chain?
Bookwyrm
2014-07-18 20:24:00 UTC
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Post by Lutsen Lumberjack
So, what can we all expect from the change in the Rainbow grocery store chain?
I'm going to miss Rainbow's bakers. Especially their nibbleniks, creme
horns, and *chewy* cookies (Cub overbakes their cookies -- even freshly
baked, they are *hard* and less tasty than Rainbow's.)
Osmium
2014-07-19 13:49:04 UTC
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Post by Bookwyrm
Post by Lutsen Lumberjack
So, what can we all expect from the change in the Rainbow grocery store chain?
I'm going to miss Rainbow's bakers. Especially their nibbleniks, creme
horns, and *chewy* cookies (Cub overbakes their cookies -- even freshly
baked, they are *hard* and less tasty than Rainbow's.)
The Larpenteur bakery was far, far superior to the four (almost) nearby
Cub's that I have tried. Like the difference between a good bakery and
Wonderbread. I normally dislike sourdough, they had a "light" sourdough that
was great.

I have disliked Cub every since their Listo pencil days. The pencils are now
gone but nothing else has gotten better. It's always like they are going
out of business. Why are there no bags in produce? Why no ties? Things
will not get better, they now hold almost 3 million people captive.
Darrin "Doc" O'Leary
2014-07-19 16:31:25 UTC
Permalink
For your reference, records indicate that
Post by Osmium
Post by Bookwyrm
I'm going to miss Rainbow's bakers. Especially their nibbleniks, creme
horns, and *chewy* cookies (Cub overbakes their cookies -- even freshly
baked, they are *hard* and less tasty than Rainbow's.)
The Larpenteur bakery was far, far superior to the four (almost) nearby
Cub's that I have tried. Like the difference between a good bakery and
Wonderbread. I normally dislike sourdough, they had a "light" sourdough that
was great.
But it is possible that, with the same facilities and maybe the same bakers,
the same recipes will survive. Give the “new” store a chance before you
reach any conclusions.
Post by Osmium
I have disliked Cub every since their Listo pencil days. The pencils are now
gone but nothing else has gotten better. It's always like they are going
out of business.
I don’t know about that. I hadn’t shopped at a Cub in over a decade.
Somehow it was Rainbow that actually did go out of business (or whatever
you want to call Roundy’s exiting the Twin Cities market).
Post by Osmium
Why are there no bags in produce? Why no ties?
Well, everything is shiny-new at the Uptown location, so I can’t comment on
that. Even so, I usually re-use produce bags so long as they’re in good
condition. It’s a simple solution worth considering yourself.
Post by Osmium
Things
will not get better, they now hold almost 3 million people captive.
There are plenty of other places to go, depending on what you’re looking for. I favor The Wedge as my alternate shopping choice but, hell, I could even go to a nearby Target to get groceries (the density of Target/Cub/Rainbow at 26th & Lake has always been crazy to me).
--
"Well, here I am."
Jubal Early, Objects in Space, Firefly
Moe DeLoughan
2014-07-21 14:27:40 UTC
Permalink
Post by Darrin "Doc" O'Leary
For your reference, records indicate that
Post by Osmium
Post by Bookwyrm
I'm going to miss Rainbow's bakers. Especially their nibbleniks, creme
horns, and *chewy* cookies (Cub overbakes their cookies -- even freshly
baked, they are *hard* and less tasty than Rainbow's.)
The Larpenteur bakery was far, far superior to the four (almost) nearby
Cub's that I have tried. Like the difference between a good bakery and
Wonderbread. I normally dislike sourdough, they had a "light" sourdough that
was great.
But it is possible that, with the same facilities and maybe the same bakers,
the same recipes will survive. Give the “new” store a chance before you
reach any conclusions.
Facilities had nothing to do with it. Staff had almost nothing to do
with it. It mainly has to do with suppliers. Cub will be using their
own wholesale supplies, not those that formerly supplied Rainbow. It
will be just another Cub.

One of the orphan Rainbows is in my neighborhood, across the street
from a Cub. I suspect it is going to be renamed and put up for sale
again, but in the meantime the changes have come fast and furious.
None of the Rainbow bakery offerings remain; it's all Cub Crap, same
as across the street.

In the long run, this means less variety to choose from in the Twin
Cities grocery market. For instance, the Larpenteur Rainbow was the
one reliable source for Krispy Crackers in the Twin Cities. Cub does
not offer them because Supervalue, their wholesale arm, does not stock
them.

That's the reason I like to stop in small towns and shop their local
small grocery stores. It's always interesting seeing what products and
brands they carry, compared to what's available in the Twin Cities
markets. I found Happy's brand potato chips at the Fiesta grocery
store in Lake City. I haven't seen Happy's in my local stores for the
past couple of decades, at least.
Darrin "Doc" O'Leary
2014-07-21 16:00:04 UTC
Permalink
For your reference, records indicate that
Post by Moe DeLoughan
Post by Darrin "Doc" O'Leary
But it is possible that, with the same facilities and maybe the same bakers,
the same recipes will survive. Give the “new” store a chance before you
reach any conclusions.
Facilities had nothing to do with it. Staff had almost nothing to do
with it. It mainly has to do with suppliers. Cub will be using their
own wholesale supplies, not those that formerly supplied Rainbow.
I see no reason to believe the actual differences between one distributor’s
bag of flour (or whatever) and another’s is *so* great that they turn a
chewy cookie hard. I expect the things I mention to have a far greater
influence on the end product.
Post by Moe DeLoughan
One of the orphan Rainbows is in my neighborhood, across the street
from a Cub. I suspect it is going to be renamed and put up for sale
again, but in the meantime the changes have come fast and furious.
None of the Rainbow bakery offerings remain; it's all Cub Crap, same
as across the street.
And that may be true. All I’m saying is that, were I a regular consumer of
a bakery’s goods, I would at least try them once after a name change to
verify that more than the name has changed. Then stop buying it if it
isn’t good enough. It’s simply in your best interest to do so, because it
sends a message to Cub that their recipe is sub-standard compared to the
previous product.
Post by Moe DeLoughan
In the long run, this means less variety to choose from in the Twin
Cities grocery market. For instance, the Larpenteur Rainbow was the
one reliable source for Krispy Crackers in the Twin Cities. Cub does
not offer them because Supervalue, their wholesale arm, does not stock
them.
Brand names don’t necessarily represent real variety. It’s quite likely
that whoever is that *actual* source of the crackers that get labeled
Krispy does a substantially similar run of product that it places into
boxes that bear a different name. They’re just crackers, after all.

I’m just saying to let the products speak for themselves. Maybe there’s a
difference, but maybe there isn’t. The first thing I decided to do when my
Rainbow reopened as a Cub was to buy their store brand where possible so
that I could judge the products based on evidence. If the quality
differences are anything like Roundy’s store brand, I’ll keep buying some
and I’ll switch back to name brands for others. No big deal.
--
"Well, here I am."
Jubal Early, Objects in Space, Firefly
Osmium
2014-07-21 21:06:56 UTC
Permalink
Facilities had nothing to do with it. Staff had almost nothing to do with
it. It mainly has to do with suppliers. Cub will be using their own
wholesale supplies, not those that formerly supplied Rainbow. It will be
just another Cub.
One of the orphan Rainbows is in my neighborhood, across the street from a
Cub. I suspect it is going to be renamed and put up for sale again, but in
the meantime the changes have come fast and furious. None of the Rainbow
bakery offerings remain; it's all Cub Crap, same as across the street.
In the long run, this means less variety to choose from in the Twin Cities
grocery market. For instance, the Larpenteur Rainbow was the one reliable
source for Krispy Crackers in the Twin Cities. Cub does not offer them
because Supervalue, their wholesale arm, does not stock them.
That reminds me. Cub does not stock 6"x8" _Hefty Baggies_ , the kind I
currently have a half eaten peach in. They have sandwich baggies, specially
made so mommy doesn't need a bag tie, she just folds the sandwich in. Then
she can rush off and do her first surgery of the day. I prefer a bag that
lets in as little air as possible, I've got time to get a tie. Rainbow had
them.
Tony Calguire
2014-07-24 17:30:20 UTC
Permalink
Post by Moe DeLoughan
That's the reason I like to stop in small towns and shop their local
small grocery stores. It's always interesting seeing what products and
brands they carry, compared to what's available in the Twin Cities
markets. I found Happy's brand potato chips at the Fiesta grocery
store in Lake City. I haven't seen Happy's in my local stores for the
past couple of decades, at least.
Happy's still has a factory in St. Anthony Village, and I believe they still
have factory outlet sales in the front office. I haven't been there in
years, even though I live close by, but we used to stop in as kids when we
got hungry.

Doug McIntyre
2014-07-22 02:09:39 UTC
Permalink
Post by Darrin "Doc" O'Leary
Post by Osmium
The Larpenteur bakery was far, far superior to the four (almost) nearby
Cub's that I have tried. Like the difference between a good bakery and
Wonderbread. I normally dislike sourdough, they had a "light" sourdough that
was great.
But it is possible that, with the same facilities and maybe the same bakers,
the same recipes will survive. Give the “new” store a chance before you
reach any conclusions.
The Rainbow near me that turned Cub like the other two already near here
changed their bread/rolls/muffins over to the Cub recipies on re-opening.
The bread is a wash, but different. Rainbow rolls/buns were a lot closer to
those that I make, I dislike the cub ones. Muffins at Rainbow were a lot better.
Other stuff Rainbow bakery regularly made is MIA.

The meat selection/quality went way down in general. Rainbow used to
reguarly carry lamb or flank and/or skirt steak. The re-opened cub had
nothing, and the ground beef was terrible. Rainbow let you choose what
cuts made up the ground beef, the new cub gives you none. (the cub the
other direction to me does carry a better ground beef grind behind the
counter, but that store specificly tends to be out of so many things
on the shelves I almost always have to go another store to fill in the
missing items).

I guess I'll have to go to Byerlys for meat and bakery stuff now.
Post by Darrin "Doc" O'Leary
I could even go to a nearby Target to get groceries...
Target carries so different a mix of products. Much more "ready to eat/prepare"
or box mix items than staples or groceries. I think the things that
puzzle me the most is they don't carry buttermilk or cream. Some
baking supplies. Their meat selection usually is pretty good though, though I
don't think I've tried their ground beef. (usually a good indicator to
me what quality in general, maybe Target only had tubes of ground beef
which I won't touch).


Yes, there are lots of choices still, but it just makes me run around
even more to pick out what each store is better at.
--
Doug McIntyre
***@themcintyres.us
Darrin "Doc" O'Leary
2014-07-22 03:34:33 UTC
Permalink
For your reference, records indicate that
Post by Doug McIntyre
Yes, there are lots of choices still, but it just makes me run around
even more to pick out what each store is better at.
There are many places in the world that people die for the want of our
first-world problems. I just alternate my regular shopping trips between
the various stores I like. Anything I go out of my way for (e.g., Rustica
Bakery) tends to be worth the trip.
--
"Well, here I am."
Jubal Early, Objects in Space, Firefly
Lutsen Lumberjack
2014-07-19 19:34:24 UTC
Permalink
Post by Osmium
The Larpenteur bakery was far, far superior to the four (almost) nearby
Cub's that I have tried. Like the difference between a good bakery and
Wonderbread. I normally dislike sourdough, they had a "light" sourdough that
was great.
The Rainbow bread shop had a good level of ethnic variety.
Post by Osmium
I have disliked Cub every since their Listo pencil days. The pencils are now
gone but nothing else has gotten better. It's always like they are going
out of business. Why are there no bags in produce? Why no ties? Things
will not get better, they now hold almost 3 million people captive.
Cub holds 3 million captive -- and were able to keep it a secret behind corporate boardrooms until just a couple of months before actually pouncing.
Lutsen Lumberjack
2014-07-19 19:29:03 UTC
Permalink
Post by Bookwyrm
Post by Lutsen Lumberjack
So, what can we all expect from the change in the Rainbow grocery store chain?
I'm going to miss Rainbow's bakers. Especially their nibbleniks, creme
horns, and *chewy* cookies (Cub overbakes their cookies -- even freshly
baked, they are *hard* and less tasty than Rainbow's.)
Agreed, Larpenteur Rainbow had a good bakery. Good cookies etc. and they always had those large, tasty 'no trans fat' pies for only $5.

The bakery seemed to have the same stuff up until just a day or two before Rainbow closed on Wednesday. Hopefully that might mean that Cub will now subcontract its bakery operations at that location to the same subcontractor (if they've been using baker subcontractors in that sense).
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