Grand Union vs Tops: The honeymoon's over?

Rome store on NY 46 & 49

 All eleven Grand Union stores are now open.  Only four were Grand Union before, switching to Tops more than once before going back.  However, not everyone is embracing the change, complaining about the prices and selection, although this is nothing new, although recent events come into play as well. To younger people, the chain is new to them, being too young or even not yet born when it was last in business locally or at all except for the few coming full circle again, or for those of use who are older, it can be a reminder of the old guard, or come to find it's a different animal.  If my grandma lived to see this, she'd probably be surprised as it was no longer in the immediate area two decades ago in the Capital Region where she lived when she was still alive, and she had to go to Price Chopper or Hannaford instead.  Back in CNY today, some people say they'll drive to the nearest Tops if that's an option.  Some miss the gas points and some even have gift cards to finish.  Because Washington, Albany, and Montpelier (for Rutland, VT) made this happen, it's almost ironic that both Price Chopper and Tops are still both convenient in Onondaga County, while spaced out enough in up to a dozen other counties.  Tops and Grand Union also belong to UFCW Local One, so those employees also need to be considered since it's hard to keep them around right now. We may wonder if it was a good idea last year to even merge.  It always comes with a price, if you look at other companies when they join forces.

In Cortland, one problem was that both Grand Union and P&C have Best Yet, being on opposite sides of a small college town.  When I went, I could find just a few things unavailable at the two indies back home that usually carry the trailblazing private label.  The former stores had more varieties of ice cream (not practical on the road without your own car and an insulated bag, plus air-con in the warmer months to boot) and my fizzy water (that was more doable for me), while one of the later has no Best Yet Ice Cream and the other has a few as these are small local places battling David and Goliath Syndrome.

Grand Union uses Red Dot Savings with phone numbers, having had cards in the past, which not everyone wants to deal with.  They have points to add up and redeem in their own way, and I'm already close to halfway, even for someone who may only go once in a great while (people would do the same for Wegmans if they don't have one nearby, but that's a story for another day).  I last went in Hamilton, another one-horse uni town, but Price Chopper opened there later and Grand Union couldn't compete.

The supermarket industry is low-profit as it is and I hope this wasn't a mistake where history doesn't repeat itself (like it may have elsewhere).  It'd be nice if there were more.  Maybe near me where there's a food desert or two, although the one that truly is may be up the road from one of the local places Grand Union competed with until maybe the early '80s (going thirty miles away now doesn't count).  Many who don't get out of town much if ever or go to certain area may even realise that the chain is alive and well (P&C too in some form).  It's just not the Grand Union we grew up with.