Now back to Dan Way live from the Window World to Night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Okay, we're all done on sleep issues. That's fine, We're gonna move on to the second topic of the night. There was an article which I'm sure most of you saw today that Stop and Shop has decided they're going to close a bunch of stores, a group of stores
in the Massachusetts area other states as well. The stores that are being closed is one down in Brockton, one in Raynham, one in Halifax, one on the Boston Turnpike, which I assume is Route nine in Shrewsbury, one on Neaedham Street in Newton, which I guess is a new version of Stop and Shop it's called be Fresh. Okay, one in Springfield and one in Worcester on West Point Street, and then one in Pembroke. So there's eight Stop and Shop stores now. Stop and Shop used to be a
family owned company. It is no longer a family owned company. It is now a Dutch supermarket company that owns the chain. Stop and Shop president Gordon reid So, according to an article in the Boston Herald, said the company decided to close the stores to create quote a healthy base for the future growth of our brand. Where do you come up with those? You talk about euphemisms, and you talk about pr companies coming up. We're going to close the stores so we'll have a healthy base for the future
growth of our brand. You're going to take your brand out of eight communities in Massachusetts. So apparently the company that owns Stop and Shop up is a hold del Hayes. Two words a ho l d a hold. Anyone who knows Dutch can explain to me what this means. And the second word is del Hayes d e l h ai Ze. A Dutch supermarket company that owns the chain, said that in May that it planned to close some Stop and Shop locations to strengthen the brand. Yeah, I
get that right. That is just perfect consultant speech. The company said it wants to build new stores and remodel the remaining ones, increase the number of store brand products it offers, and reduce prices. Well here's the problem. Here's the problem. You may not live in any of these communities Brockton, rain m Halifax, Shrewsbury, Newton, Springfield, Worcester or Pembroke,
but a lot of people do. And the more supermarkets that disappear in these various communities, the less choice people will have, and the less choice that people have, the more likelihood that the remaining stores will be able to run and sell their products without a whole lot of competition. Meaning if it's just basic economics one on one, and you don't have to be a Harvard economics major to
understand this. But if within a period of within a I don't know, a circle of four or five miles, you have three or four different store brands, and you can visit each of those brands, whether it's a Roach Brothers or a Shaws, or Shaws now has Shaws and Star, which confuses me as well. My favorite remains market Basket. Unfortunately, I'm not yet a location right now where there's a market Basket nearby, but I'll tell you I noticed the
price differential in market Basket. Every time I go in there, I saved money. There's one that when I'm you know, back in home in the Boston area, I go to that market Basket in Wallfam a little bit out of the way, I will admit that, but well worth the drive, well worth the effort, particularly when I'm going over to pick up a bunch of items, you know, and to stock up. But so I'd love to know. Just open this up here. There's some statistics out which are stunning.
I just didn't do a whole lot of researcher on this today, but I did some. And US retailers, so this includes supermarkets as well as big box stores, are closing stores at a record pace in twenty twenty four. This is an article written by CNN about a week ago October twenty fifth. Will get into more than that, get into more of that. Major retailers, I guess. Family Dollar Store, not one that I necessarily go to, has announced six hundred and seventy seven store closings this year.
Walgreen is closing two hundred and fifty nine stores, Big Lots is closing three hundred and sixty. Another company which I'm unfamiliar with, L Flooring, is shutting down entirely. Major retailers have announced six one hundred eighty nine store closures so far this year, already outpacing last year's total of five hundred and fifty three. According to coresite research, chains are on track to close the highest number of stores in twenty twenty four than in any year since twenty twenty,
when the COVID nineteen pack pandemic decimated the industry. So if there's a store that you've lost lately, I would love to hear from you on it. And also I'd like to we talk about this, and it's a popular topic. What stores do you rely upon. I am not a digital shopper. That's just me. That's just me. There were people out there and I have family members who loved the shop digitally, and there is a convenience about that.
The problem is I recently went to a Target store and I had to buy products that I wanted to look at. I don't like buying products, getting them in the mail, and if the products are not what I want or they don't fit, I'm in a bit of a buying because I'm not somebody who wants to spend a lot of time going back to the to the post office and sending a product back and not knowing if I'm going to get refunded, et cetera. So I tend to be a brick and mortar person, which maybe
makes me an achronism, but maybe not. Six one seven, two, five, four ten, thirty six one seven, nine, three one ten thirty. Are you bemoaning as I am, the the lessening number of not only supermarkets, but but stores, stores that you can walk into and you can look at a product, you can hold them in your hand, and you can decide whether you want to buy or not. That's what we'd be talking about. Right after the news break, joined the conversation on Nightside.
It's night Side with Boston's News Radio.
All right, that's interesting that we're talking about a hardware store closing again. You need these small stores. I think it's it's just incredible, just incredible. Let's let's see what people think here. I'm gonna go first off to JD and Lemonster. JD. Welcome to Nightside. Thank you for calling in. Go right ahead, Hi, JD Dan, How you doing. I'm doing just great, appreciate your call. We're talking about the disappearance of again, in this case, eight Stop and Shop stores,
but it could apply to a lot of stores. And I love the fact that now we find out that Stop and Shop is owned by a company, a Danish company. I mean, it's not even owned by an American company anymore.
Well, I didn't know that until tonight, but did I Yeah, I got agree with you. Market Basket religious is I don't know how anybody could compete with them. Their prices are so good and their product is really just the best.
Well, I want I want competition, okay, because I think it, uh it's important for all of us uh to to have choice. But but yeah, I mean, market Basket is a terrific store, There's no question about that.
Uh.
At every and I go out of my way to get there. It's I'm not near. How close are you to a mask market Basket?
Well?
Uncle?
Out here in the Twin Cities, we have two in Fitchburg and Malummas there and then Littleton has one. But there was a Shaws here for a while and that was closed down and was Amazon Fresh, and I guess that just kind of a went away.
Yeah, yeah, I'm not. I'm not a huge fan of Shaws, to be honest with you. And one of the reasons I'm not a fan of Shaws, although I have to go to Shaws because it's one of the closer uh one, it's the closest grocery store I have. In order to save money at Shaws, you have to use their app, and in using the app, it's really the worst app I've ever seen in my life. It's so confusing, and you give up on it, and you can you can go by no, just just lower the prices and give
them to everybody. Whether because most older people aren't comfortable using an app, and I don't understand the marketing of a Shaws why they would force people to use an app which is gonna, which is which is difficult to use. It's a horrible app. It's just a horrible app. Have you ever tried to use a a grocery store app to, you know, to get some some coupons and prices, price price breaks.
So around here, the only time we ever really had to use out of the stores is when the market Basket had their big I wouldn't call it a strike, but when the company was being and the old owners were trying to buy the owners or how that worked. So we're forced to go to the other stores. And that's what we really kind of appreciated around here, how much market bask is important to the community. The other one that we can do sometimes too, which is I
think the second is I do like Hannifford. Hanniford's a good second. They don't really have an app, but they do have.
Go ahead.
I just I'm just I have enough apps I have to deal with in my job, so I know how to use apps. But but if you've ever tried the Shaws app, if anyone out there has tried the Shaws app, it's impossible to navigate. They make it difficult. It's like one of these it's one of these apps. It's almost like be you a corn maze. You go this way and next thing you realize there's nowhere to go, so you got to go backwards and you've got to take
another turn. It's it's it's it's terrific to use. And I don't know why they do it, because it's not consumer friendly. It's it frustrates me. I'm sure it frustrates other people.
Well, I think that's what they do to get you to come back. But Marcat Baskett really just has their weekly fire and then they're putting sales, and then the prices for everything else are just pretty much always the best, so you really don't have too much shopping. There's really no nonsense there.
It's just easy.
Well, the Flyer is great, but I'm saying you do not have to use an electronic device to get those. It tells you. It's telling you, Okay, this is on sale this week. You can get this. It just take the flyer. Is it's really old school, but the flyer tells you what you bring that with you and say, oh, I want to get those strawberries because the strawberries are
three ninety nine or whatever it is. You don't have to go into your phone and pull down the market basket app I don't think and then click on something to make sure you just you get the best price available. And that's what that's the magic, in my opinion of market basket. If you walk out of there and you think, oh, I'm gonna they're gonna they're gonna hit me for a hundred for one hundred bucks here, and you realize, no, it's sixty five dollars. That's it. Okay, here's the sixty
five dollars. You go the other way to some of these other stores and you say to yourself, well, this can't be more than thirty five bucks, and you reach it for a couple of forties and they'll say, well that's fifty nine to sixty and it's like, what what did I buy? Anyway? Hey, JD, have you called before. This your first time. I don't recall a JD from Lemonster before.
I've called a few times, mostly after the elections or after the debates in recent times.
All right, you're going to vote on Tuesday?
Sure?
Did your vote? Or have you voted already?
Have going already? But the biggest uh, the biggest thing I could see you, mastresses, is uh No one question five. I know you've covered a few times and it was too busy to get in, but question five is a definite note for me. It's gonna crush all the small businesses.
Got you? Okay, Well, thanks j D. I appreciate you taking the time at pall.
Have a great night, take care your typical bite.
All right, let me can I get one in here? Sure? Let me go to James and Boston. James, you are next on nightside.
Go right ahead, Well, Hi in good afternoon.
Let's good afternoon, good evening. Wherever you are, don't worry, go right there.
I've got work anywhere. It's the fun bar, Shaws and Stop the Shop. I can't tell them different between the two because they're both expensive and they both wat As you said about competition, that's how market Basket got in here marking back to the old people who have but don't have like a million dollar account. And you're right, that app is our hot math.
Oh, the the Shaw, the Shaws app.
It's as our hot math.
I'm with you. I'm I'm gonna steal that line from you, James, because that's exactly what it is. I feel like you don't no matter how often I tried to utilize it. You almost have to be a nuclear scientist.
Even with that, you need extra education. I tried that thing once and happened. I said that hot mess ain't happening. It's just not going to do it now.
If I yes, yeah, if I had a choice between the market Basket five miles away and and in Shaws or Star Market closer, I'm going to market Basket every time.
Same it. Oh, and there's another at least in my neighborhood. We have Tropical Foods, which is the next competition for market Basket. And they're trying to open up another supermarket. And prices are great in Detile Square or Newberry Square. Now, YEA love it. And it's all international plus regular food. No, they don't do an app. Yes, it's a brand new supermarket and it's put in Shaws or Star or whatever they call it.
Now, Well, good good for that. You know. Look, uh, there's there's a lot of communities which are uh, you know, stores to close en up. Walgreens has closed up a lot of their their drug stores. Every community needs a couple of drug stores and they need a couple of good supermarkets.
My neighborhood, they close them all, the Walgreens and the CBS, so we have to go to town to get them. Unfortunately, Well, I gotta tell you, so we deal it.
Let me make a suggestion to you, James. Okay, I'm aware of that. I am aware of that. I'm a I'm a city kid. I think it's up to the city councilors and the mayors and the mayor specifically to call up CBS and call up Walgreens and say, hey, we need to get a store in this community because I don't want people my constituents having to get on the train or the bus to go all the way downstairs to get a prescription downtown to get a prescription filled.
Uh.
And that's where the politicians could really help out their constituents if they were so interested. But they're not.
Well, we know they're not Walgreen turned into a foot locker. Yeah, well we need another sneaker store.
Exactly, Oh, exactly, James, you're reading my mind. Man, this is scary.
Right.
I'm a brick and mortar guy. I don't want to internet it. I mean, I've done a couple of things, but I'm not intneted and re write. Most of these clothing stores are going out of business. And guess what, Guys like you and me, we're not sized thirty two or twenty eight. We're men, you know, get the men clothes out for our size because we got the money. Yes, the one thing we want with skinny jeans and skinny teans.
I'm not a girl. I don't want no, I don't want my one see me skinny jeans because you're gonna look at me like, really, you're not trying to be twenty get a life.
Yeah, I'm telling you you might be a brother from another mother here. I just gotta tell you, man, it's you you think like I do. Hey, thanks so much for the call. Please keep calling this program. Okay, I would get around and flows from our first real studio audience here a digital studio audience.
James, I love your audience.
Keep with us, Keep with us, my friend.
Remember market Basket forever I'm with you. We should pay as conversation. Get all stopping shops and what I want shaws and put them into market Basket.
Yeah. I don't want a monopoly anywhere, but but if I have a choice people for a monopoly, I'll take market Basket every day because they they seem to be interested in doing business and treating people right. So that's getting paid.
I'm not getting paid either. I'm going to March Basketball and we're going shopping, and we're going way to Revere. It just take all the shopping.
Good you, Good for you. We'll get the.
Real guys on and whoever comes up next. Remember market Basket the better. Okay, how good James will look forward.
I look forward to James's second call a lot, Thank you, my friend, talk to you soon. All right, good night. That's a great call. You know, it's a call like that that makes my night. I can sometimes get one or two or three calls folks who have enthusiasm, passion, new calls so important six one, seven, two, five, four, ten thirty six one seven, nine, three, one ten thirty. Uh yeah, we'll talk some politics later on tomorrow night.
For sure, we look the election. I think most people have figured the election out now one way or the other. Let's see what the results are. But we're talking tonight some issues that affect people, and and I think that's it's an important issue. The only line that's opened six one, seven, nine, three, one, ten thirty. If you want to keep talking about this,
we certainly can keep talking about this. But I think it's important that that we have options, uh, and that we need to say to these doors that are closing, if you don't want our business, you know, just leave. Don't let the door hit you on the rear end, particularly if you're now a foreign owned you know. Yeah, stopping shop. My first job was at stopping shop. Okay, I mean it was owned by the rab family. It was. It's it's what we're supposed to be about, you know,
American family owning a business. Now it's owned by some company out of Denmark. Give me a break. Coming back on nightside.
Now, back to Dan ray Mine from the Window World night Side Studios on w b Z, the news radio.
Okay, well take him, as they called in we got full lines, which is great. Let's keep rolling here, Let's go to Tina. Tina is down in Rhode Island. Tina one of my favorite callers. Tina, bring them bringing Tina up for me, if you would please Dan real quickly? There there we go, Hey, Tina, thank you. I was having a little trouble with my mouse hit Tina, and I gotta get Tan to Dan to be aware of that. Go ahead, Tina, how are you?
I just love, I'm wonderful, I'm just fine.
Now.
I don't know if those communities in Massachusetts where the stopping shop are closing, if they're well to do communities. But I know where I live in one socket up in the corner on the right hand side of the state, well.
Many times, many times, go.
Ahead, yeah, And the stopping shop is in where I go is in one time is the North Smith Deal on the one socket border less than a mile from my house. Now, the within i'd say a mile and a half maybe two miles at the most. In my community there's a stopping shop. There's all these, there's Walmart, and there's four of them, all these. Oh, price right now, price right is more for people like on the low associated economic level. But what I like about stopping shop
is where we live. Is it used to be open until twenty four hours, seven days a week. Then that stopped. Then it was open till midnight, that stopped, and now it's open every day until ted. But the one thing I noticed about my stopping shop is I do not have to run to hold foods to buy organic. I eat a lot of organic food, and Stopping Shop in North Smithfield has a lot of organics. They call it Nature's promise, and Nature's promise is very good. I read all the ingredients.
I look, you know what, Tina, the stopping shop should take that that standard and that practice and put it in other stores. You asked about the stores in Boston. In Massachusetts, Look, you know Massachusetts, Brockton's that's not a wealthy community, Rayom, Camifax, Shrewsbury, Newton there he is, Yeah, yeah, is Newton can be. Springfield is not a wealthy community. Worcester, Pembroke.
So these you know again, First of all, you have you have wealthy communities who generally approximate to For example, your Weston which is close to Wellesley, and Weston doesn't have to come up with a lot of commercial stuff, but they have it next door. In Wellesley. I just think it's it's unfair to poorer communities. I'm glad that you're well served in Moon Socket, Tina, because you should be. That means that a lot of people there, and I hope that the competition keeps the prices down.
Market Basket is about ten miles from me, the one in Petucket right now. The other one is up in Bellingham. It's too far.
I don't like.
I don't like market Basket. It's too big. I get overwhelmed. Stopping shops are smaller, they're a little bit more money holeful just Marrie.
Okay, whatever, whatever works for you, Tina. I gotta get one more in here before the break, So I'm gonna let you. Oh. I'm glad that you're happy. You're the happiest caller of the night so far. Okay, thanks Dan, doctor lady. Let me get Florence and Groveland, Florence. I don't want you have to wait through the news. You go right ahead, Florence.
Well, I'm another happy Macas get cooked me too.
Yeah.
Yeah, their prices agreed. And I gotta tell you, Dan, they make up now. You know, there are lots of brand name frozen foods in the cases there. But they make up meals they cook right there and they seal them up, and you can buy meals already cooked, just bring it home and warm it up in the microwaves.
Yep, that is important, particularly for folks who live alone. They don't want to cook a big, big meal for you know, two people or three people or four people, but they want to have a Yeah, that's another good reason.
Yeah.
And they also make up sandwich to go if you want a sub samdwich instead of your regular subplaces. They're cheaper there, like six dollars and you can get whatever you want and what whatever you want on it good and it's sambulous.
Well again, I have heard very few people say anything negative about a market basket. For Tina, one of them is a little too far away and she thinks the store might be a little big, and she gets overwhelmed and she should stay with Stop and Shop.
But for you and me, three miles I.
Wish my I wish my market basket was three miles away. We we will, we will stick with market Basket whenever we can. Florence, I got you before the break. I didn't want to have to have to stand and wait through the news. But I got the news coming at me right now, so we'll talk soon. Okay, Thanks Florence, always great to your voice. We'll take a break. We'll say with this in Freetown, Jack and Aileen. You guys stay right there. Six one seven two five four to
ten thirty. One line there actually two lines there, six one seven two five four to ten thirty. The other line's full up, so try up. Try six one seven two five four to ten thirty. We're talking about stores closing, which is not a good sign for Massachusetts for sure.
It's nice eyes, I'm telling you crazy. Boston's news radio.
Well, that was an interesting story about the guy in Cohassett being arrested for allegedly painting a swatsticker onto a Trump campaign sign. I wonder where you got that idea from. And of course, you know Trump has no no chance of carrying Massachusetts. So this this seventy four year old I don't know. It's like a refugee from the hippie
days of the sixties. I was in Quincy District Court today. Look, uh, that's a pretty serious thing when you do that, Okay, and are you know just it's amazing It's amazing the amount of disdain that people have in this country for people who have a different point of view. I'm sure he considers himself a First Amendment guy. As he was painting the swatsticker, he must have been caught in the act. Oh so there must be some video footage of him. He's a fairly with the with the beard and the
long hair. He's a pretty identifiable character, that's for sure. But we're not talking about that right now. We may talk about that tomorrow and I let me go, but we're talking about basically some brick and mortor stores, including eight Stop and shops which are now closing here in Massachusetts. I did not realize that Stopping Shop is no longer a US company. I should be up to date on some of this stuff. It is now a company that
is owned by a it's a Dutch company. So, you know, just just just thought you'd like to know where are we going next. Let's go to Andy and Freetown. Hey, Andy, welcome next to II. Thanks for checking in.
Yeah, Dan, I did seventeen years with a Hold and they're the fourth largest grocer in the country now with all their mergers. They run under oh I think thirty or forty different names, and I know the stores well. Like Halifax was a fantastic store that they built from the ground up, but it had a Walmart supercenter next door to it, and it never it never took off.
Unfortunately the area wouldn't support it. And many of the stores get ripped blind and they get driven out of business practically, I mean, they's just the shoplifting in them. They just can't handle it. But one thing that.
That is a big problem. You go into more stores now and everything's under lock and key. So how long has this company, I'll hold del Hayes, a Dutch supermarket company owned stop and Shop? How how many years have it they owned stop and around?
The merger took place around two thousand and just one of your one of your other callers mentioned, just so you know who you're doing business with. They own Haniford's also also so if you're going to Hannifords, you're going to an Rhold location.
Now, the management, it was American management. It says here that stopped and shot President Gordon Reid? Uh? Did they did? They have people coming over from from Holland and uh and making decisions here that That's what's crazy to me. I call me old fashioned, but why don't they if they're owned by by a foreign national, why don't they post it somewhere so people know where they're where they buy it?
Well, because it's it's it's not popular and it basically, you know, it's a holding company. I believe they own about eleven huge corporations and you know they just everything's run on numbers and they they just want the boatload of money that floats across the Europe if week, and that's all they're in it for. They don't have their heart and soul isn't in the country like it was with a rab family.
I'll tell you I've got my first job at Stop and Shop. I was one of those bundle boys, you know at the back and stuff. I still pack my groceries when I go to the store, and I do it because I enjoy, you know, if I need one bag fitting everything in neatly, if I need two bags, balancing the way and all of that. And that was my first job at Stop and Shop. I remember my manager was a fellow named Murray Cohen. I'm sure Murray has long passed on, but he was a great guy.
I was a young kid, fifteen, sixteen years old, first job making a buck and a quarter an hour.
I mean, yeah, you used to have to know someone to get a job at stop and shop.
Well you know that was true. Well, let me tell you you're right. My family, it was the stop and shop on Truman Highway in Hyde Park. We lived in Reidville and that was our store of choice. Yeah. I just think that that I got to do a little bit more research here and let people know who owns these companies. Obviously, market Basket's my favorite. It's owned by local people. That's yes, you can get So what how is this going to impact you? Are you still with
with this company or no? Have you moved on?
No, I've retired. I just I did my seventeen years and hell but you know, it just wasn't good.
It wasn't a good company to work for.
I just didn't care for the fact that I didn't feel they had America's interests in mind. It was more I mean that. I mean I retired out of there, so I mean they I benefited from them. It was a decent job, but I never was very comfortable with it. I mean I just knew they were all good for you money?
If I could ask what what what type? You obviously were above my rank of a bundle boy, what did you do with them? Were you a manager?
No?
No, No, I was in transportation. But I I know all of the stores intimately that you're you're discussing, and I know exactly why they closed. And the random store was it never it never took off. They have a market basket on one side and they have a Walmart supercenter on the other, and it just that. And it's also about turnover, you know, like Somerset, mass is a is a rocking store that's like a million dollars a week,
and you're all that store turns over constantly. There's never old old food and in a in a store that does wicked business, slow stores, you know, stuff gets old. People don't like that. It's just it's a downward spiral. So it's no surprise to me the stores and the Springfield store that gets ripped blind you. You know, there's there's all kinds of commotion out there and and no
one backs backs it up up. You know that there's no police anymore, and they can't be bothered with you know, a guy stealing a box of crackers or something like that.
Well, the problem is the problem is that in you know, in poorer communities. I assume that in the Wellesley type stores you don't get a lot of that shoplifting, But in the poorer communities you only have a small percentage of that community that's going in and taking a five
finger discount. But when it reaches a point where the company can't turn a profit, they close the store, and then you have what's called food deserts in poorer communities, and the people who are most adversely impacted, the poor people who live in those communities. And it's just you're the harm.
You're absolutely right, You're absolutely right. And they I mean the Roxbury store they went crazy on us for because they wanted to close one They had a door on each side and they just run out of the store with merchandise and I forget who the who the representatives in in there. Well, they didn't want them to close one side of the store for for the exit, to try to control the shoplifting. You know, the community. Anything they tried to do to help the store from being stolen,
the community wouldn't support anything to help them. So that store is still in business and doing okay. But but you're right.
So the other thing too, is that sometimes it's the loudest voices in the community who are going to, you know, claim, oh, you're you're being unfair to us, whereas the vast majority of people in the community would want the store to be safer and more secure. I mean, the average person who's going in there to conduct business. They're not going in there looking to get to get rolled, or to or to be inconvenience or to be threatened, you know.
And and the stores haven't. They have an obligation and make sure the customer is going to come in and feel safe and comfortable as well.
Well. I always enjoyed the one next to the right on the Expressway. They used to have a stuff and job had a they'd steam a lobster for you and you could just have a fresh lobster and we'd find, you know, they they'd eat it through the stores they were quote shopping, and there were so many lobster shells around the store and in the aisles. They just stopped doing it. So, yeah, we're feeding the world lobster. But they were a decent company for me and stuff like that.
But I it's it. I don't like working for foreign entities, even if they're not the worst in the world or anything.
By the way, I don't like I don't like shopping for foreign entities because I want to support, uh, you know, my fellow Americans. I want them to support me absolutely.
And they promise brand is doing pretty well. And that is someone else mentioned that it is a they are trying to do a good thing with that brand that they control that very heavily. The chicken is decent and stuff like that, so they do decent things too. I'm not trying to paint them as black.
Fair enough, Okay, Andy, I appreciate you call. Thanks very much. I know you've called before. Always great to hear from someone in Freetown.
Thank you very good.
Thank you, Dan, talk to you soon. All right, let's keep rolling here. We're gonna take a quick break when I get back. I got Jack. We talked to Andy in Freetown. We get Jack on the Cape. Coming up next, Kennis and Hudson, Davidson Jamaica Plane, and we've got Eileen to coming right back on Nightside.
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World Nightside Studios on WBZ news radio.
Talking about American stores going out of business. Go to Jack on the Cape. We were with Andy in Freetown and we get Jack on Cape Cod whereabouts in the.
Cape, Jack mid Cape.
We arm it ll all right, beautiful community.
So I want to I want to try to do a projection of the fact what you're referring to as the closing of stores and whatnot, grossing stores. I want to address this. Am Uh they want to close out the AM band.
Well that's yeah, we're concerned about that as well.
Trust me on that one, okay. And so I you know, they for whatever reasons behind this, I have no no idea because it's ludicrous to even conceive of it. But I want to touch on two points. One is a it's called sd R. It's called software defined radio. Okay, now I've experimented with it. It's a chip. It's a chip you buy and undo a computer, and this this chip will basically create any spectral radio frequency you want
to listen in and or transmit on. So that's cool, and I think, you know, put that in your file, find somebody that we can bring on and talk about.
That, okay.
And so what they're what it seems like they want to limit the frequency of our in other words, freedom of speech, and I've heard this project does not mean freedom of reach. Now I'm speaking with Dan Ray on wb Z, I'm speaking to a huge audience. Why because of rf AM Yeah okay, yeah.
No, we're absolutely right. And by the way, just so you know, it's something that is a great concern to iHeart. And as a matter of fact, Senator Marky here in Massachusetts has been on the show talking about this a couple of times, briefly, but he's actually fighting for it.
And the reason why we need AM radio is, first of all, it's just it's what a lot of people rely upon and when there is a crisis, when there is a natural disaster, as we've seen down in South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, with you know all of this, having a transistor radio that can pick up a strong, powerful radio station. FM stations are great, but they're primarily designed as music stations. One of the AM stations with the original sort of Conrad stations back in the day.
In case, back in the nineteen fifties that President Eisenhower would have had to have spoken to the nation, BZ would have been one of those stations because we have such a terrestrial, you know impact. I mean, there are people listening to us tonight. We've already had, you know, calls from people in Rhode Island, but you hear we have calls from the Midwest, the Southern States all the time.
So it's important that AM radio survives. I don't know what's going on, whether they're trying to get bandwidth back, but there's an agenda at play here. And I got to tell you, you know, Ed Markey, who's who's I'm you know, I disagree with any number of issues. On some issues I agree with them on, but he's a He's someone who I know pretty well, and we're trying to get him back on the show to talk about it. As a matter of fact, I'll remake that phone call tomorrow.
But he's been a leader down there. Uh. And there are others in the Massachusetts delegation who have been leaders as well. Steve Lynch has been particularly good on it. Laurie Trehanna has been good on it. Congress Congressman Seth Molton has been good on it. The solid people, so whether you regret them in so many different ways, there is something that Democrats and Republicans agree on, agreed.
We need things we agree on. This is a thing that gathered around the wireless you know, the the transmitter you'd hear, I mean, is what rate? It was wonderful.
Look look when I was when I was a kid, and I'm sure just about every person in this audience can identify with this, when all you have with the three TV networks. I would listen we had a big radio in the back porch, and I'd listen to baseball games or Tiger games, or White Sox games, or Yankee games, or Mets games or Oriole games. And it really made me think about radio. And for a long time I
wanted to be a sportscaster. Well I ended up in the same business, but in a different you know, same church, same cathedral, different view from what I'm saying. So I'm a talk show host and before that, I was in television. But it lit a fuse in my mind the idea that there was this communication ability I remember, and I don't know if anybody can can identify with this. Sounds to me like you might be able to remember in high school and I don't know what year you were
in high school. But I was in high school in the sixties. You're in high school, and they used to do announcements every day over the last interviewing Wild Speaker, and normally he was one of the either the head master we had a head master at Latin School, or as a teacher, and they would make three or four
announcements that everybody needed to know about. And I thought to myself, Wow, what a cool way to communicate this one person speaking to We had two thousand kids in the school at the time, two thousand people, two thousand kids students plus teachers, and I thought, this is like a private radio station. Of course, it wasn't a radio station. It was simply allow speaker, but the concept was the same.
And that made me think about this and I think it might have helped me find find my career path to be really honest with you for what that means. If anyone else can identified with that.
That's awesome, man. But let's keep keep the heat on, AM and get market back on.
I promise I will. I'm going to mention it to one of his people tomorrow. As a matter of fact, get market back. You got it, because this is one I can mark you on in a lot of things and disagree with them, and we can be friends. But I got to tell you on this one, he's he's right on the money. He's absolutely righting the money. Thanks Jack, appreciate it.
Thank you.
Talk to you soon. Okay. We got a couple of lines open one six, one, seven, two, five, four to ten thirty. Let me get I lean. I lean you in next on nights.
I go right ahead, Eileen, Well hi, I just I called because you were talking about supermarkets.
Yes, and go right ahead, bring us back, and I said, bring us feel free to bring us back to that point. Sure.
Oh all right, Well I have to go to Walmart first thing tomorrow morning. And I'm going to go to the Walmart superstore in Avon.
And I.
I have a a son who lives in a group home and they just changed his home and I had to buy some bedding. And I went in that store and I where do I but people? The people who worked there were just wonderful, especially a young lady named Heather, who helped me out pick out exactly what I needed. I got it done very quickly.
And then.
You were talking about stop and shop. My sons all worked at the local stop and shop during this back.
To your experience today. I mean, it's so important when we go into one of these stores that there'd be people on the floor that you can talk to. All go into Shaws and there's no one. There are a couple of cashiers, and there's a couple of managers and a couple of bag people, but you don't find anybody's So if you're looking for a product, you can just roam around from without without finding the product. I was in a store recently I really love.
Yeah, the store, the local store, grocery store that I really love is Trader Joe's and hang them and the all of the staff talk to you. They they they come up and say, do you need any help? Can you Are you finding everything you need there? I think they're they've been trained that way to uh, you know, to do their job that way.
It's that interpersonal relationship that makes you want to go back to that store. That's that's the point. And you compare that to trying to get on the internet and order an item uh that that maybe it is not going to fit, or an item that isn't going to work. It's it's so much nicer, I think to buy something from a brick and mortar store. I really there are certain things that you need to now go on the
internet and do, but I do it as little as possible. Ireena, I got the news coming at me, so I gotta let you go. Best of luck when you go to the Walmart superstore in Avon tomorrow. Okay, did I lose her? Her think I did? Seem must have dropped off. Okay, we got the news coming right up. We'll be back on Nightside right after this.
You're on night Side with Dan Ray. I'm Boston's news radio.
Okay, we had a little bit of a glitch there. Thank goodness, David and Ken have called back. There were a couple of other folks who were dropped off. If you remember I Lean, I couldn't say good night to her because she had gone away, and then David and Ken for some reason mysteriously dropped off. Sometimes we have the gremlins. This is Halloween night, but it's got nothing to do really with Halloween. So Dan is going to ripe that up so that our craw technical people can
find out what happened. But in the meantime, if you were on, please call back and you get your space in line. We are talking about the closure of big stores. Thousands of big stores have closed across this country in the last year, thousands, thousands, and that is not good for consumers. It's not good for consumers choice. They're driving us to try to do everything through Amazon, and that
doesn't work for me. Let's go to David and Jamaica Plane David Europe next, followed by Ken go ahead, David, Dan, thank you.
For taking my call. Dan. I'm putting one hundred and one dollar bet that the voice of Reason will not maintain in the next ten days. It's gonna get lost. It certainly has to get the voice of reason that you command. I don't know whether you're gonna be.
Hold on to it, but we'll see.
Well, let me just say that I have every intention to hold on to it. I have staked out of position, David, which is I hope that whoever wins the White House wins with a clear, decisive margin, because I do not want to see us go through what we've gone through in twenty sixteen and even more importantly, in twenty twenty. So I will relieve the voice of reason here.
Okay, Love, I love I love that strategy, and also again. You know the shades of Ireland with collect when you when you started mentioning Truman Highway and read built, do you do an opposite wave? You do a shades of Boston for people from that side and the other side of the pond. You you bring you know what I mean, you gathered groups from over there and bring them here. I mean not that Truman Highland reedbuil a tourist attraction, But I'm just thinking that your knowledge, you know what
I mean. You never do a reverse one, right, you always? You always?
Yeah, no, no, we we went to we took listeners to Italy.
In in Uh yeah, you went to the You went to the Mouthy Coast and everything, didn't you yeap.
Maufy Coast in Rome. We've done Wow. We did a river cruise a few years ago and and the Danube, which which I liked a lot. It was a fun really a fun fun way to get there. Uh so yeah, and we've done the Rhyan River, we did Alaska a few years ago, and we'll do some more and hopefully at some point you can join us in one of these trips. They're great fun because bucket.
List you you're definitely uh having a cold Beer with you is on my bucket list also, but I will that one that one will have to see.
But uh, I could be I could be convinced into a cold beer, trust me on that.
Okay, you know A quick one about the market basket. I stay with my ninety four year old veteran dad who's gonna turn ninety five in November, God bless them, and I stay there occasionally, and we worked it out that I buy the groceries of I'm gonna stay there, and uh, I said, said, why don't you come with me to uh, you know, so I can really see. He goes, okay, we what the market basket. He gets in one of them motorized cots. He thinks he's Mario Andretti.
He's going everywhere, you know, scar of the Tower and he comes back and goes, fuck, what eye bottom?
Look what eye up?
He's cut sick lobsters already cooked, and he's like, they weighed them after they cooked him. We gotta buy them six lobsters I'm paying. I'm like, oh, you're not coming to the Store of be A yet.
I you know, what did you do?
Let me ask you this. When they cook a lobster I'm not a lobster guy, but when they cook a lobster, you can only eat one at a time. I think, what did you do with the.
He wanted to do the twin lobster? Especially, he thought he was that legal seafood. I don't know, I mean it was. It's how long?
That serious? When they ad I met? This is a serious question, David. How long would they last? So you go home and you have a couple for dinner. Now you've got four lobster. You want to put him in the fridge and then you bring him out the next night? How long did they last?
They only weigh they only weigh less than they weigh less than a pound. You know they're a pound, they're a pound and a quarter pound and a half. Once they cook them, they weigh less than a pound. We'll leave these lay my bothery, three lobsters each like it's like it's going out of business. No problem.
Were good for you and good for your daddy, hot butter. Thank your dad for his service. Boy.
That's I know he's uh, he's sometimes, but what I got blown away? The Walgreens on Senna Street on West Roxbury.
Walgreens on Senate Street in West Roxbury. I know exactly where that used to be. That used to be where Roach Brothers was.
Sure the show wasn't. I mean, it's in the heart of West Roxbury. There's not another Walgreens for I you know, miles miles around you. I'm like sou in the world because this close to me is sposed me away. I talked to somebody on the other side of the aisle and I said, they cause, well, I get my prescription from CBS, so I don't care. I said, I hope CBS stopped charging you one hundred bucks for your prescription because without competition, you're gonna be, you know, wherever you're gonna be.
But you know what's a great thing about Walgreens in West Roxbury is you got Blanches right around the corner.
Oh oh, without yeah, without a doubt, without a doubt.
I'm just giving you a hard time, that's all. These are my stomp These are my stomping grounds, David. I know these places. Let me tell you. We could grab a beer at the Core pub across the street.
Oh that's family that that family has done more for that than that that counter was with their road racing. They they they their institution. God bless them over there.
Hey, Dave, I really enjoyed this conversation. Thanks so much for calling back, and uh, we'll have that beer someday, trust me.
Okay, oh, thank you.
I'm around by the way. You know when when winters, I'm back in Boston and I'm back in that neck of the woods. So you're gonna run into me someday, come up to me and say hello, will you We just lost them. Okay, yeah, that's fine. Okay, Uh, let me go next to Ken in Hudson. Ken in Hudson, you are next on night side. Thanks thanks Ken, you're next one nights.
I go right ahead, big good evening. I wanted to thank the caller that told the story about, uh, the lobster shows left around the store. I got a kick out of that quite a bit.
You know, you could you could really trip or fall in one of those the way they can get a little dangerous.
Definitely, definitely a unique experience.
Yes, clean up on Aisle five.
Maybe you know exactly exactly I live in. I live in Hudson, and luckily the stopping shop here is not going to be closed and the town has other numerous grocers. Those they have a Shaw's and they have a like Walmart superstore. And they also like if you go like one Town South in Mabroo, they have a Price Chopper and a Hana Fruits. So there's no there's no lack
of of you know, grocery stores to choose from. But the thing that kind of irritates me is, you know, you know these when when the store is sell out, these foreign companies, you know, that money goes I imagine the money goes overseas. That's where they get the profits. And it's not the local community you know that owns the store or regional community that owns these stores, you know, and that that that kind of bothers me, and I think it kind of weakens our economy a little bit.
And the.
You know and and like stop much something me and you know they have like I think on one of the topics on another another show you had was you know they have uh, you know enough person knowing there they have like enough people uh when when you check out as opposed that you're using the self scan machines, which I think is a good thing.
And the.
The other thing I just wanted to mention was the I said that the Robinson's Hardware. Uh that that I guess is closing now in Hudson. You know, they were extremely helpful, you know, because if you're looking around, they see you're looking around and people you know that someone would approach it. It can I help you with what
you're looking for, and it's great. You know, when you want to do get a job done, you just want to run in and run out, as opposed to go into one of the big stop, big, big big bucks stores that I won't mention, you know, but yeah, and then they said the stop the stopping shop. I mean they have they have like a lot of their own uh brand name stuff, which which I enjoy and you get it at a discount and it's good quality, you know.
And they said there there is a market Basket, but that's on the outside of town and that has you know, that has I guess, I guess more of a selection than any of the stores. And uh, but I mean I think it's unfortunately for people that live in certain areas that you know, they're they're kind of maybe they don't have access to transportation.
And it's always it's always the poorest communities who are hardest hit in that situation, and and people who don't have cars or have to rely and then they have to carry grocery bags, and oftentimes they're older people. It's just it's just not fair. Hey, I got a question for you in Hudson. What's the name of the deli. There's a big circle in Hudson and there's a really there's a really nice deli there, a breakfast place right.
Oh God, I know exactly what you mean. I can't I guess you can't require it because I've been blind for most of this year, so I've the names when I go by there, but I know what you I know which one you're talking about it.
I know as a matter of fact, you know you had Governor Salucci. I don't know how long you've lived in hub Hudson, but Paul Salucci, so I'm sure you know, former governor of Massachusetts who's no longer with us, was the governor of Massachusetts. He became governor in nineteen ninety seven when Bill Weld resigned in his pursuit of becoming
the US Ambassador to Mexico. And the morning that Paul Sulucci was going to be sworn in as governor, I had breakfast with him that morning inside that breakfast spot. And it was a great breakfast place.
So oh no kidding, Wow, yeah, if you go in there.
How long you lived in Hudson.
Thirty plus years?
All right? Sure? And and I had one of my best friends played hockey with at Boston State College, Terry Barry, was from Hudson. He went on and became a DEA agent. So I know Hudson pretty well. It's a great a great town.
Well then they come to they come, they come along pretty good, you know, the rev, the REVEMP, downtown and all that stuff. But I'm glad you were fortunate to enjoy, you know, meal with with the governor because he seemed to be a pretty friendly person.
You know, he's a good guy. Paul si Lucci was a good guy. Unfortunately he got sick. Yeah yeah, much much much before before his time. Ken, I gotta let you run. Okay, we'll talk soon, okay, please.
Okay, Okay, Happy Halloween. Bye bye you too.
Okay, right, yeah, it is Halloween. I remind you please. I hope that all the little ghosts and godplins have finished their trick or treating and that there have been no accidents or injuries tonight. But this is the night when if you're driving, you need to be very very careful. Okay, I got a couple of open lines. Come on, let's go finish strong, folks. Six seven, two, four, ten thirty, six one, seven, nine thirty. I'm going to talk to Karen, who's calling in from Wisconsin. But I also got room
for a couple more callers. Love to have you join the conversation real quickly here at the end of the night, we're talking about in Massachusetts, we're losing stores, brick and mortar stores, and that's that's not good for us, it's not good for other people. It's not good for our economy. And there's a record number of brick and mortar stores, big box type stores that have closed around the country. And we cannot allow that to happen. Okay, stop buying
stuff from Amazon, use use your local stores. If you don't take advantage of your local stores, whether it's a pharmacy or a hardware store or a supermarket, they'll go out of business and you'll lose them and you'll never get them back. Quick numbers here six one, seven, two, five, four, ten thirty. Got a couple of lines there and got a couple at six, one, seven, nine, three, one, ten thirty. I think it's an important topic we're talking about. Feel
free to join the conversation. We will get back to some politics tomorrow night. We're gonna talk more. We're gonna have John Zogby, the National Pollster on uh. He told me today he has no idea who's gonna win this this presidential race. We'll talk with him, uh. And we will also talk tomorrow night with doctor Nazir Gami about psychedelics, the potential legalization of psychedelics here in Massachusetts. I believe that is question four. He is a noll on question
four here in Massachusetts. Coming right back on Nightside, Give me a couple of more phone calls and we'll finish the night strong. Coming back on Nightside.
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World to night. Thanks to you on WBZ News Radio.
All right, let's keep rolling here and get room for another call or too. Let me go to Karen and Wisconsin. Hi, Karen, how are you tonight?
Oh?
I'm okay.
Who's gonna win Wisconsin out there next Tuesday? You're my you're my reporter from Wisconsin.
Yeah, Well, this one's got to figure out how to go vote. So I'm so caught up in your h your referendums, and I find out I've got like four of my own. You know, it's kind of hard.
You got you gotta full play, Karen, right.
And I'm Circadian rhythm problems and I'm trying to live in two states. Well, you know, it just doesn't work. You put out so much tonight, I could, you know, I could go on and on, but I decided to choose this instead. I'm gonna correct you.
Go ahead.
I'm sorry, but it was it was CVS that Roach that took over Roach, not Walgreens.
Oh well, thank you for that question. I misremembered that. Thank you, Karen. I appreciate that.
I'm sorry. I don't I don't like to go around correcting people.
But.
Anytime you can help me to set the record straight. I'm not infallible, Karen. I make mistakes, all right.
I just had too much to say on everything. They want to dump us baby boomers, and I'm with you. I wasn't with you that night. We're not going to give up. No, we're not going to sit there and play those silly games like Shaws and all that stuff. We're going to fight back, Okay.
Absolutely, absolutely, I'm with you all the way, Karen, Thank you so much.
And I didn't want to fight that night, but now we'll have to.
Because give us the best prices. Don't make us go through some stupid app to get fifty cents off some coupon. You know, mark Mark, mark what you want to sell it for like the old days, and sell us that the best prices. And if you can't give us good prices, we'll find somewhere else to shop.
Right, and mentioned Roach Brothers unless they're taken down now by the bike lanes, and they aren't existing anymore. Because those bike lanes are there. I hope Roach Brothers are still going.
Yeah, no, Roach Brothers are still going. They get great quality. They're a little bit more expensive, but they get great quality. But those bike lanes are insane. Karen. Wait, you see center straight.
Well, I almost was out it this week and I didn't get there, and so I'm out here, you know, being.
Be careful, Be careful, cross the center, Be careful cross the center street, Karen, I got too more. I got to go to astro.
Call call, so I'll let you go back.
Thanks, Karen, talk to you soon. We're going to go next to Bob and Lynn. Bobby gets you in here right before the wire got room for you and Louis in New Hampshire.
Go ahead, Bob, Hey, Dan, I am totally with you about the Shaws app. Down down with the Shaws app.
It's unbelievably whoever designed it, they decided to drive customers away.
It's ridiculous, but real quick. On a positive note, market Basket, Yeah, what I love about market Basket is Irdt's business model of taking great care of his people. His people in turn take great care of you, the consumer.
Absolutely, it gets passed on. It starts from the top.
Yeah.
And you know, anytime I walk into a stopping shops, it's like nobody to talk to. And if you do see somebody, they don't want to work with you, which is ridiculous. It's it's a terrible.
Way of sir.
It's funny. I was in a stopping shop yesterday and just like at the deli counter, they're not particularly friendly. I guess the circumstances are such that they don't smile. It looks to me like and there was four or five of them behind the deli counter and I'm looking at them and you know, I just ordered a quarter of a pound of this and a little bit of that. I don't like to have two pounds of something in the refrigerator that goes bad. I'd rather go back every
other day and get fresh food. And they almost and if you ask them, can you slice it thinly? And they kind of roll their eyes like, you know, you know, come on, don't.
And the people at market Basket, I find are totally the opposite of what you just described.
Yes, yeah, at market Basket, they'll they'll say hello to you, and oftentimes they'll recognize you and they'll be saying, hey, that's Dan Ray or whatever. And you know, I'm a regular customer, so they recognize me more as a regular customer than it's Dan Ray, the guy that was on TV. But then nice, they get nice people and even the people who and there's a lot of people in market
Basket don't speak English. If they don't speak English and you're asking a question, will they will motion you and they will bring you to someone who does speak English.
And not only that, they take ownership of your request. So yes, what I mean by that is excuse me, can you tell me where I can find the X Y Z and they'll say walk this way.
Yes, yes, they will lead you to it. They won't say it's over at Aisle fifteen on the left, somewhere down in the corner. No, I gotta get one more in here, Bob. Thank you so much.
Okay, thank you, Dan, have a great time a friend.
All right, good night. Give me my time, Dan, how much you got a minute? Minute? Half minute? Just a minute? Okay, here we go. Let's give Louis then, Louis, you're the last of the night. We're going to give you about forty five seconds. Go ahead, Louis.
You were never going to be a sportscaster. We sent you Barb lo Bell. But listen, the greatest guess you could have Wednesday is if she would, you know, come on as thet of current vocation. The lady there that used to do the news for Jack Williams.
What was her name, Liz Walker. Liz Walker is living, I believe now in Florida. She's an one day to minister.
That's who you need Monday night.
We need prayers, no, no, no, you need.
To have Liz Walker. A woman that was always able to balance the scales of justice, that was always able to see through everything. That's the lady that you need Monday night. That would be the greatest guest. If you still have a rapport with her, Yeah, I do.
It's tough to reach because I haven't worked with her in a while, and I believe that she's now in Florida. But we'll give it a shot. Okay, thank you, Louis. I know Lobell's a great guy too, a great guy, absolutely great.
You were now going to becaster with Bobby.
You what.
You were never gonna get by Jimmy Myers and Bob Lobell. I mean it was a conversation was too tough.
Yeah, I would have been a pretty good sportscaster, trust me on that, my friend.
Okay, it would low bell.
Bak to you, lady, have a great one, have another beer, talk to you later. Bye bye. All right, we're done for the night, Dan, nice job here. I have no idea where my man Louis was taking me, but that's okay.
Uh.
I appreciate the fact that lou called in, that Bob called, and the Karen called. We had done for the night. I'll be on Facebook Night's Eye with Dan Ray in about three or four minutes. Will do a post game on the show if you want to say hello, love to have you do that. All dogs, all cats, all pets go to heaven. That's what my pell, Charlie Ray is, who passed fourteen years ago in February. That's where all your pets are who were passed. They loved you and
you love them. I do believe you'll see them again. Hope to see again on nights side. We'll be back tomorrow night and have a great Friday. Everyone, TGIF in about two minutes.