Corvallis Gazette-Times from Corvallis, Oregon • 17

GMttt-TlmM, Cofvlli. Ortgon, Tuetdty, My 31, 1953 17 1 Alto in thlt section; HOMEGARDEN iTI i ill, If 'hiMiriTl: i. iiTfl V- 1 Cheerios I I A When Elizabeth and Bob Wehnert of 5920 Philomath Blvd. shop together, Bob takes responsibility for getting the beer. At right is Albertson's checker Flo Arbeiter.

1 Sexes share shopping duties, but tactics differ Don't take the kids "If you're trying to maximize your food dollar, don't buy strawberries in January." This advice comes from Virginia Haldeman, assistant professor at Oregon State University's Family Resource Management department. Haldeman offers three basic rules for wise grocery shopping: Make a list and stick to it. Don't shop when you're hungry. Don't take your kids along. "Base your list on a specific meal plan for one shopping period," says Haldeman.

"Tben stick to it unless you see a special you use frequently. There's no sense in saving money on something you don't use. "An important thing in setting up meal plans," she adds, "is to realize that some of the best buys are foods that are in season. People should adapt variety in their diets to what's in season." Shopping when hungry is setting yourself up for impulse buying, says Haldeman. A list helps to keep those impulses under control, but having a full stomach is just as important.

"Kids have the 'gimmes'," says Haldeman. "They see something that was on T.V., they want it, and you buy it just to keep them happy. Wait until they're older, then take them along and teach them to comparison shop," One of the main ways shoppers try to save money on groceries is by following ads, but Haldeman raises some questions about this popular method. "I don't know of any data on how much is actually saved this way," she says. "You have to look at the time this takes and the cost of driving between stores.

These have become very important considerations when thinking of shopping ads." According to Haldeman, effective comparison shopping is harder than it looks. Unit pricing is often more of a headache than a help because products are noj organized in a logical manner. "If you want to compare detergent prices you have to do approximately 1,200 individual comparisons," she says, pointing out that some detergents are powdered and some are liquid, and that a different amount of each brand is recommended for one washing. "Grocery shopping is a science and an art," she says. "Make a list.

Shop after lunch. And leave the kids with granddad." 'always chooses the cut when buying steak. If a man is shopping alone for his family, she said, he is likely to buy the cheaper frozen meats than the more expensive fresh ones. Liquor is another item that brings out shopping differences between men and women. "Women are still a bit reluctant to come in here, particularly the older ones," said Jim Clapp, owner of the Liquor Store on Washington Avenue "Fifteen years ago I'd say it was 85 percent men coming in here but now it's down to about 60 percent.

On the average, men and women buy about the same things but women lean a little more toward the white goods vodkas, gins, etc. "Probably women buy more expensive brands because they go for the brand names and they shop around a little more, maybe because they're not so sure what they want or where it's located." The picture is about the same for wine buying, said Carl Wagner, owner of Sneeds' Cheese and Wine 104 S.W. Madison Ave. "At present we get about half men and half women men buy the wine, women buy the cheese. When women do buy wine they tend to like the sweeter white wines Reislings, Chenin blancs.

These are a little less expensive than the drier whites and reds, but I think it's a matter of taste rather than economics. Clapp has noticed that while women are no less apt to know what they want, they tend to be more receptive to advice about choosing wines and more at ease tasting new cheeses! "I think men like to shop for liquor more than for groceries," he said. "It's a hold-over from days gone by. It's a social thing you can talk at a party about where you got some special wine, but not about where you got your lettuce." impulse buyer," be said, as he tossed a package of bacon, on sale for $1.49 a pound, into his basket. "I tend to roam up and down the aisles in case I see something on sale that I know we use.

My wife follows the ads, but she buys on impulse as much as I do." Employees surveyed said that women spend more time, per trip, in the supermarket. "Women don't seem so Dressed for time," said Albertson's Finlayson. "Men leave you with the feeling that it's another chore to go shopping, whereas women leave you with the feeling it's an opportunity to get out of the house." Finlayson said he doesn't notice the feeling among shoppers who are employed outside the borne. "All workers are in a hurry, whether male or female," he said. Retired men take second place in the leisurely shoppers category perhaps because a trip for groceries is a pleasant outing to some.

Theodore and Florence Strasbourger, 1665 N.W. Lewisburg shop together two or three times a week, usually at Fred Meyer on Kings Boulevard. "We both just get what we want," said Strasbourger, "and we generally shop after lunch because we live four or five miles out of town. We combine grocery shopping with other errands and usually eat out. "Sometimes my wife has to urge me to go a little faster because I'm retired and I'm in no hurry." There appear to be some differences in how men and women approach buying items in specific food categories.

Pam Knight, owner and butcher at Seaboy's Market, 935 N.W. Kings has observed that women buy far more fish than men do, and men are big steak fans. If a couple shops together, the man By Wetdy Miliar For The Gaiette-Times There be is by the generic macaroni a ihoe box full of coupons under bis arm, the week's sales stored in bis memory, pushing before him a shopping cart full of bargains and one standing rib roast. And where is she? On the Job? Or Jogging? Or maybe she's working bo-way toward him from the other end of the store with her own list and box of coupons. These are the new shoppers, the men and women who have either switched food roles entirely or begun sharing that never-ending task of buying and cooking for a family.

"We're seeing about fifty-fifty men-to-women now," said Chuck Finlayson, manager of Albertson's Food Center, 2005 N.W. Circle Blvd. "The biggest change is (hat men are becoming real shoppers, looking for things women already knew like what are the best buys. "As men take a more active interest in meal preparation, they're doing more of the shopping." This change in shopping patterns is being observed in markets all over Cor-vallis, but employees differ from store to store in their estimated ratio of men to women shoppers. Florence "Flo" Arbeiter, checker at Albertson's, puts the number of male grocery shoppers at about 40 percent.

"When I started in this business 22 years ago, men were much rarer," she said. "Now, men are catching up with women in shopping skills." Most of her regular male customers shop for families. Many use coupons some by the shoe box and they are as bargain-conscious as women shoppers. "I don't think men are any more impulsive in their buying than women are," said Arbeiter. "In fact, impulse buying is down in general." Elizabeth and Bob Wehnert, 5920 S.W.

Philomath -share much of the grocery shopping for their Jour-member family. "Bob is becoming a much better shopper, although he does a little more impulse buying," Elizabeth Wehnert said as the two whisked efficiently through the aisles of Albertsons. "But be came borne the other day with a standing rib roast because it talked to him as be walked by" Bill Iverson, keyman at Roth's IGA Foodliner, 1755 N.W. Wi sees many of the same patterns Finlayson and Arbeiter have observed. However, be feels women still do most of the grocery shopping.

"You see a lot of men in here but mostly they're picking up Just a couple of items their wives told them to get," he said. "And women are more ad-conscious and use more coupons, because they're more in tune with the budget. "The only time I see men do a lot of heavy shopping is during open seasons for hunting and fishing." But Clrlene Fehly, checker at Roth's for the past two years, has a different perspective. "I see quite a few men shopping for families," she said. "Men hate coupons but more of them are watching the sales.

"A lot of middle-aged couples shop together, and sometimes men throw things into the basket impulsively like kids you know, smoked oysters and that kind of thing but I've noticed a big change in how men and women shop. They're using coupons and watching ads like we've never seen before." Ken Scofield, 2633 N.W. Acey Place, trades shopping and cooking duties with his wife, Donna. "You might say I'm a premeditated Prices effective Wed. only June 1, 1983 Air mil Western Family jtnnt, Water or oil pack SPINACH 50 Beef 50 Turkey I St TURKEY 7(5) V3 BURGER lJ TUNA Ofl 0R2Q 3 lb.

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