Sunday, January 28, 2007

Horizons The Colors of Hash Browns


At this time, we'd like to inform our readers at The Caldor Rainbow of just a few things.

It's been a heavy week for your director (myself) which is why the updates have been scant lately. However, we've got some stories planned for next week. Because the weather has been just brutal over here in the Northeast, places I'd like to visit just aren't very practical right now in conjunction with other worldly obligations not involving The Caldor Rainbow.

You just can't hold a camera straight when just thirty seconds outdoors makes your legiments numb.


It has recently come to my attention that my readers are the ones who keep the facts straighter than I around here. Whenever doing research on whatever updates I come fourth with, my scope is generally scaled down to whatever I can find on the internet and or by memory - which is hardly enough. Lately, this hasn't been cutting it. So, as with my last post on The Crystal Mall, I will be editing the story a bit in the coming days as I see to have bungle some things. I'm asking all of you, and to even invite more people, to help me compile the most exact history on these malls and sites. Just post some comments, lend me an e-mail and we will credit you thus becoming part of the process.

Have you been to a Target store lately? I usually stop in once a week to see their fancy displays and see they've brought back the "Global Bazaar" concept from last year. Those unfamiliar can expect to see all kinds of worldly home furnishings from countries in the Southeastern parts of Asia, and Africa. The department, like year's past, is filled with all kinds of eye candy and other eccentricities I wish I had about a thousand bucks to blow it all on.





Their Valentine's Day 2007 set-up looks lovely this year as well... (Pictures taken from Keene, New Hampshire store).

Upon my recent trip through Massachusetts, I've noticed that Dunkin' Donuts franchisees have launched something new to their menus: Hash Browns. Many of the Connecticut stores haven't brought them to light yet, which might be a good thing. The shop at the corner of US-5 & MA-9 in Northampton, Mass., coupled with a Pride gas station (not a good combo; when you have coffee made with fresh grounds, it will inherent any scent in the area, including gasoline, as I've discovered recently) have been spotted with Hash Brown promo posters.

Now I've seen some oddities at some upstate Dunkin' shops; breakfast pizzas and flatbread sandwiches included. This is actually something the company is seriously trying to sandwich inbetween mimicking playbooks from Starbucks (and then tastelessly dissing them in their recent ad spots) and McDonald's in order to expand their clientele.

Hopefully, by the time they're done with the hometown test run, and sometime soon migrate to Connecticut, I will have left my job at my current Hash Brownless Dunkin' Donuts (which is also coupled with a gas station). To be frank, the entire place (gas premises included) now smells like a McDonald's in all its greasy, oily fried doom. And another little secret, most stores don't even have ovens apart from baking ovens used for bagels and muffins so it's likely they'll be shipped in pre-prepared from the master store (based on franchisee) or possibly made to "warm" up (or incubate until someone orders them). The new cookies concept, despite their $1.49/each toll are popular with people, maybe not so much if they realized eating one is comparable to two or three donuts (and yes, more than a "fancy"). I wonder how this will work out.

They're currently on test run in Massachusetts stores I'm told and they're only $.99; approximately a few pennies higher than a donut or bagel.