My market-unaware husband cannot understand why he cannot buy the same thing two times in a row. Why is that shaving cream in the blue tube no longer available? Why do we no longer buy that cheese in slices in transparent packaging? Why is that chocolate in the soft red wrapper no longer available? Because, I explain to him, it is a generally accepted dogma that nothing old is valued in the market, that even the best old thing can only pass if it is new and innovative. That is why the shaving cream is now in a white tube, that cheese is in a gold one, and that chocolate is in a plasticized red wrapper.
To complete the innovation situation, in the supermarket where I regularly shop, the shaving cream no longer stands on the shelf in the second row on the right as it did last week, but the entire assortment has been moved to the third row on the left, where the chocolates used to be, and the chocolates have been moved to where the cheese was last week. Where the cheese is this week, I have yet to figure out. I am exhausted from the dictatorship of innovation in stores and, just for a change, I would like things to change less frequently. Manufacturers, I appeal to you that once you make a quality product, do not change it with every season. Allow me to get used to that product. Retailers, I appeal to you not to change the arrangement of goods on the shelves every few weeks. Let me develop some small habits that will not have to change.
