|
|
Article: Not so damaged goods: ; Salvage shops get new customer base
- Article from:
- Charleston Gazette
- Article date:
- August 5, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2009 Charleston Gazette. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
|
ARVADA, Colo. - You won't find a perfectly ripe tomato at Martin
Palumbo's grocery store. You won't even find a perfect can of
tomatoes.
What you will find are lots of dented cans of tomatoes, and a
growing number of customers hungry for these and other staples sold
at deep discounts, such as cereal boxes crushed by forklifts and
bottles of salad dressing past their "sell-by" dates.
Sales at Palumbo's Friday Store in suburban Denver have surged in
recent months, mirroring the trend at so-called salvage grocers
nationwide, as the recession makes frugal living appealing to more
Americans.
Groceries eat up 12.5 percent of American families' budgets, on
average, according to the Bureau of Labor ...