How Smopper Was Born
I’m a mom and, although it sounds cliche, everything I do is for my kids. Like many parents, I try to feed them homecooked, nutritious food, made from scratch. I also work full-time so having 3 fresh homemade meals every day is a challenge, to say the least.
My kids are old enough now to understand, but I’m always striving to cook more homemade meals and use our resources as wisely as possible, which hasn’t been easy lately for anyone. It’s not just the past year; it’s been hard to squeeze in all of our necessities and treats with today’s salaries. Read my About Me blog to hear more about how we got here, but for now know that finding the best deal for groceries, and other items, has been a challenge that I tackle every week.
My family has a varied palate, which means all our daily needs and treats are not found in one store or one shopping trip. My kids enjoy various cheeses: from brie to American cheese singles, and junk food laden with all the bad stuff. I enjoy healthier items, but some shops have better produce quality than others (as anyone who’s shopped around knows) without offering all the brands I rely on, not to mention these items tend to be pricier. Therefore, I started buying select items at certain stores, making my grocery shopping day much more complicated.
Shopping in the U.S.A.
We have lived in many places over the last 20+ years. Pittsburgh, PA; Dripping Springs, TX; Bloomington, IN; and now back home to Pittsburgh! Each place we lived in had various grocery stores or big box stores that we frequented to get the right mix of food. In Pittsburgh, we have Giant Eagle, Market District (upscale Giant Eagle), Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Wal-Mart, Costco, all within 15-20 minutes of home.
I've shopped in many states, but the struggle with high prices and finding value is not unique to any one state.
In Dripping Springs, getting to various stores was a bit harder because everything, including distances, is bigger in Texas! HEB was our main grocery store and only 5 minutes from our house. Traveling to other stores was a bit more complicated. Target and Whole Foods were an hour round trip, and Trader Joes was 1 hour + depending on the time of day. We lived 15 miles from downtown Austin, but that was 45 minutes in pre-pandemic traffic, so shopping near the city center chewed up a lot of the day. There were also small specialty cheese shops, but not much more.
In Bloomington, grocery stores are dominated by Kroger, and they each have their own feel and style. There is "Kro-gucci" on the east side of town; "Kro-ghetto" near Seminary Park (fun fact: Seminary Park is the original spot of Indiana University), "KroTucky" on the south side; "KroGreeneCounty" on the west side; and "Krovenient" on the north side. These Kroger are less than 5 miles apart, but each have their own aura as emphasized by the nicknames. Other stores in town include Aldi, Fresh Thyme Market, Wal-Mart/Sam’s Club and smaller Co-Ops like Bloomingfoods.
Everything, everywhere, all at once
Once we were living in Bloomington, I realized that I was spending a lot of time on my weekly shopping day going from one grocery store, big box store, or pharmacy to another to find the right products I needed for my family. However, what was frustrating was finding a better price on a product after I bought it at the last store at the regular price! What was even more frustrating was going to a store for a specific item on sale, after I skipped it at the previous store, just to find out they were sold out! I call that a major miss!
With so many grocery stores, traveling to several different stores to pick up specialty items is a weekly theme. One store has great produce, another carries name brands at great prices.
Needless to say, I lost my excitement for weekly grocery shopping with all the traveling between stores and keeping track of what to buy where. I know not everyone has felt that excitement at the grocery store but knowing I was gathering good food for my family, especially at a great price, left me with a satisfied feeling when my grocery list was complete and the car was packed with goodies. So, in my pursuit of regaining some of the magic in grocery shopping, I came up with the idea for Smopper.
The misses during weekly shopping trips spurred me to make this app. They hurt; not just the pocketbook, but it felt like a fail to the family. As I thought about these misses, I remembered that in today’s online ordering world, grocery store items are displayed online for pick-up and delivery services. And I thought, what if I could check what’s on sale and in stock at every store before I even leave the house? This way, I know what is on sale where, and if the store has enough quantity so I can confidently pick up the right items at each store I visit.
I wanted this app to reduce time and price pressure for my family and yours. While we continue to develop the app, I hope you see the value and support us so we can continue to make the app more useful to save you time, money, and frustration.