Something I’ve never seen before in Columbia County... Checking out the new Hannaford market near Bell’s Pond, I was greeted by four parking spaces reserved for hybrid cars. Nice—though this seems sure to rankle those shoppers who get all their news from FOX and 810 AM out of Albany. (Sure enough, a grumpy-faced 50something guy in a V8 truck defiantly snagged one of the Low Emission Vehicle spots just as I was pulling out.)
The store seems smaller than Hannaford’s next-closest location in Red Hook, but is plenty big for this neighbor’s purposes, and was jam-packed on opening morning.
Note to bargain hunters: Hannaford employees were handing out a raft of in-store coupons, including one for $5 off any purchase and another $2 one for locally-grown products, on Saturday. While a supermarket is not likely to displace the local farmers’ markets in many locavores hearts, it was good to see a decent amount of organic and vegetarian options on the shelves.