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| - What happened to my Rocket Fizz? The home of the chocolate egg cream in a bottle? The joint where friendly staff would positively rock back and forth on their heels with enthusiasm as they expounded on the virtues of this orange soda versus that one? The place where, as of this writing, I'm the "Duchess" (according to Yelp for having the most check-ins)?
New management, I guess. We weren't surprised when we found out that the goodie shop (so tempting to write "shoppe" - but the charming days of Rocket Fizz are gone) had changed hands. The "vibe," if you will, had been missing on several visits. But more importantly, the sodas we liked were missing, too.
As I wrote in my parting remarks to Rocket Fizz on their Facebook wall, you'd have to be a total soda newbie who only shops Albertsons to appreciate their current stock. (Oh, let's not even get into what they've done to their online presence - for weeks it's been nothing but relentless spam on Facebook about their Jelly Belly Soda promotion. Is someone trying to burp out the incantation to raise Zombie Ronald Reagan?)
Not to put down Albertsons (hey, hot bread at five!) or those who shop there exclusively, of course. It's just a different target audience. Rocket Fizz seems to be less interested now in boasting an eclectic variety of products and more interested in... well, I don't know that they are *interested* in anything. The staff has acted so disengaged on recent visits that I've taken to sitting in the car and sending my husband in while I wait. (And every time he comes back out, empty-handed. "They still don't have any of our faves in?" "No." "What do they have?" "A lot more Jarritos than before...")
I'm not saying not to go. If you don't like shopping online, for instance, then go at least once. They do (still) have (some) things I haven't seen elsewhere in town. (With even craft stores like Michael's selling retro candy, though, Rocket Fizz's claims to unique stock grow ever thinner.)
Finally motivated by disappointment and unafraid of using my clicking finger, I was able to easily find the sodas I wanted online... for less... with free shipping... and that's including the chocolate egg cream soda that used to fly off Rocket Fizz's shelves.
I'm sure plenty of people will still find value in what Rocket Fizz offers, but I can no longer justify trying to support this business. The staff doesn't seem to care about soda (not including their social networking person who probably sleeps in Jelly Belly pajamas), and the offerings are much more ordinary and less varied than before. (They don't even sell Joe's Cola, which Whole Foods can't keep enough of in stock, a soda that's made in Henderson.)
I want to support a store that celebrates soda - especially nostalgic and niche sodas - and that's why I'm redirecting my soda budget to retailers who do it cheaper, faster, and much better. The thrill is gone, and the Fizz is flat.
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