Giant Foods follow up.

Well, I finally received a phone call from the manager for the Giant Foods on Arlington Road in Arlington, VA. The manager was very apologetic. He said that the store has no issues with adults bringing their bikes in to the store.

Being a good patron of that store, I decided to go in today after my noon ride to pick up some lunch stuff. I went in, no one gave me a bad look. I walked up to the deli meats counter ordered my stuff, and low and behold, a lady at the deli counter who works in the prepared foods spoke up and told me that I couldn't bring my bike in the store. Oh my GOD!!!! I said that I had already spoken to the store manager and he okay'ed it. She then went to say that it was a health regulation in Arlington County to not allow bikes in the store. I basically ignored her and told her to speak with her manager. After purchasing my food, I went to find the manager, because I was starting to fume again. How could this happen??? By the way the deli meat worker was very nice and helpful. The lady at the checkout who I always see was also very nice when she saw that I was at the manager's counter and made sure that I was taken care of. The manager finally came over and I thanked him for the assurance that adults with bicycles were not going to be harassed. I did let him know that I was told by another employee that I couldn't bring in the bike and he said he would take care of it and let all employees in the Giant know as word has not gotten around. I am satisfied with his answer and will continue to go there with my bike and hopefully will not be harassed again.
If any of you readers of my blog want to test this, please do. By the way, I contacted the Arlington County government Health Department and they checked the regulations and said that there were no regulations against bringing bicycles into grocery stores. I am so shocked to hear someone say this in Arlington as Arlington County is so "pro" bicyclists and commuters. So... please make sure you bring your bike in the grocery store if you are afraid that someone might steal it. Of course you can leave it outside if you feel more comfortable of having 2 hands to use when shopping.

My 2 cents and hopefully in the future I won't have any issues. Hope you don't either. Please test the Giant in Arlington out.. Hopefully your next experience will be a good one, where someone says that you're very welcome in Giant!