Shopping ‘Diva’ Shows There’s No Need to Starve When It Comes to In-Store Eateries

ShopLocal.com’s ‘Eva the Shopping Diva’ Rates Convenience Food in New Blog

Chicago- July 31, 2006 – In-store dining, once considered a wasteland of corn dogs and day-glow cheese where 39 percent of Americans say they would eat only if starving, has come a long way, according to the Web’s newest blogger Eva Yusa, also known as “Eva the Shopping Diva.”™

Yusa, ShopLocal.com’s shopping efficiency expert, has launched a new blog, and the first topic to chew on: a rating of the food offered in chain stores such as Kmart, The Home Depot and Costco. “You’d be surprised at the breadth of offerings in stores nowadays, and the quality is better than you’d expect,” said Yusa, who will be posting weekly installments to her blog at shoplocal.com to provide advice on the best shopping opportunities on- and off-line.

Although a July 2006 survey* commissioned by ShopLocal.com found that a whopping 39 percent of respondents said they would eat at an in-store restaurant only if they were starving (61 percent of respondents provided other answers) and that convenience (cited by 60 percent) is the primary reason for eating in such establishments, Yusa discovered through her sampling that there’s no need to forego a proper meal just because you’re out and about.

Using a scale from one to four, Yusa awarded heat lamps for freshness, saltshakers for flavor and mechanical horses for fun and atmosphere. “No one expects a gourmet meal at a discount retailer or specialty chain store,” she said. “But it’s not unreasonable to expect quality and flavorful food and a little hint of atmosphere.”

Men and women who responded to the ShopLocal.com survey were evenly split on the quality of food in chain-store restaurants. Only 37 percent reported that food there is tasty.

But from honey barbecue chicken pizza at an in-store Pizza Hut® outpost to Costco’s cinnamon-and-sugar-laden churros and Swedish meatballs at IKEA, Yusa uncovered many a culinary treasure for consumers. “A number of food and beverage offerings at most establishments are decent and tasty,” she said. “In nearly every place I reviewed, there are options for differing palates.”

IKEA ranked highest among the five retailers whose in-store eateries were sampled. Yusa’s rankings and full reviews are available at shoplocal.com.

ShopLocal, LLC offers the Web’s most comprehensive multi-channel shopping resource for consumers and sales opportunities site for retailers. With ShopLocal.com and The ShopLocal Network – made up of more than 200 affiliate media, search and shopping sites – consumers have access to the only Web site with information on products from local stores side-by-side with e-commerce options. With ShopLocal’s SmartCircular, SmartCatalog and SmartMedia service, retailers can distribute sales and promotional content on the site as well as through their own Web sites, integrating both e-commerce and local, in-store promotions.

Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Tribune Company (NYSE:TRB), and The McClatchy Company. (NYSE:MNI), are partners in ShopLocal and other joint ventures to provide consumers online products such as CareerBuilder.com, Cars.com and Apartments.com.

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*Results are based on responses of 1,031 Americans 18 years of age and older who participated in a national telephone survey from July 14-17, 2006. Results are accurate to +/- 3 percentage points.