Sad to say, people are calling up Penzeys stores and harassing the people who work there. During Trump's presidency, employees were often harassed in person, which they no doubt will be now, too. But they're also getting some anti-Trump voices in their stores these days, pleased that owner Bill Penzey isn't afraid to call out GOP hate. I suspect Penzeys will get as much or more good will and business after those clips were broadcast. Plus, I don't think they ever pretended anything about the Republican Party. At least not as long as I've been buying their product and receiving their emails. (Although that "About Republicans" link in the menu might be fairly new. ?)
If you don't have a Penzeys store near you, you can
order online, where you'll also find free recipes. The prices are higher than you pay for McCormick's and grocery store brands, but Penzeys spices are a much higher quality, and they often run really good deals. (You just
think cinnamon is cinnamon, but you're wrong. You have never had delicious cinnamon from your grocery store, and Penzeys has several varieties.) Also, periodically, they run $50 gift cards for $35. I stock up when they do that, because you can use them for anything in the store, and they never expire. Gift them to yourself. Their shipping time is speedy, and included in the order is usually at least one sample of something good and maybe a Choose Love bumper sticker or magnet.
If you haven't seen the video clips that got Penzeys heat over Kamala's visit, check out these two.
How dare she be kind!
Their Milwaukee store was
vandalized in June after Penzeys put up a billboard "welcoming" Trump to the city that he had been publicly denigrating.
Hey, if you don't want to support a store whose owner has strong beliefs that don't align with yours, don't shop there. It's like abortion: if you don't agree with it, don't have one. There are laws - not to mention morals (remember those?) - against harming people who don't agree with you.
And this type of headline from MSNBC won't help:
This post has gone on a lot longer than I intended. But I have to say, she, unsurprisingly, got lots of hate tweets for visiting the store. And then there was this one:
That's tomorrow night.
Be sure to
sign up for Penzeys emails. Deals are announced through those. (Full disclosure: I only scan them for the deals. I don't need to be convinced of Republican slide into subhumanity.)
One more quick note: the "Donations" link is not to donate to Penzeys - they're doing just fine. It's a place to donate to certain causes, like feeding people.
My two most used blends: Ruth Ann's Muskego Ave (for almost anything) and Turkish (which I use for Mexican Taco flavoring). I always have Vietnamese cinnamon on hand. I like to make a coffee with foamy milk sprinkled with cinnamon. Not long ago, I decided to get the cheaper McCormick's cinnamon, which I ended up throwing out, and went back to Penzeys.
If you know a cook who needs to pinch pennies, get them a gift card (and when the $35 deal comes around, you can save money doing it).
UPDATE 09/20/2024:
From Bill Penzeys email:
I asked for your help. Your response was outstanding. Our stores were holiday-Saturday busy and you placed five typical weeks' worth of online orders in just two days. Thank you!
But now we have to get out five weeks' worth of orders, while more orders come in every day. For all intents and purposes the mail order side of our business will be out of order while we catch up. The reality is if you place an order today most likely it will take three weeks to ship. Sorry.
If you placed an order you can’t wait for and need to cancel please click here. Don’t feel bad. This is our fault.
