Shopping Trip to A Giant Mall

My cousin lives in Neve Ne'eman, Hod Hasharon, so I've been watching the Kanyon Sharonim grow from its earliest construction until it was finally completed, but I had never gone there to shop.

Two weeks ago, after a family Yom Ha'Atzma'ut feast, we took the grandkids there to play in its fancy playground on the way home.  They had a great time.  I had been hearing fantastic things about the 1/2 Chinam, "Half Free" discount supermarket there, which supposedly has the lowest prices and the greatest set up in Israel. 

People have told me that it's larger than the giant stores in America.  For quicker shopping, they have divided the green-grocer section from the rest of the store.  It's two stores with different colored bags.

As you must know, I work in Yafiz, Clothing for the Entire Family, in Sha'ar Binyamin, which is part of the Rami Levi chain of discount supermarkets, so I'm in our Rami Levi store a few times a week.  Those two chains are competitors.  I haven't been to other branches of Rami Levi, but I highly doubt if any can be as fancy as this store is.  And I've seen other 1/2 Chinam, "Half Free" branches in Jerusalem from the outside, and they aren't fancy either.  It's obvious that the chain has invested a lot of money to get the moneyed crowd to shop in this branch.

I don't think the prices were less than my Rami Levi, at least among the products I normally buy. They did have a larger variety of food.  Rami Levi refuses to sell fruits and vegetables that cost "too much."  He sells chicken for less money.  I didn't buy much, but I did shop.  It was convenient, as my friend drove me door-to-door.

Distance wise, that mall is closer to Shiloh than going to the Malcha Mall in Jerusalem, and it has some of the same stores, though not all.  Sha'ar Binyamin is much close to Shiloh than the Sharonim Mall, which is just over a kilometer (about a mile) from the Yarkon Junction.  There's a sign in Ariel that Rami Levi is building a branch there.  If it will be near the Ariel University, then it will be much closer to us than Sha'ar Binyamin, but if it's at the other end of Ariel, then it'll be almost the same distance and more difficult to get to without a car.

PS though we were there in the morning, when Israeli malls are generally pretty empty, it was clear that contrary to what the כְּמִתְאֹנְנִים kimit'oninim agitators faux social justice protesters keep claiming, there's plenty of money in Israel and most people are doing very well.