No matter how hard we try to work magic and make the fallout from the recession go away and hide forever, we are still deep in its throes. Sure there are some hopeful flickers, but the general feeling is that the depth of the problem needs more than a few band-aids.

Take grocery shopping. Everywhere you turn, at every price point, grocers are saying we hear you; we have adjusted and continue to make adjustments so that you will stay with us. What does this mean: more store brands, fewer items on the shelf, less impulsive shopping, and greater attention to coupons and specials. Sure we want to support everything local and take advantage of organic, but at this time some of those choices may be too costly to maintain.

If you were a regular at a grocery store, you might find yourself getting coupons to encourage you to return. That was my Harris Teeter experience. Whole Foods Market decided to put all its recipes on a free app . Target has expanded its Archer Farms food lineup as it relaunches its store brand with the new title “up & up”. Not sure how I relate to that terminology–a little confusing, sounds like two CB’ers chatting on the open road! Wegmans has always sought out customer feedback in the form of surveys and is in the midst of one called “Shopping Differently in this Difficult Economy?” Let me guess the answers.

We are not talking rocket science here: We are shopping differently. Stores are making adjustments as they champion their ability to make changes, to be good listeners. We are more careful about what we buy, in every aisle; in every store. Paying attention to the consumer should not be a novel approach, but a sign of teamwork that may help put the oomph back into shopping.

We say, Bring on the offers.

The economy needs this two-way arrangement.