I went to the Harry and David store in our big, fancy mall. I have never tried any Harry and David fruits because they are so very expensive.
They had pears in individual plastic cases for 5 dollars each. After talking to the sales lady a bit, she gave me 3 free pears!
I can’t wait to try them, but I can’t really imagine the are 5 bucks each worth of good.
We will see! 
The only “worth the price” thing I’ve ever gotten from a Harry & David store was their vegetable rub. Unfortunately, that is only available as part of a over-priced basket.
Fuckers.
I think their pears are very good. I have bought the “maverick” pears before and didn’t feel too terribly ripped off, though they are definitely expensive.
Five bucks for one pear? Please do report back on them - I’d like to know what a five dollah pear is like. 
My former workplace used to receive Harry and David baskets from the other offices in the building. I snagged a pear once and took it home…
…it was seriously one of the best things I have ever eaten. In my life. And I don’t even particularly like pears. It was just so creamy with a complex subtle sweetness and juicy and delicious and droool…
So, did you buy a Harry or a David? And how many?
I couldn’t resist, it was my first thought upon seeing the thread title.
Yes the pears are damn near better than sex [provided you actually like pears] but not worth $5.
You can grow amazing pears if you pamper your trees, making sure they get the proper fertilizer blend [the proportions change over time as to the exact blend the trees need] and the proper amount of water, mesh netting to keep the bugs and birds away, and then picking them when they are pretty much exactly perfectly ripe.
The problem with grocery store generic pears is they are picked before they are ripe and shipped, then artificially ripened, like most other fruits. They may not have been irrigated, or fertilized, or protected from bugs and birds …
My grandfather grew amazing fruit in his little orchard [he had 2 pear trees, 2 plum trees, 6 mackintosh apple trees and a row of raspberries in an orchard, and a veggie garden of about a third of an acre, and a hazlenut tree, a butternut tree and a cherry tree elsewhere on the property] but puttering around in the garden was his hobby in retirement [along with sailing and maintaining his sailboat] He had the time and money to baby his gardening endeavors [and a groundsman to do the plebean stuff like mowing about 4 acres of lawn and repair stuff.]
I used to work as an office manager, and we got a bunch of gift baskets from vendors this time of year, including stuff from Harry and David. I was shocked when I found out how much they cost because nothing in it seemed worth anywhere near the price.
Full report: We had one after dinner. It was a fairly large pear and more green than yellow and without any blushing, so I was worried that it wasn’t quite ripe, but it was. It really was a perfect fruit- large and without blemish. It was quite juicy and had a smooth and less grainy texture than most pears. It also had a nice mild to moderate flavor and a bit of a thick skin for a pear. Overall, it was a great piece of fruit but I’m really glad I didn’t pay 5 bucks for it.
I think I’d rather pay five bucks for a pear or two. Sounds like a lot of time and materials…
Well, that is rather why you pay the $5 for a pear from them =)
Of course my grandfather did it as a hobby, when you are retired, you get strange about stuff… when my dad retired in addition to his volunteer stuff, he got amazingly OCD about the yardwork :eek: I swear, if you looked at the yard just right, it was mowed in that funky criss cross pattern that the golf courses on TV are :smack: and he topiaried the pine trees in the yard to conical christmas tree shapes and maintained them like that until he couldn’t climb ladders any longer.
I like pears, and I’ve had several different varieties. I’d heard that comice were the ne plus ultra of peardom; subtle and delicate. I didn’t care much for it. It was like eating water. I don’t want subtle and delicate, I want it to taste like a pear. Bartletts are just fine.
I’d try a five-dollar pear if I had the opportunity, but my palate may not be sophisticated enough.
My mother in law sends us the yearly fruit plan. Their fruit is to die for, but I am not the one paying for it, so I just enjoy it. I take a lot of it to work to share and everyone loves it.
The OP just thinks they got free pears. Nothing associated with Harry & David is free.
Undoubtedly the OP was captured on store video, identified, and for the rest of his/her life will receive H&D catalogues. The catalogues are inescapable, no matter where you move or how many times you change your identity. They will find you.
Sounds hot.
Joe
Next time you’re near your local Chinese supermarket, snag a Tianjin pear. They’re juicy, fragrant, delicious and HUGE, albeit apple shaped. And cheap, at least where I’m from.
hm, there is a sizable oriental grocery in Hartford that I should be near sometime later in the week, I will check it out.
H&D pears are perfect for gift giving. You give the gift of something luxurious and indulgent, and you don’t have to care what size the giftee wears. H&D as part of your weekly grocery shopping, not so much.
Our “local” Harry & David store up in Medford Oregon has the Cornice pears by 4/5 bushel case for $40. The box says “Bear Creek” on the side. Individually wrapped in paper and delicious, you might see if your store has the same? But since those pears are from the area, our store might be different from a mall store.
I love their moose munch too.
Right now I have red anjou, green anjou, bosc, red bartlett and comice pears in my fridge. I get them in my organic produce boxes every week. I love pears, but I have a lot of them this year!
Harry and David is nice to walk through, it’s part of my yearly Chirstmas shopping trip when I go to the fancy stores downtown and with Mom in the burbs (haven’t been to the new “Orchard” store yet this year, plan to go in December!). But the fruit is just so over the top, and as far as I can tell the pears aren’t organic on top of the price. I just can’t justify buying the fresh fruit, but I do enjoy their dried fruit, and the candy offerings. I can at least buy something and feel like I indulged.