Avocados are tough to keep at a consistent firmness. Left on the shelf, they go from rock solid to bruised mush in no time. What I do personally is buy ten at a time and leave them out to ripen. When each one is just about to be ripe, I put it in the fridge, where it stays consistent for weeks. As supply dwindles (I eat about one a day on average) I overlap by getting another 10.<p>Stores should really start doing this themselves... wait until they&#x27;re just about ripe, then package them in sealed containers (so shoppers can&#x27;t poke and bruise them) and keep them refrigerated. Obviously more effort which will add to the cost, but I&#x27;m guessing the average consumer would happily pay a bit more to get ripe avocados on demand. Otherwise you either have to really plan ahead or go on a search for the rare unicorn that is a ripe one.