So should I be amazed by Wal-Mart or pissed at their competitors?

[Snake Doctor]

I buy most of my groceries at Wal-Mart because they're cheaper there. The downside is the lines are really long and there isn't much selection.

Today I stopped in Winn Dixie to get a gallon of milk, because I won't stand in a Wal-Mart line for one item....and for shits and giggles decided to check prices on some other things to compare.
I figure if the price differences are negligible, like 10% or so, maybe it's worth it to shop in the cleaner, quieter store with better selection and shorter lines.

Anyways, price differences are ridiculous.
Just a few things I checked. Little Healthy Choice/Lean Cuisine/Weight Watchers frozen meals (for when I'm being good), cost about 2.80 at Wal-Mart....they cost 3.79 at Winn Dixie.
Frozen pizzas like tombstone and red baron (for when I'm being bad), cost 4.25 at Wal-Mart, 2/$7 when they're on sale.....at Winn Dixie the "sale" pizza was 5.79, and the regular priced one was 6.19

So is Wal-Mart just that awesome, or are the other guys ripping people off?

I know some other chains don't have Wal-Mart's buying power and cost structure...but I don't think their costs are THAT much different. I'm thinking maybe they decided since they can't beat Wal-Mart at the price game, it doesn't matter if they're 10% or 40% higher in terms of how many customers they can attract, so they say fuck it and are 40% higher.

What are prices like where you live?

[PSSuperstars]

Geez that's a huge DIFFERENCE..

I never see that big of a difference on the frozen meals. My mother in law does frozen for breakfast, lunch, snack... so we're all the time price checking.. And I never see a difference of more then 30-40 cents..

That is nuts. That Winn Dixie is priced like a Randalls here...

Bet they'll be going out of business soon or struggling. The price difference is nuts.

[Paul Waters]

Do you check the "Best Before" dates on the Wal-Mart stuff?

[Phoenix]

that frozen food stuff is killing your organs for sure

we shop at various food stores for food...oceans has really good prices on fruit and vegetables...meat i shop only at dominion/metro

i will never shop at walmart for groceries

[Sly]

Wal-Mart is considered one of the most efficient companies in the world. Yes, they have THAT much buying power. They probably make a few pennies on one of those pizzas, if that. They also have great power in negotiating property taxes, which allows them to keep prices low as well.

By the way... if you really eat that stuff, you should stop. :-) It's all total crap, including the "healthy" stuff. Processed and full of preservatives. Go fresh... it's usually cheaper too. I make my own frozen dinners for easy use later on... it's much cheaper and much better tasting and much better for me.

[Spike D]

Walmart is able to buy in incredible amounts, hence they are able to negotiate a much lower price per unit. With that, you will not be able to go into a Walmart super store and find the same variety of edibles that you would at a Trader Joes. But you will spend less money at Walmart.

Sly's post said it all...

[Voodoo]

Mexicans spend a lot of money at WalMart.

[SBJ]

yup it's amazing the price difference between stores and wal mart. I always do my shopping after midnight and I can get in and out with no lines.. My last house in AZ had a wal mart grocery market open up a quarter mile from my place and wow was that nice

[pr0]

As far as I'm concerned, shopping at walmart amounts to no less than treason.

[LiveDose]

We do a ton of shopping at Walmart. My wife hates the place but the prices.... You just can't compete with.

The only problem is I almost always buy some stupid fucking thing that I really don't need just because. I probably end up spending more by walking into that joint then if I would just go to the grocery store. And don't even get me started on BJ's & Sams Club!

[Pleasurepays]

Originally Posted by pr0

As far as I'm concerned, shopping at walmart amounts to no less than treason.

yeah... god forbid people be able to afford shit. horrible. hopefully, one day... walmart will be replaced by the tons and tons of shitty, mom and pop stores with a horrible selection at twice the cost.

[mynameisjim]

I do most of my shopping at Target, I guess that's the same as Wal Mart. The other grocery store around me is "Jewel" which has prices that are almost double like you said. They are about 5 minutes apart and the lines are the same at Target or at Jewel, so I go to Target. The Target by me is very clean so I actually prefer it over the grocery store. A few things I buy at Whole Foods because nobody else has them yet.

For frozen food stuff. Check out Amy's brand. All organic and not processed at all. About the best frozen dinners you can get and only a few cents more than that processed crap.

http://www.amys.com/

[Snake Doctor]

Originally Posted by Sly

Wal-Mart is considered one of the most efficient companies in the world. Yes, they have THAT much buying power. They probably make a few pennies on one of those pizzas, if that. They also have great power in negotiating property taxes, which allows them to keep prices low as well.

By the way... if you really eat that stuff, you should stop. :-) It's all total crap, including the "healthy" stuff. Processed and full of preservatives. Go fresh... it's usually cheaper too. I make my own frozen dinners for easy use later on... it's much cheaper and much better tasting and much better for me.

Actually I was a frozen food manager for Wal-Mart for a few months, back when I was in retail management....and the across the board margin for the frozen food department was 20%. So they make alot more than a few pennies on those pizzas.

Of course at this time I was young and single and shopped at the place closest to my house....never really paid attention to prices back then so I don't know if it was always this drastic of a difference.

[Snake Doctor]

Originally Posted by Jesus H Christ

transportation costs. Wal-Mart is much cheaper due to having more of their own trucks and depot centers. I was there just the other day to get dog and cat in bulk and notice they closed down their seafood department. Also, the place was empty, but see they're still posting profits.odd

FWIW, the red baron and tombstone frozen pizzas are delivered and serviced by a local vendor, so Wal-Mart's transportation synergies don't affect those prices at all.

On alot of the other stuff that may be true, but on those two items I checked, transportation costs aren't an issue.

[collegeboobies]

There are only 2 stores in my area that sell electronics, Office Depot and Wal-Mart

[Sly]

Originally Posted by Snake Doctor

FWIW, the red baron and tombstone frozen pizzas are delivered and serviced by a local vendor, so Wal-Mart's transportation synergies don't affect those prices at all.

On alot of the other stuff that may be true, but on those two items I checked, transportation costs aren't an issue.

Okay, so then maybe the standard grocery store is charging more for pizza because they know people will pay it!

Don't really know... I've heard grocery stores only make a penny per dollar spent. Don't know anything besides that.

[PersianKitty]

There's a particular fat-free balsamic vinaigrette dressing, that I could only find at a few places in Seattle. Each bottle ran $3.79 to $4.29. Walmart sells it for $1.79. Cheapest I can get it online is $2.10 a bottle + shipping and I have to but 12. The shipping brings it up to over $3 per bottle.

[Donfoolio]

Originally Posted by Pleasurepays

yeah... god forbid people be able to afford shit. horrible. hopefully, one day... walmart will be replaced by the tons and tons of shitty, mom and pop stores with a horrible selection at twice the cost.

"shitty mom and pop stores" are what built every country in this world! However they also do NOT do the volume ordering that "big business" does, so from the out letters they can not get the "big deals" therefore increasing their overhead. Don't be so quick to talk badly about the small business, because it's the big bastards who are the problem.

[Snake Doctor]

Originally Posted by Sly

Okay, so then maybe the standard grocery store is charging more for pizza because they know people will pay it!

Don't really know... I've heard grocery stores only make a penny per dollar spent. Don't know anything besides that.

That is true. Industry standard net profit margins for grocery stores are 1c on the dollar.

They taught me that when I was bagging groceries when I was 15 years old (if you double bag you're giving our only penny of profit away) and I also heard an analyst say something about it on CNBC last year. (That's net after ALL expenses though...don't confuse that with the gross margin or mark-up from cost on the goods they sell, those numbers are WAY different)

I'm just wondering if Wal-Mart has cut into the older chains' market share so badly that they need a ridiculous mark up to cover their leases etc on the volume they have left....or if the other chains are just gouging the people for whom time is too valuable to shop at Wal-Mart.

I also wonder if these chains have the same type of pricing in areas where there is no Wal-Mart grocery. i.e. if they're competing with other stores where they can have the lowest price in town, maybe they do take lower margins to try to increase volume in those specific markets.

[baddog]

Originally Posted by pr0

As far as I'm concerned, shopping at walmart amounts to no less than treason.

Based on what?

[uno]

Originally Posted by Spike D

Walmart is able to buy in incredible amounts, hence they are able to negotiate a much lower price per unit. With that, you will not be able to go into a Walmart super store and find the same variety of edibles that you would at a Trader Joes. But you will spend less money at Walmart.

Sly's post said it all...

I love Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, but they are both way expensive.

[Snake Doctor]

Originally Posted by Donfoolio

"shitty mom and pop stores" are what built every country in this world! However they also do NOT do the volume ordering that "big business" does, so from the out letters they can not get the "big deals" therefore increasing their overhead. Don't be so quick to talk badly about the small business, because it's the big bastards who are the problem.

That's not necessarily true. It's a combination of things with the mom and pops.

In "The Long Tail" by Chris Anderson, there was a chapter where he talked about how the Sears catalog changed retailing nationwide.
Back then, most of the people in the country lived and worked on farms, and the local "general stores" could charge literally whatever they wanted to for things, because there was no competition.

The Sears catalog changed that and allowed people to order things that were then shipped to them via railroad.
That put alot of "general stores" out of business, but it was good for everyone in the country who didn't own a general store.

When Wal-Mart moves to town and puts the mom and pops out of business, alot of us feel bad because we have a soft spot in our hearts for "family businesses", but in alot of cases, just like in the days of the Sears catalog, those mom and pops were overcharging people in a ridiculous way.

Sly did mention something about Wal-Mart getting tax breaks, and that's something I disagree with. Retail businesses don't "create jobs" the way other types of businesses do, so they don't deserve any type of special treatment by local governments to come to town IMO. Other than that, I think most communities are better of with Wal-Mart than they were before.

[stevo]

I do a lot of grocery shopping at WalMart since it is close to my house. I went to Publix the other day, and noticed everything was almost priced double...

[Snake Doctor]

Originally Posted by stevo

I do a lot of grocery shopping at WalMart since it is close to my house. I went to Publix the other day, and noticed everything was almost priced double...

Ahhh you live in my hometown. I grew up in Winter Park.

Publix is always so clean and pristine (at least when I lived there it was), but hella expensive.

You pay for those extra people who keep the place clean in spades.

[abadfish]

I hate WalMart and refuse to shop there myself but the last time I was in there I compared the prices on a few grocery items I regularly buy and the prices were the same or higher then where I normally shop for at least 90% of the products I checked.

Maybe Winn Dixie is expensive? I usually shop at Safeway and Fred Meyer. I've heard they are expensive but I usually look for deals and buy things based on price so I don't notice.

[JD]

walmart uses their size to force manufacturers into lower prices

[Donfoolio]

Originally Posted by Snake Doctor

That's not necessarily true. It's a combination of things with the mom and pops.

In "The Long Tail" by Chris Anderson, there was a chapter where he talked about how the Sears catalog changed retailing nationwide.
Back then, most of the people in the country lived and worked on farms, and the local "general stores" could charge literally whatever they wanted to for things, because there was no competition.

The Sears catalog changed that and allowed people to order things that were then shipped to them via railroad.
That put alot of "general stores" out of business, but it was good for everyone in the country who didn't own a general store.

When Wal-Mart moves to town and puts the mom and pops out of business, alot of us feel bad because we have a soft spot in our hearts for "family businesses", but in alot of cases, just like in the days of the Sears catalog, those mom and pops were overcharging people in a ridiculous way.

Sly did mention something about Wal-Mart getting tax breaks, and that's something I disagree with. Retail businesses don't "create jobs" the way other types of businesses do, so they don't deserve any type of special treatment by local governments to come to town IMO. Other than that, I think most communities are better of with Wal-Mart than they were before.

While that is nice theory I have real life examples of family members and friends who own corner bodegas and liquor stores. And my own experience as a Pepsi route route worker. The more you order the less you pay and the better the middle man you can deal with. For instance in NY State there is only 1 liquor supplier in the whole state, all liquor stores get from this company (albany based I believe) now the friend I know orders a LOT of volume so he beats almost every liquor store I have ever been to. The one by me however is small and crappy and they sell for like 3 to 8 dollars more per bottle of certain stuff. It's not because they are douchebags, both stores are family owned and operated so they have no overhead there or thieves in employment, both are in good "hood" areas where liquor sells well, but the difference is one can get better deals from the supplier.

The same goes for my uncles bodega, I ran it many times for him when he took trips home. They order set stuff, the biggest selling thing is cigarettes and liquor and junk food, so they get SHITTY deals from the market supplier who sells all kinds of fruit and food, but they get GREAT deals from the Lays guy and the Pepsi guy and the Budweiser guy. The market is controlled in trickle down, it always has been. The thing is that now it is more efficient and that means it is less human.

[Snake Doctor]

Originally Posted by Donfoolio

While that is nice theory I have real life examples of family members and friends who own corner bodegas and liquor stores. And my own experience as a Pepsi route route worker. The more you order the less you pay and the better the middle man you can deal with. For instance in NY State there is only 1 liquor supplier in the whole state, all liquor stores get from this company (albany based I believe) now the friend I know orders a LOT of volume so he beats almost every liquor store I have ever been to. The one by me however is small and crappy and they sell for like 3 to 8 dollars more per bottle of certain stuff. It's not because they are douchebags, both stores are family owned and operated so they have no overhead there or thieves in employment, both are in good "hood" areas where liquor sells well, but the difference is one can get better deals from the supplier.

The same goes for my uncles bodega, I ran it many times for him when he took trips home. They order set stuff, the biggest selling thing is cigarettes and liquor and junk food, so they get SHITTY deals from the market supplier who sells all kinds of fruit and food, but they get GREAT deals from the Lays guy and the Pepsi guy and the Budweiser guy. The market is controlled in trickle down, it always has been. The thing is that now it is more efficient and that means it is less human.

It wasn't a theory I espoused, it was historical fact.
Which data set do you think is larger and has a more realistic chance of representing the overall reality of the American economy, the research Chris Anderson (editor of Wired magazine) did for his book, or your personal experience with a pepsi route and a couple of family businesses?

In this state, and in most others, prices for alcohol and tobacco are fixed anyways. There is a minimum markup required by law for both the distributors and retailers, so the local convenience store can sell beer at the same price as Wal-Mart.

A more efficient market may have had short term negative consequences for you and your family, and I understand that. But to think it's a bad thing that people are paying less for things like food is pretty absurd.
You said "the big bastards are the problem", but they're only a problem for the "small bastards" that are getting put out of business, they're great for the other 99% of the population.

If I came out with a product that increased life expectancy by 10 years, would you feel bad for the undertakers who lose business because of that?

[baddog]

Originally Posted by Snake Doctor

Retail businesses don't "create jobs" the way other types of businesses do

What do you call it?

[heymatty]

I don't buy food at wal-mart, don't really eat any frozen stuff and it seems 90% of the food is frozen or pre-packed or just generally crap.

But for cleaning products, baby formula, diapers I do try to stock up there it is almost half off, but its a very de-motivating place to be, there's not many places you can go in Scottsdale and not see some ok looking women. Wal-mart is one

[Mutt]

Grocery stores operate on slim profit margins - i thought it was 2% not 1% - but it's a volume business and that slim profit margin doesn't apply to all the side shit, kiosks they have these days.

AND that doesn't count the HUGE money food and beverage companies pay for shelf space or more shelf space or better located shelf space. Try being a small new food company and getting any shelf space in a chain grocery store. They want to see the color of your money.

[MetaMan]

Originally Posted by Voodoo

Mexicans spend a lot of money at WalMart.

[DK]

Originally Posted by Sly

By the way... if you really eat that stuff, you should stop. :-) It's all total crap, including the "healthy" stuff. Processed and full of preservatives. Go fresh... it's usually cheaper too. I make my own frozen dinners for easy use later on... it's much cheaper and much better tasting and much better for me.

Unless you are eating 100% Organic which I doubt, when you "eat fresh" you are exposed to a whole other sets of sprays and toxins

[Tempest]

While Walmart is "amazing" in it's prices, it's a perfect example of why and how the US is hurtling towards the bottom...

[John-ACWM]

Sounds like a great place to shop

[Oracle Porn]

buying food at walmart is ghetto. do you guys buy your clothes at walmart too?

[Jack Sly]

Watch the Walmart doc at google video. Walmart - High Cost of Low Prices

[Pleasurepays]

Originally Posted by Donfoolio

"shitty mom and pop stores" are what built every country in this world! However they also do NOT do the volume ordering that "big business" does, so from the out letters they can not get the "big deals" therefore increasing their overhead. Don't be so quick to talk badly about the small business, because it's the big bastards who are the problem.

those kinds of stores are just one part of the progression of economic growth. its all about supply and demand - they eventually get phased out. people vote with their wallets in a free market... like it or not. if people want something, someone steps in to fill that demand. if that demand isn't strong enough... there isn't a big enough market to justify it.

"the problem" in this case seems to be cheaper goods. horrible.

ironically, you have to argue that people want something different... i.e. there is a demand for something different.. yet consumers don't agree with you. Comrade Mao would certainly praise your efforts and ideas however.


people who resent Wallmart typically resent authority... and that is the root of the issue. it obviously isn't the consumer and what they want that is the concern.

[$5 submissions]

Damn. Those price differences are horrendous.

[Snake Doctor]

Originally Posted by baddog

What do you call it?

Retail businesses don't create new jobs. If all you're doing is setting up shop in a town to sell things to people who live in that town, then it's not a net plus for the local economy.

All you're doing is taking away from other businesses that were already in the area, so it's a job transfer, not a job creation.
In cases like Wal-Mart they actually destroy jobs because they use far fewer man hours in labor to generate the same amount of sales than the stores they usually replace when they come to town.

Therefore, giving tax breaks to a Wal Mart store to come to town is a pretty stupid thing for a public official to do. Giving tax breaks to a manufacturing plant or a business like that may make sense, because that does create jobs, but not retail.

[Snake Doctor]

Originally Posted by Mutt

Grocery stores operate on slim profit margins - i thought it was 2% not 1% - but it's a volume business and that slim profit margin doesn't apply to all the side shit, kiosks they have these days.

AND that doesn't count the HUGE money food and beverage companies pay for shelf space or more shelf space or better located shelf space. Try being a small new food company and getting any shelf space in a chain grocery store. They want to see the color of your money.

Actually all of that money is calculated into the profit margin. The shelf space money and rebates etc are how they sell coke for $2/12 pack when they're paying $3/12 pack for it from coke.

Most of these chains are public companies so you can read their financials if you want, and their net profit is going to be 1% of sales, give or take a tenth or two.....with all of that stuff included.

Originally Posted by Oracle Porn

buying food at walmart is ghetto. do you guys buy your clothes at walmart too?

Sometimes I do. I guess I'm not snobby enough for you, sorry about that.

[12clicks]

what's a walmart?
I've driven past a few.

[pornguy]

Originally Posted by pr0

As far as I'm concerned, shopping at walmart amounts to no less than treason.

Some of us dont have the choice if we want to get the things that we like and that are quality. Yeah can you believe that?? But For me its different. I live outside the US.

[Pleasurepays]

Originally Posted by Snake Doctor

Retail businesses don't create new jobs. If all you're doing is setting up shop in a town to sell things to people who live in that town, then it's not a net plus for the local economy.

wrong.

if you are doing it cheaper... in terms of total disposable income, there is a net gain in the community... which then leads to more spending elsewhere on other goods and services.

[Gerco]

HAving just moved into Georgia I'm finding the grocery stores here to be completely outrageous in prices. Even with their so called super saver cards etc. I have 3 that I drive past now and drive an extra 13 miles to the closest Wal-mart. I normally spend 150-200 bucks on stuff and save around 50-75 bucks for that extra distance...

Example milk..

Almost 6 bucks a gallon wal-mart brand 3 bucks. (I go though 2-3 gallons a week with 2 little kids so the 6-9 bucks difference in price right there is half a tank of gas.)

[Pleasurepays]

Originally Posted by Gerco

HAving just moved into Georgia I'm finding the grocery stores here to be completely outrageous in prices. Even with their so called super saver cards etc. I have 3 that I drive past now and drive an extra 13 miles to the closest Wal-mart. I normally spend 150-200 bucks on stuff and save around 50-75 bucks for that extra distance...

Example milk..

Almost 6 bucks a gallon wal-mart brand 3 bucks. (I go though 2-3 gallons a week with 2 little kids so the 6-9 bucks difference in price right there is half a tank of gas.)

if you want better value for your money... and want the right to spend your money how you wish... according to some, you're just a greedy, selfish, capitalist pig. keep that in mind when making your spending decisions.

[Snake Doctor]

Originally Posted by Pleasurepays

wrong.

if you are doing it cheaper... in terms of total disposable income, there is a net gain in the community... which then leads to more spending elsewhere on other goods and services.

Yes but if you're doing it cheaper then that inevitably means that you're employing fewer people to do it, which more than offsets any gain made by the money other consumers save.

Plus the profit from Wal-Mart goes back to Arkansas, but the profit from the mom and pops they put out of business stayed in the local community.

I agree that Wal-Mart is a net plus for the community because people get things cheaper, but it's not a net plus for jobs. It doesn't create jobs, it at best transfers jobs and at worst destroys them.
My point with that is that when you ask a mayor or councilman why Wal-Mart gets so many tax breaks and they say "they brought 500 jobs to this town", they're full of shit. The net employment figures for the community are the same or worse....and therefore they don't deserve any of the tax breaks or incentives you would give to say a manufacturing company to come to town.

We just went through alot of this locally with a giant shopping development being built that's going to have 150 stores. The developers/retailers etc all wanted tax breaks and incentives to build this here....and the local pols had the local university economics dept do studies to see if it was worth it.
The conclusion was that retail businesses don't create jobs. These people want to move here to sell things to people that already live here. It benefits them way more than it benefits us and it doesn't bring any new money into the community. (other than the 6 month long, one-off construction jobs to build the place)

[Tom_PM]

Walmart and others buy merch. and sells them "low" because the chinese factories pay 2 cents an hour for underage chinese girls to produce cheap products for them and others.

[Sosa]

We buy 90% of our food from Walmart because of the prices. Only other options we have here is a Safeway which we only buy things that are on sale.

[BradM]

I can't shop in walmart. I'd rather pay 20% for the convenience of NOT dealing with the subhuman trash who infest those stores.