Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the thirteenth day of the month is "Failure."
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A grocery store chain opened a new store across the street from our regular warehouse grocery chain. Dr. BB and I were really excited about this new store because of complicated reasons having to do with greater access to a wider selection of foods that he can eat and loyalty to this new chain because of dumb emotional loyalties to geography. So after I went to the dentist last week, I took a spreadsheet of items we commonly purchase over to this new store and did a price comparison because I am That Person. I went on the second day the store was opened. There were lots of people there, the parking lot was a disaster, and I was pleased I wasn't actually going to buy anything so I didn't have to figure out how to maneuver a cart around.
Look, this new store is beautiful. There's a full-size Starbucks inside. Not a kiosk - a full-sized store. There are micro-restaurants lining the perimeter of the store, including a hybachi and a burger place. The deli is sparkling. Don't even get me started on the beauty of the items in the bakery. The candy aisle looks like an old-fashioned candy store. The whole thing was overwhelming and delightful.
But I wasn't there to buy a NY cheesecake tart (*drool*). I was there to gather data.
I looked at our receipts from the last month at the grocery store and selected 11 produce items we frequently purchase, 7 GF or beverages, 10 dairy items, and 13 other items and figured out what the price we had paid for them was at our regular warehouse store. I then went around and tried to find the same or similar products at the new place. This isn't exhaustive of everything we ever buy, of course, but it's definitely a good measure of a "typical" week of groceries would be for us.
Produce
16-count of individual packaged Wholly Guacamole
3-pounds of mandarins
Blueberries (1 pint)
Lemon (1)
1-pound sweet potatoes
1-pound ginger root
1-pound onions
1-pound potatoes
1-pound broccoli
1-pound poblano pepper
1-pound grapes
The cost at our regular store is $30.49 and would be $44.17 at the new store, so value per dollar is definitely better at our regular store. However, the quality of the potatoes and ginger at our local store has been suspect recently (it's somewhat defeating to root around for ginger trying to find one without visible mold on it) and everything looked amazing at the new store. I wonder if it will keep that quality up after the store isn't brand spanking new.
GF/bevs (this is a weird category on a grocery list because they're in neighboring aisles at our regular store)
Pepsi (10 pack, 7.5 oz)
Gatorade Zero (8 pack)
GF Oreos
24-ounce rice flour (preferably Bob's Red Mill)
2-pounds basmati rice (preferably sourced from the US)
12-ounce Udi's GF granola
Epic bison bar
(Tapioca starch)
(Potato starch)
This cost $36.33 at our regular store and $36.31 at the new store, so it's a wash. However, I also tried to find tapioca starch and potato starch at the new store and was unable to locate them, so I do think that the GF baking aisle at our regular store is more extensive. It's also possible that I just missed them in the ginormity of the new place.
Dairy
Cheese sticks
8-oz shredded cheddar
1-pound block of cheddar
1-pound unsalted butter
32-oz Dannon yogurt
1 dozen cage-free eggs (Certified Humane)
Lifeway kefir
1-pound sour cream
(32-oz full-fat Fage yogurt)
At our regular store, this is $32.11 and at the new store, it's $32.51, so basically the same. The thing is that the new store did not have the Fage yogurt, which my husband eats for breakfast every day, so even if the prices were the same, this would probably be a dealbreaker for us.
Aisles (other)
Spice Islands garam masala
Brown sugar
White sugar
28-oz canned whole tomatoes
Canned dice tomatoes
NutThins
Celestial seasoning tea (20 count)
Twinings tea (50 count)
Chex
Almonds
Cranberry juice
Pretzels
Citracal
This would come to $54.46 at our regular store and $57.28 at the new place, so the new place is a bit more expensive, but not prohibitively expensive. However, the tea selection is TINY at the new place and there was no Twinings at all except for K-cups. I would say my husband uses between 2-3 teabags every day, so having Twinings is important to him. Between the lack of Twinings and the lack of Fage in dairy, I think it would be very hard for us to switch stores. I mean, it's possible we could ask them to stock those items at the new store, but for right now, this would mean we'd regularly have to go to two stores when we grocery shop. I'm not sure either of us is up for that.
Overall, the two stores seemed to have comparable prices with the exception of produce. Since we generally do buy a fair amount of produce, I'm not sure that the new store is right for us. The new store was about 11% more expensive ($16.83 for this trip) and if we went to the grocery store 50 times over the course of a year, that would be more than $800 a year. Now, maybe the sheer pleasantness of going to a new store with nicer carts and nicer produce and those glorious individual cheesecakes would be worth $800 to us, but the lack of key items we purchase weekly probably isn't.
Experiment failed. We will be sticking with the kind of sad warehouse grocery store for now.
Have you ever done a price comparison like this for grocery stores near you? What chain(s) are the most economical? The most expensive?
I have never done this sort of store-to-store comparison on prices, but I have made a big shift in my buying behaviour in the last few years. We live in a small town that has one grocery store and then a large pharmacy that ALSO has grocery items. I used to drive to a larger town nearby and shop at a big supermarket, but I haven't stepped foot in that particular store in almost 2 years. While the selection is slightly more limited, I just love doing most of my shopping within 5 minutes of my house and knowing the cashiers/the owner etc.
ReplyDeleteI also shop for basic grocery items at the pharmacy (eggs, milk) and they have an incredible rewards program (basically $30 in points for every $100 spent).
My biggest savings hack is shopping sales. I go through flyers every week and keep a running list on my phone of things we need. I tend to know what sale prices will be on staple items and tend to be able to avoid buying most items full price. I meal plan (loosely) based on what's on sale/in stock. For example, if I wanted to make a chicken curry, I wouldn't dream of doing it if chicken wasn't on sale. I also freeze things like bread and meat that has been purchased on sale.
Because we basically buy the same things every week and we can't necessarily switch brands for many things, we don't shop sales, so I just needed to know the general price point. Occasionally, some items may go on sale, but we don't shop sales.
DeleteWe also NEVER use reward programs because of privacy concerns, so I'm sure we're just losing hundreds of dollars every year. *sigh* I wish we could just be normal.
I think I'm kind of in the middle with grocery shopping. I won't shop at the most expensive store, but I also don't like to shop at places like Aldi, which I find depressing. I do most of my shopping at our regular grocery store (Publix) because they have everything I need (I also won't go to two stores), the prices are good and they have a lot of sales, AND it's a pleasant place to shop.
ReplyDeleteIs there any way you could stock up on those things your husband needs from the old store, and go to the new store a couple times a month? Or would that not be worth it to you. There's something to be said for going to the same store and knowing where everything is all the time.
Well, I'm hesitant to add another store to our list. I would happily switch, but since we already go to Costco and the pharmacy in addition to our regular grocery store, I'm not convinced it would be worth it to switch stores, even if it is a more pleasant experience. Right now, it's also super crowded and I don't know where things are and I think it would be more frustrating to switch. We might re-evaluate in a year or so when the store is no longer brand new.
DeleteI went to Aldi ONCE and just found the labeling to be incomplete and I couldn't tell if things were GF or not. It's been probably a decade or so, so maybe I should take a look at it again.
Back in the day I used to try to do price tracking but I found that prices fluctuated so I could never say "store A will be the cheapest for the particular groceries that I need this week". The reality is that I hate both of the local chains equally so my shopping is based on whichever store that I'm least pissed off at the time.
ReplyDeleteRight! That's why I compared prices across a variety of products and not just one item at a time. Sure, items may go on sale at one store or another here and there, but overall, which has the better prices.
DeleteI desperately want to know what your local chains are and why they piss you off!
We haven't taken this detailed of an approach to this, but Phil knows how much the items on our list cost and knows where to get them. He always goes to Aldi and our big-box grocery store, Cub, every weekend. He buys as much as he can at Aldi and gets the rest at Cub. But there are things he knows are cheaper at Target (like Cheerios and JIF peanut butter) so I will buy those items as needed, typically on a day I'm working downtown as Target is only a block away. He will also have me order some things on Amazon, like spices are way cheaper there v any local grocery store. I don't LOVE using Amazon but figure it's worth it to buy a limited number of things there. That's where I get all of the flours for my GF flour mix!
ReplyDeleteI NEVER buy groceries from Amazon because I worry about quality. Is it safe to buy flour and the like from Amazon - you don't get things super close to or past their sell by dates? That could be a nice hack for getting GF flours and things.
DeleteWe were a Rainbow family when we lived in Minneapolis. Cub was always a bit too pricey for us. LOL. My husband lived right next to a Kowalski's by Lake of the Isles and I'll never forget the olive bar and how luxurious it felt to buy $5 worth of olives and a fancy pint of ice cream and feel like I was living my best life.
There are only 3 grocery stores in town. One is a Wal Mart, and I really don’t like the place. The 2nd one is on the small side and is a bit cramped and not exactly bright. Both stores are less expensive than the store that I choose, but mine is a good size, bright and airy, and has good selection. Not only that, but they actually pack your groceries although for a small order I will do it myself. Besides, mine has a very good points/rewards system.
ReplyDeleteHa at "only" three grocery stores. We moved to Nowhere from Next to Nowhere because there were NO grocery stores in Next to Nowhere. There are two regular grocery stores and two Mexican grocery stores in our town, but they have really inflated prices, so we go to a nearby city to get to a warehouse store and only shop in town in a "we need an onion" emergency. All of our grocery stores will pack your groceries, but we prefer to do it ourselves, so purposefully go the self-check!
DeleteThis story sounds fancy and fun to shop in - even if it's expensive. I guess you pay for the experience. Around here Aldi is definitely the cheapest, but they don't have a lot of stuff that we look for. Instead of going around to multiple stores my husband just goes to one middle-of-the-road store. If I were in charge of shopping though, I'd probably be doing what you did - I love a spreadsheet!
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm with you. We just don't have the patience for multiple stores. If we could take advantage of the prepared foods and restaurants in the fancypants store, maybe we'd consider switching. But middle-of-the-road is probably where we'll stay.
DeleteOkay, I found this fascinating.
ReplyDeleteI do the most shopping at Superstore (it's a Canadian gigantic store) and I go once per week; it has great prices and a loyalty program that means I save about $50/ month by collecting "points." The prices are really great which is important to me, since I buy a lot of groceries. The only thing I don't love is the bakery section, because sometimes they are out of totally normal things like whole wheat bread. I spent an average of $300-350 per shop.
I do a small amount of shopping at our Co-Op, which is a five minute walk from our house. The prices are quite a bit higher, but I go there to buy a few things I can't get at Superstore - sometimes the aforementioned bread - and meat things like roasts, because they are a local company that supports local small farmers. They also, strangely, have the best avocados ever. I spend less than $100 there every month or so.
I go to Costco every 2-3 weeks because they have really great quality things in huge quantities, which I need for my family. Those trips can run around $500, give or take $100.
I spend so much money on groceries, but I feel like I get the best deals for the things we need.
Yes! I should have clarified that the reason I didn't look for a lot of canned goods, like chickpeas, black beans, and coconut milk is because we get those at Costco, where we go once a month.
DeleteWe occasionally shop at stores in our town, but they're quite expensive and we try to use them only for emergencies.
Is it really called Superstore? That's a hilarious name to me!!
Is this a HyVee? Because I cannot understand WHY Hyvee is so expensive on random stuff. I usually choose junky old Pick n Save with a Costco and Whole Foods assist because the random Hyvee mark up makes me stabby.
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha!! YES! The new store is a Hy-Vee and our regular store is Woodman's. I have historically loved Hy-Vee because of their "natural foods" area, but this particular location didn't have one. All the GF stuff was spread throughout the store. I think even junky old Pick n Save is probably a nicer experience than our Woodman's where the flooring is hazardous and there are usually multiple items on our list that aren't in stock. HOWEVER, the GF selection at Woodman's is unbeatable.
DeleteI don't do strict price comparisons, but I kind of know what price I buy most things at and will stock up when they're on sale. Is there a particular reason you wouldn't go to two stores, when they're so close together? Only one vehicle maybe? Because I regularly go to two or three in a week, depending on what's closest when I'm heading home from work or what I mostly need (produce - Farm Boy, staples - Metro, etc). We gave up our Costco membership because I couldn't get organized enough and it just seemed to be costing too much, but my parents go sometimes and pick up stuff for us. We need so much less when the kids aren't here.
ReplyDeleteWe can barely keep ourselves from murdering people going to one store. I just don't see how we could emotionally cope with dealing with a whole additional set of people. Ha!
DeleteLol, misanthropy is a solid reason for anything, enough said.
DeleteI commend your dedication to price comparing!
ReplyDeleteI mostly shop at the big grocery store near me, though once a month or so I will go to the Asian grocery store, and then we do a Costco run every month or two. There is a smaller grocery store walking distance from our house which the Husband loves. It has a great deli section and they're the only grocery store around the sells alcohol (it was grandfathered in when the alcohol sales laws changed here.) I kind of feel like there's no one place that has a perfect combination of selection and price and quality,
I'm so stressed out by imagining all the logistics of what you buy at what store. We just have the one store and Costco and that's it! I'm in awe of your ability to keep straight all the different things at the difference places.
DeleteI love this detailed comparison! Bummer that the new store probably isn't going to work out, but I love that you have EVIDENCE to prove that! Very smart. I should make a list of my most-purchased items and do a price comparison at the three stores I shop at most frequently, just to see where I should REALLY be buying limes.
ReplyDeleteYes, we probably should all do this regularly. However, I really only took the time to do it because I was already in that city already and didn't have anything pressing to do that morning. It just takes time and I'm not sure how many people have the time to do it!
DeleteWe had a very small grocery store open up 450m from us and when it did I did do a quick check on the green groceries and they were comparable with our local duopoly supermarkets. They also have really good prices on gourmet fetta cheese and brie brands which we normally buy so that's a win. Generally I pay a bit more for a box a fruit and veggies from a fairfood coop in our city and I also go to a local bulk store and a local free-range butcher. That means that I don't usually do much shopping at the big supermarkets. My husband usually picks up what we need form the supermarket and if I need something in particular for dinner I will usually just pop round the corner to the small grocer to pick it up.
ReplyDeleteOh, you're living the dream. If the stores in our town could compete on price, I'd really never have to leave! Unfortunately, we'd go broke if we had to buy all our food from the local stores, so I'm super jealous of your situation!
DeleteI had no idea, but now I DO know that you Are That Person! LOL. Good for you doing all the leg work so you know. I'd say having better produce is worth the extra money, but if they don't have a lot of your 'daily needs' then it's not that great for you.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think my husband would have jumped ship to the new store, even with a 10% increase if I'd been able to find all our staples. I'll be curious to see if the new store can maintain its clean, sparkly, good produce ways as time goes on!
DeleteThis is fascinating! I should make the time to do a price comparison like this between my regular grocery store (Publix) and places like Aldi, Walmart, and Trader Joe's. (I have a wealth of options. I am so spoiled!) I am sure it would be cheaper to shop elsewhere but Publix is just so convenient! Ahhh.
ReplyDeleteOh, doing a price comp of four stores sounds exhausting! It would be interesting to know the results, though!
DeleteI love that you did that. I would definitely be the person who does a price comparison (in fact, I shop at three different stores to get the best deals)... I cannot fathom how the SAME item costs something different at different stores (I know how that works, but it doesn't make sense to me that I have to hunt down the most affordable option).
ReplyDeleteYes, I am unwilling to go to multiple stores at this point, so it really has to be about what's generally more reasonably price! I envy your patience that you're willing to go to more than one, though!
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