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May 13, 2008 8:53 pm US/Central
CBS 11 News Compares Grocery, Drug Store Prices
(CBS 11 / TXA 21)
What would it take for you to change where you go grocery shopping? What if you could save $20 or more every time you shopped? CBS 11 News put the most popular grocery stores to the test to find out which one has the best prices. You might be surprised to learn who came out on top.
How do you pick where you shop for your groceries? Some shoppers say they pick one store over another because of what it offers. Others say it depends on what they need that day. Whatever your reason, you're probably pretty picky when it comes to choosing somewhere to shop.
You're not alone. Dan Howard, the chair of the marketing department at the Cox School of Business at SMU, says the American shopper is pretty fickle. He says to find the best deals; you've got to do your homework.
"When you compare stores, you can save money," Howard says. "Because, in fact stores do differ in price."
With grocery prices on the rise, Howard says people need to start studying. "If there's any time to get smart about shopping, it's now."
CBS 11 News set out to do the homework for you at four popular stores - Kroger, Tom Thumb, Super Target, and the Wal-Mart Supercenter. We shopped each store in Collin, Denton, Dallas, and Tarrant counties buying the same 20 items - including milk, bread, hot dogs, cereal, and laundry detergent. The prices we found were quite different.
CBS 11 compared store brand eggs. At Tom Thumb, we found a dozen store brand grade A large eggs for $3.69, but go to Wal-Mart and you can get a dozen for $1.50.
The same goes for hot dogs. At both Kroger and Tom Thumb, Oscar Meyer Weiners sell for $3.49, but at Wal-Mart and Target, you'll only spend $1.50.
What about beef? 80% fat free ground beef at Kroger was $3.49 per pound. Wal-Mart and Target were much less, checking in between $2.39 and $2.54 per pound.
Everyone needs laundry detergent. Target, by far, had the best price for Tide Ultra. The 64 load size sold for $10, compared to $16.19 at all four Kroger stores.
Milk prices also varied. It cost $3.49 for a gallon of Vitamin D-whole milk at most Kroger and Tom Thumb stores, but $3.00 at Target and Wal-Mart.
The price for Tropicana 64-ounce orange juice also varied greatly. The Dallas Wal-Mart store sold it for $2.98, but it was much higher, $4.49, at all four Tom Thumb stores.
CBS 11 bought a head of iceberg lettuce at Kroger in Plano for $1.29, but we got it for only $.99 cents at the Plano Super Target.
Cheerios cost $3.79 at the Arlington and Plano Tom Thumb stores, but it was a $1.30 less at the Wal-Mart locations.
When we finally hit the checkout and tallied all 20 items, Super Target was the surprising winner in all four counties. Click here to see the entire shopping comparison (.xls file).
The average total at all four Target stores was $75.84, cheaper than Wal-Mart which averaged $77.31. Kroger came in third at $95.13, and Tom Thumb had the highest average total at $99.60... almost $24 more than Target. That means a typical family, shopping at Target could save hundreds of dollars over the course of a year. Even our marketing expert was shocked. "When Wal-Mart says "always lowest," generally I have found that that's true," Howard says. "Now you're telling me that you can actually get better deals at Target? Yeah, I guess I am somewhat surprised." CBS 11 also looked at those grocery store discount cards at Kroger and Tom Thumb. While the cards shaved as much as $10 from the total bill, it still wasn't enough savings to catch the two super giants. "If you're really an economically-minded shopper, Wal-Mart and Target are the places to go," says Howard. Both Kroger and Tom Thumb say they have double and triple coupon offers along with their reward cards to help you save even more money. You can also save more by printing out coupons for the various stores and products. Check out the 'Related Link' on the right side of the page to help you do that. In a price comparison of 14 items, Walgreens averaged the lowest price, but the difference was small - 35 cents. We also found CVS had some cheaper cosmetics, but Walgreens had better prices on some medicinal items.
Click here to see the price comparisons (.xls file).
Some shoppers say it's not the price in the store that matters, but how much money they're putting in their gas tanks that counts. Driving out of your way for a deal could end up costing you more.
CVS released the following statement:
CVS/pharmacy strives to be competitive in the prices it charges for the products we sell. We regularly monitor the prices other retailers charge in order to stay competitive in a market.
Our customers understand the value of the superior pharmacy service CVS/pharmacy provides through our very competitive pricing, our ExtraCare loyalty card that rewards customers with ExtraBucks and other offers earned by shopping with us, more convenient neighborhood locations with drive-thru pharmacy window service, and more 24-hour and extended-hour stores, a combination that others can't match.
We are also proud to be the industry leader in providing high-quality beauty and skincare products at affordable prices.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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