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Nov 24, 2008 5:29 pm US/Central
Where To Get The Best Deals On Groceries
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
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Bags of groceries in shopping cart, photo from July 5, 2002.
AP
Just in time for Thanksgiving, we've put North Texas grocery chains to the test, again!
Just like we did in May, we're comparing prices for some of the most popular items on your list. Have they gone up or down in the last six months? The CBS 11 Money Savers hit the stores to find out.
This time, we teamed up with four moms: Paula Bauer in Tarrant County, Misti Floyd in Denton County, Brook Gorman in Dallas County and Brandy Addison in Collin County. We shopped at Kroger, Tom Thumb, Wal-Mart and Target using
the same shopping list we used in May:
Original 20-item Shopping List:One Gallon of Store-Brand Whole Milk
One Dozen Store Brand Large Grade A Eggs
64 oz. Tropicana No Pulp Orange Juice
Land O Lakes Salted Butter
10 pack of Oscar Meyer Weiners
Mrs. Baird's Large White Bread
18 oz. Jif Creamy Peanut Butter
18 oz. Smucker's Concord Grape Jelly
46 oz. Heinz Fridge Door Ketchup
Store Brand Hot Dog Buns
2 Liter Coca Cola
1 pound of 80/20 Ground Beef
1 head of iceberg Lettuce
14 oz. box of Cheerios
14.5 oz. box of Family Size Kraft Mac & Cheese
10 oz. bag of Tostitos Scoops
32 oz. Windex Glass Cleaner
64 load Tide 2x Ultra laundry detergent
18 lb. bag of Purina One Chicken/Rice Formula dog food
40 count Huggies Supreme Gentle Care Diapers #2
In May, a gallon of whole milk cost $3.49 at Tom Thumb, but now it's down to $2.99. It's also 50 cents cheaper at Wal-Mart where it now sells for $2.50.
A dozen large grade A eggs cost $3.69 at Tom Thumb stores six months ago. Now they're $3.19. You can buy eggs at Wal-Mart for just $1.43 which is down seven cents from May.
Wal-Mart also cut the price of Land O' Lakes Butter which now sells for $2.00, down from $3.24 in May. At Target, however, the price jumped 20 cents from $3.24 to $3.44. Daniel Howard, professor of marketing at Southern Methodist University, says the price drop for some items is simple: there's more product to sell.
"It just has to do with the complexity of the different channels of distribution and supply and demand and availability of the products," Howard says.
The price of several items we surveyed in May went up. Mrs. Baird's Large white bread is now 20 cents more at Wal-Mart, Target and Tom Thumb. A 2-liter bottle of Coca Cola is up between 10 and 25 cents at each store. We also priced an 18 pound bag of Purina dog food. In May, it was $17.19 at Target and $20.89 at Kroger. Now, it's $18.19 at Target and $22.39 at Kroger. The biggest price increase, though, was for Tide Ultra 64-loads detergent. It was $10 at Target as a "Price Cut" item in May. Now, it's nearly $5 more at $14.99.
At checkout with all 20 items, Tom Thumb was still the most expensive, and overall, its prices were up 1% from May. Tom Thumb points out that our total did not factor in potential savings using its rewards card. This spreadsheet (link) does calculate those savings, which can be significant. Kroger's prices are also up 1% from May. Wal-Mart's prices grew 2% over six months. Target's prices, which we found to be the lowest in May, were now up 9%. This time, Wal-Mart is the low price winner. So, will grocery prices go down, and if so, when? Professor Howard says we should be patient.
"My prediction is that in all likelihood, grocery prices are going to decline, but don't hold your breath," says Howard. "It's not going to happen immediately."
We also added some Thanksgiving staples to our shopping list this time. If you're looking for a 5 pound bag of Russet Potatoes, Super Target is your best bet. They sell for $2.99 there.
A 5 pound bag of Gold's Flour sells for just $2.00 at Wal-Mart. Pillsbury Homestyle Dinner Rolls bake up for $1.43 at Wal-Mart. But for the main item, turkey, Tom Thumb takes the top spot. You can get a turkey for just 69 cents per pound with your Tom Thumb shopper's card.
We added these items for our Thanksgiving trip:48 oz. Wesson Vegetable Oil
Kraft Stove Top Stuffing
1 lb. Large Delicious Apples
30 oz. jar of Hellmann's Mayo
1 can of Starkist Chunk White tuna
33.9 oz. Folgers Coffee (Classic Roast)
1 can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup
1 Digorno Frozen Pizza (Pepperoni)
12 oz. Skinner Spaghetti
26 oz. Ragu Pasta Sauce
80 ct. Glad Tall Kitchen Bags
8 pack of Bounty Paper Towels
Dawn Direct Foam Dishwashing Soap
100 ct. Advil Tablets
13 oz. Garnier Fructis Shampoo
Crest Multicare Whitening Toothpaste
We've compiled a list of all 40 items we shopped for this time into
a spreadsheet so you can compare prices at each store. Using reward cards lowers the total price significantly at both Tom Thumb and Kroger. In some cases, it could save you $30.
A spokesperson for Kroger says: "Our retail prices are a function of the cost of the product from the manufacture. In terms of the price comparison, we believe your sample is too small. When we conduct price comparisons of our competitors we look at least 200 products to get an accurate view of total pricing. Also, Kroger does have a loyalty card which when presented reduces the retail price. More than 90% of our customers use our Kroger Plus Card. In addition, Kroger offers the doubling and tripling of manufacturers coupons. In many cases these national brands would have coupons available. Many of our competitors do not offer this coupon program. Kroger also has a large variety of the Kroger Brand products. These products are as good as or better than the national brands at a lower retail price. We are seeing that many customers have switched to the Kroger Brand to save money. In addition, Kroger offers coupons that can be downloaded directly to customers Kroger Plus Cards through our Kroger.com website. Kroger also offers $.10 off fuel with the purchase of either $100 in groceries, or $50 in gift cards or by filling two prescriptions in a Kroger pharmacy."
http://www.kroger.comA spokesman for Target says: "Target is committed to providing guests with exceptional value and low prices throughout our store, and we routinely shop our competitors to ensure we have the best prices reflected on our shelves."
http://www.target.comA spokeswoman for Wal-Mart says: "Our Every Day Low Price commitment is what customers know and depend on Wal-Mart for most -- so they can by the brands they want and need for the best price. We keep a careful check on prices in every market where we do business, and are an advocate for our customers when it comes to delivering the best value, from grocery to general merchandise. This year, our Operation Main Street program for the Holidays has been keenly focused on lowering the price on the right products at the right time -- every week this holiday season. Just last week we included a large number of new values for the Thanksgiving meal. Even after this weekend's Black Friday event, we've promised to keep adding new items at incredible savings. Our goal is to save consumers $200 million this year holiday season over and above what they already save at Wal-Mart. Customers can sign up for these weekly "savings alerts" via their cellular phone (for free of course) at #WMT or walmart.com/mobileinfo."
http://www.walmart.comA spokeswoman for Tom Thumb says: "Our Tom Thumb Reward Card price is the actual price paid by the extreme majority of our customers. Practically every single customer shops using their Reward Card to enjoy significant savings. The Reward Card program is how we put products on sale/promotion. If you do not take the Reward Card price into account, you would end up comparing, at least in some instances, our regular price vs. a competitor's sale price, which is an unfair, inaccurate comparison. During any one week, Tom Thumb offers more than 5,000 Tom Thumb Reward Card items across the store at significantly reduced special savings. We also provide our customers with substantial savings through our PowerPump gas reward program, which saves customers 10 cents per gallon for each accumulative $100 spent in our stores. We recently doubled that fuel reward to 20 cents for every $100 spent on our selection of more than 300 gift cards - whereby customers can accumulate rewards even to the point of receiving a free tank of gas."
http://www.tomthumb.com
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