Food prices are up

[eliza61]

I love how everyone says that about Wal-Mart but they still shop there lol. I'm proud to say I LOVE Wal-Mart!

Can't say everyone. I have to be really hard pressed to go there. Usually I'm in an unknown area and it's the first thing I see. I hate Wal-Mart and how they treat their employees (I'm an ex employee). Food prices will have too triple before I shop there.
I will go 30 miles out of my way before shopping there.

I'm proud to say that I'm a Wal-Mart "escapee". Lol

 

[aliceindisneyland]

As much as I dislike shopping at Walmart (I'm not worried about their employment practices; it just makes me feel gross and I'm a Target girl!), their price matching feature is fantastic! I thought it would be a pain, but I just read off my list and the cashier changes everything. I also love that the price matching is very relaxed - it does not have to be exact match with a name brand like at Target.
IME though, Target is much cheaper than Walmart for household items/toiletries thanks to coupon stack and sales. I rarely buy anything but price matched produce at Walmart.

 

[Dakota731]

I hate Wal-Mart and how they treat their employees

Very general statement - my sister in law left Target several years ago to go to Walmart and makes a higher wage and has been promoted several times (she started as an hourly employee and is now in management). She said almost all employees get quarterly bonuses, and their health care is top of the line. I think a lot of the grumbling is union sentiment and media bias.

 

[melissalee]

I can't wait to move home and get back to my chest freezer. I love going to SAMs and buying "reduced for quick sale meat". DH and I are travel nurses in the Bay Area. Today for some fresh veggies and milk for the week was $40!! I still need to go to Ranch 99 to buy some fish. All I have in our apartment is a tiny freezer so I can't stock too much.

 

[MillauFr]

I think a lot of the grumbling is union sentiment and media bias.

Media bias? Hogwash. The following article is from Business Week. Not some left wing hatchet job from Huffington Post.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-12-13/labor-disputes-the-walmart-way

Walmart has used poor and sometimes illegal tactics to stop unions. They have only themselves to blame for all of the bad press they received. Not that I am a big supporter of unions but in this case I'll side with the unions.

By the way Target isn't an exactly labor friendly workplace either. Most of those people make very little. Costco seems like one of the few retailers that treats employees with respect.

 

[Dakota731]

Walmart has used poor and sometimes illegal tactics to stop unions.

We don't have a Costco anywhere near us, and speaking as someone from a town that has lost three huge manufacturing corporations in the past ten years due to unions, I'll side with Wal-Mart. Now many of those blue collar workers who once worked at these plants are now working at Wal-Mart because of their excessive union demands - ironic.

 

[manning]

Retirement plans are great.....especially when they are under funded.

 

[mom2my3kids]

My boys eat me out of house and home, and prices have gone way up or packages have been reduced in size and the price stays the same..I watch you tube videos on grocery hauls and the British have it made..seems like the food prices are so cheap there..

 

[wulfgeat]

I know that the government is not always honest, but according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics:

Many consumers observe that price increases are sometimes hidden in the form of quantity or size decreases, and they incorrectly presume that the CPI fails to capture this phenomenon.
http://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-...x-data-quality-how-accurate-is-the-us-cpi.htm

I think this is too closely watched by too many people with serious credentials from all spots on the political spectrum to be inaccurate as important as it is.

I am under no delusion that corporations are doing anything less than trying to maximize shareholder value. If that comes at the cost of the consumer, so be it. Costco may be on the better side of this given their stock performance as their profit is not as high as many investors would like it to be.

We try to buy sales as much as possible, but beef steaks and roasts and pork is becoming very rare on our menu. And my wife is allergic to onion, garlic and yeast. That sure does cut out a lot of options.

 

[Patience]

I'm a vegetarian and I now cook mainly vegetarian meals for my family. My husband complains sometimes but he doesn't complain about the grocery bill. I buy a lot of produce at Aldi's and at a local farm stand.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

I'm a vegetarian and I now cook mainly vegetarian meals for my family. My husband complains sometimes but he doesn't complain about the grocery bill. I buy a lot of produce at Aldi's and at a local farm stand.

I was going to recommend Aldi's for produce. I don't really buy much else there, but that place is awesome for cheap produce.

 

[eliza61]

Very general statement - my sister in law left Target several years ago to go to Walmart and makes a higher wage and has been promoted several times (she started as an hourly employee and is now in management). She said almost all employees get quarterly bonuses, and their health care is top of the line. I think a lot of the grumbling is union sentiment and media bias.

Dakota, I really do wish it was "media hype" No my grumbling comes from being an walmart employee. they treated us 1 step above slavery. Literally it was my first time being treated so inhumanely by an employee.

I was there almost a year, got hired for Christmas help then offered a permanent part time job. Now I wasn't interested in moving up because it was only supposed to be part time in order to not go into debt for Christmas. I was routinely forced to work extra hours without pay then threatened with firing if I did not work them, was told numerous times to dress a certain way to encourage more sales, told numerous times by my manager that my braids ( I had single plaits) were too "black". ( Yes, I filed a workplace intimidation complaint on that one) and numerous other ridiculous infractions.

I saw the same treatment, including ethnic "comments" towards many of the Hispanic employees.

NOW in the interest of full disclosure, all this happen almost 20 years ago. I have heard that it has changed mainly due to them getting the hinies sued off.
but sorry, lol, my experiences were not MEDIA hyped.

Unfortunately I'm the type of consumer that once you lose my business it's very hard for me to go back. I'm that way almost 90% of the time. My family had a not so stellar experience at Grand Floridian and have not stayed there since. I use to shop at Kohls but found the quality lacking, every time I read about the baragins folks get here with Kohl's cash I'm tempted to try them again but then change my mind.
After working there I simply cannot give them my money. I also want to say, I don't encourage people to NOt shop there. it's really just a personal experience type of deal

 

[yanilat]

Not me. We never shop at Walmart.

Same here, although I do love their pretzel bun, but since I make our own bread for kids sandwich, I hardly go there. They are cheap, sure, but we are paying the price somewhere..

Anyway, I usually managed to stock up on Post Cocoa Pebbles for 99 cents way back then and the chocolate taste is really chocolate..but as prices escalate, no more cereal , it is either eggs, oatmeal, leftover dinner...
Cocoa Pebbles also don't taste good anymore! It tastes fake...
Moon pies chocolate, Keeblers chocolate cookies also have that waxy fake chocolate taste that I hate...sigh...they increase the price and reduce the quality .....
Target brand Archer still has good cookies, but pricier though...

 

[bettymae1121]

I love how everyone says that about Wal-Mart but they still shop there lol. I'm proud to say I LOVE Wal-Mart!

Not me. I hate WM and refuse to step foot in one. Not because of their treatment of employees or how when WM moves in, small downtowns die etc. but just because it's a crummy shopping experience. Dirty stores, apathetic employees (at best), crowded aisles, and the whole place stinks like stale sub sandwiches due to the Subway franchise right up front.

That said, I'm blessed to have a good selection of stores near me, some even 24/7 like WM is. They are cleaner, better stocked (as in more room to maneuver), no stinky Subway smell, and last time I compared prices to WM, pretty similar in cost as well.

If I lived in an area with fewer options, I can't say that I wouldn't shop at a WM, nor do I judge people who have to, for whatever reason. But I'm very glad I'm not in that situation and that I have options.

 

[ChiCat]

They really seem to be a terrible company to work for but besides that, it's a hot mess. The lines are always awful, the employees are not friendly at all, you can't find anyone to help you around the store, it's dirty and crowded with stuff everywhere. Last time I was there they had some people who didn't work for Wal-Mart walking around asking about people's cable packages, trying to sell them something else and I overheard them say Wal-Mart knew they were there... what the heck??

Target and Costco can pretty much charge whatever they want and I'll pay just so I never have to deal with the frustration of Wal-Mart.

 

[havaneselover]

I'm starting to feel this way about Walmart. I'm a single mom and every $ counts, but I find if I'm smart I can do pretty well elsewhere. I buy as much as possible at Target although we don't have a Super Target (I use Cartwheel, buy Target gift cards at Kroger and get fuel points/6% back from Amex, and use Target coupons to keep the prices down). I also shop at Kroger and buy loss leaders at a few other stores (Martins, Food Lion). Everything is in a 1 mile radius, so I'm not inconvenienced too much.

Most of the cashiers at Walmart are rude, it's filthy, and the customers are oblivious. My money is tight, but my time is precious.

 

[tvguy]

Interestingly enough 'SUPERMARKETS, INC" re-ran tonight on CNBC. While it was produced 2 years ago, it really highlighted how grocery stores find ways to make us spend more than we intended to, or to buy the more profitable brands. So even when we think we are saving money, we may actually may have spent more than we needed to.

A couple interesting points the so called expert made about ways to cut your grocery bill.

1) Don't get a cart, get a hand basket, because "if you can't carry it, you don't need it." I found that interesting because most weeks at the regular grocery store, that is exactly what we do. However, that is after we have already bought a hand basket full of groceries at Walmart. We only buy meat and produce at the expensive grocery store. But 2 hand baskets will hold the food we need to feed 3 adults for a week.

2) Pay cash. As the guy put it "when you see the cash being spent, instead of just swiping a debit card or credit card, most folks will spend less:"

They did pick on Whole Foods (or Whole Paycheck, as they called it). But, even if their milk and other staple prices are the same as the other grocery stores, the minute you buy that $14 a pound salmon, they've boosted their profits.

 

[tvguy]

I'm starting to feel this way about Walmart. I'm a single mom and every $ counts, but I find if I'm smart I can do pretty well elsewhere. I buy as much as possible at Target although we don't have a Super Target (I use Cartwheel, buy Target gift cards at Kroger and get fuel points/6% back from Amex, and use Target coupons to keep the prices down). I also shop at Kroger and buy loss leaders at a few other stores (Martins, Food Lion). Everything is in a 1 mile radius, so I'm not inconvenienced too much.

Most of the cashiers at Walmart are rude, it's filthy, and the customers are oblivious. My money is tight, but my time is precious.

You have to vote with your money, so if you object to Walmart, more power to you. We are fortunate that our Walmarts are new and clean, and they have a lot of very nice employees inside.....hard to go down an aisle and not have someone ask you if they can help you. And most are full time with benefits.
The nice grocery store that pays 50% more has nobody in the aisles anymore, and their employees are cut back to 19 1/2 hours so they don't get any benefits.
Short answer is, working in a grocery store may no longer be a career, but a part time, or "while I am in school" job.

 

[mefordis]

Whole Foods carries a brand of creels that tastes like the popular cereals
We ate years ago. They have some that taste just like the original cocoa pebbles
Pebbles, plus others!

http://threesisterscereal.com

Same here, although I do love their pretzel bun, but since I make our own bread for kids sandwich, I hardly go there. They are cheap, sure, but we are paying the price somewhere..

Anyway, I usually managed to stock up on Post Cocoa Pebbles for 99 cents way back then and the chocolate taste is really chocolate..but as prices escalate, no more cereal , it is either eggs, oatmeal, leftover dinner...
Cocoa Pebbles also don't taste good anymore! It tastes fake...
Moon pies chocolate, Keeblers chocolate cookies also have that waxy fake chocolate taste that I hate...sigh...they increase the price and reduce the quality .....
Target brand Archer still has good cookies, but pricier though...

 

[Dakota731]

Dakota, I really do wish it was "media hype" No my grumbling comes from being an walmart employee.

I'm sure each store is different depending upon management like any company. I'm only going by what my sister in law says. She's been promoted several times and makes good money and has great health benefits.

how when WM moves in, small downtowns die etc.

It's very interesting to me that when Target moves into a town, there are no protests, even though they often pay less than Walmart and don't offer health care for part-timers. They are a big box store who puts ma and pa stores out of business, but I think because they have a cooler upscale image, nothing is ever said.