Will the prices really go down?

[DCLMP]

This forum has never really been Disney specific. When I first lurked here a quarter century ago, people posted the best deals - not limited to Disney. And there were tons of threads on finding the best deals around WDW, like hotels and dining, and where to find hot coupons (on the Internet and around Orlando area). It was an invaluable resource that helped us visit WDW often. I miss those days.

But this thread is wondering if prices will come down. Our favorite brand coffee has been selling $2 to $4 more (sale pricing) for a 10 pack of k-cups. Some of this is inflation but much of it is the tariffs directly imposed on coffee. Now that those have been rescinded, I’m hopefully the price will come down - even if it’s just slightly. We will see.

I believe were headed into a recession. Those deals on hotels and dining may start coming back...not necessarily a good thing.

 

[tvguy]

The trend I find baffling is the growing spread in prices for the same products at different retailers.

>Why are roma tomatoes 92 cents a pound at Walmart and $2.99 a pound at the local chain store when they are the same quality from the same supplier.

>Why are avocados 60 cents each at Walmart, but $1.25 ON SALE at the chain grocery store, again, same quality from the same supplier.

> My favorite. Why is store brand non-fat milk $3.22 a gallon at Walmart, but $5.98 at the chain grocery store. The chain grocery store OWNS their own dairy, and they bottle Walmart milk locally!

> Why is regular gasoline $3.79 a gallon at ARCO, but $4.79 a gallon across the street at Chevron. Both are Top Tier gasolines.

 

[LAS2AMS]

The trend I find baffling is the growing spread in prices for the same products at different retailers.

>Why are roma tomatoes 92 cents a pound at Walmart and $2.99 a pound at the local chain store when they are the same quality from the same supplier.

>Why are avocados 60 cents each at Walmart, but $1.25 ON SALE at the chain grocery store, again, same quality from the same supplier.

> My favorite. Why is store brand non-fat milk $3.22 a gallon at Walmart, but $5.98 at the chain grocery store. The chain grocery store OWNS their own dairy, and they bottle Walmart milk locally!

> Why is regular gasoline $3.79 a gallon at ARCO, but $4.79 a gallon across the street at Chevron. Both are Top Tier gasolines.

In fairness, suppliers sell their produce in lots based upon various characteristics (mostly appearance, size and taste). Walmart buyers seek the best value; they are not buying the same lots as Kroger. The product Kroger sells is in theory better, but sometimes marginally so and often it’s handled so poorly during the chain that it may be even worse. Locally the big grocery chains are selling grapes for double the price as Aldi, same supplier, but the grapes at the big grocer are double the size and much sweeter.

Price discrepancies have always existed but are becoming more noticeable as the numbers get bigger. Gas prices in CA are ridiculous to begin with, but many chains gross profit on each gallon is higher than the raw national price. Crazy.

Knowing what things cost and where is a great tool to save $$ these days. For example, I’m equidistant between two franchise food locations (Farmer Boys). One location costs $5-$10 more for my family to eat than the other.

 

[tvguy]

In fairness, suppliers sell their produce in lots based upon various characteristics (mostly appearance, size and taste). Walmart buyers seek the best value; they are not buying the same lots as Kroger. The product Kroger sells is in theory better, but sometimes marginally so and often it’s handled so poorly during the chain that it may be even worse. Locally the big grocery chains are selling grapes for double the price as Aldi, same supplier, but the grapes at the big grocer are double the size and much sweeter.

Price discrepancies have always existed but are becoming more noticeable as the numbers get bigger. Gas prices in CA are ridiculous to begin with, but many chains gross profit on each gallon is higher than the raw national price. Crazy.

Knowing what things cost and where is a great tool to save $$ these days. For example, I’m equidistant between two franchise food locations (Farmer Boys). One location costs $5-$10 more for my family to eat than the other.

No idea about Kroger. The local chain here embarked on a "less than perfect produce" marketing plan about seven years ago to try and keep prices down. I can't tell any difference with the roma tomatoes. The last avocado I bought at the grocery store clearly was past it's prime compared to Walmart. My wife buys a lot of bagged salad and held off buying that at Walmart until she noticed the same brand at Walmart had a use by date a week longer than our regular grocery store. I think the issue is the produce is delivered straight to individual Walmart stores here, where the chain grocery store items are delivered to their central warehouse and then sent out to individual stores. I know the issue the produce manager was having at the local chain was the "boys at the warehouse" were not sending him the items he ordered. He had a devil of a time getting pumpkins from his warehouse.

 

[barkley]

The trend I find baffling is the growing spread in prices for the same products at different retailers.

>Why are roma tomatoes 92 cents a pound at Walmart and $2.99 a pound at the local chain store when they are the same quality from the same supplier.

>Why are avocados 60 cents each at Walmart, but $1.25 ON SALE at the chain grocery store, again, same quality from the same supplier.

> My favorite. Why is store brand non-fat milk $3.22 a gallon at Walmart, but $5.98 at the chain grocery store. The chain grocery store OWNS their own dairy, and they bottle Walmart milk locally!

> Why is regular gasoline $3.79 a gallon at ARCO, but $4.79 a gallon across the street at Chevron. Both are Top Tier gasolines.

In fairness, suppliers sell their produce in lots based upon various characteristics (mostly appearance, size and taste). Walmart buyers seek the best value; they are not buying the same lots as Kroger. The product Kroger sells is in theory better, but sometimes marginally so and often it’s handled so poorly during the chain that it may be even worse. Locally the big grocery chains are selling grapes for double the price as Aldi, same supplier, but the grapes at the big grocer are double the size and much sweeter.

Price discrepancies have always existed but are becoming more noticeable as the numbers get bigger. Gas prices in CA are ridiculous to begin with, but many chains gross profit on each gallon is higher than the raw national price. Crazy.

Knowing what things cost and where is a great tool to save $$ these days. For example, I’m equidistant between two franchise food locations (Farmer Boys). One location costs $5-$10 more for my family to eat than the other.

a couple of factors that can play into food prices as well as other goods are-

volume purchasing

individual store's price point depending on how they market themself.

a store like Walmart buys large volume so it tends to buy at a lower per unit price so they can offer lower prices BUT Walmart also embraces and promotes that they are a lower price point seller to attract consumers in. another large grocery chain (like Safeway/Albertsons) may get comparable volume discounts but while they have ads with 'specials' they tend to not promote themselves as the least expensive option. Where it gets interesting (at least to me ) is a company like Kroger's b/c they own a variety of different store chains (I believe 19 at this point) so they have the buying power to negotiate low per unit prices but they choose to promote some of their stores as 'nicer' and higher end while down the street is another in their pocket that's considered 'bargain basement'-and the prices for identical items are grossly different.

I see this allot with pantry staples so I was curious and just did a quick search of my local stores for an identical item/size (none of these prices are sales)-

hunts tomato sauce 29 oz-

walmart-$2.17
local employee owned small chain (marketed as nice but 'affordable')-$2.99
Kroger owned (marketed as above average experience)-$2.99
safeway (tries to market as nicer store in our area)-$3.49
local but private owned (markets itself as 'nicest' in region)-$3.49.

that's a pretty significant price difference but I don't think anyone that chooses to shop at the local/private would bat an eye at paying almost 38% more for that item b/c that chain presents itself in a certain manner and I know folks that shop there b/c they wouldn't think of shopping anywhere else (at Safeway you just kick yourself for not having gotten it when they had it on sale/the majority of Safeway shoppers I know strictly shop the sales/which in reality are still often higher prices than they could get at Walmart or our local employee owned chain).

 

[tvguy]

a couple of factors that can play into food prices as well as other goods are-

volume purchasing

individual store's price point depending on how they market themself.

a store like Walmart buys large volume so it tends to buy at a lower per unit price so they can offer lower prices BUT Walmart also embraces and promotes that they are a lower price point seller to attract consumers in. another large grocery chain (like Safeway/Albertsons) may get comparable volume discounts but while they have ads with 'specials' they tend to not promote themselves as the least expensive option. Where it gets interesting (at least to me ) is a company like Kroger's b/c they own a variety of different store chains (I believe 19 at this point) so they have the buying power to negotiate low per unit prices but they choose to promote some of their stores as 'nicer' and higher end while down the street is another in their pocket that's considered 'bargain basement'-and the prices for identical items are grossly different.

I see this allot with pantry staples so I was curious and just did a quick search of my local stores for an identical item/size (none of these prices are sales)-

hunts tomato sauce 29 oz-

walmart-$2.17
local employee owned small chain (marketed as nice but 'affordable')-$2.99
Kroger owned (marketed as above average experience)-$2.99
safeway (tries to market as nicer store in our area)-$3.49
local but private owned (markets itself as 'nicest' in region)-$3.49.

that's a pretty significant price difference but I don't think anyone that chooses to shop at the local/private would bat an eye at paying almost 38% more for that item b/c that chain presents itself in a certain manner and I know folks that shop there b/c they wouldn't think of shopping anywhere else (at Safeway you just kick yourself for not having gotten it when they had it on sale/the majority of Safeway shoppers I know strictly shop the sales/which in reality are still often higher prices than they could get at Walmart or our local employee owned chain).

I watched a show on how Walmart works with their suppliers to lower cost and add value. I think it was on CNBC. The example I recall was not with some small supplier, it was General Mills. Walmart asked for a lower price on certain cereals. General Mills said they could not do it. Walmart showed them that if they made the box shorter by like 2 inches, they could save enough money on cardboard and shipping that they could not only lower the price to Walmart, but could put 2 more ounces of cereal to make the Walmart version a better value. It is odd to put a box of cereal from Walmart next to one from another store and see it is smaller, but look at the label and it has more in it.

 

[LAS2AMS]

No idea about Kroger. The local chain here embarked on a "less than perfect produce" marketing plan about seven years ago to try and keep prices down. I can't tell any difference with the roma tomatoes. The last avocado I bought at the grocery store clearly was past it's prime compared to Walmart. My wife buys a lot of bagged salad and held off buying that at Walmart until she noticed the same brand at Walmart had a use by date a week longer than our regular grocery store. I think the issue is the produce is delivered straight to individual Walmart stores here, where the chain grocery store items are delivered to their central warehouse and then sent out to individual stores. I know the issue the produce manager was having at the local chain was the "boys at the warehouse" were not sending him the items he ordered. He had a devil of a time getting pumpkins from his warehouse.

I used Kroger because it’s the largest pure grocery chain in the country, but you can substitute it with any large local or regional chain — traditional grocers buy higher rated produce.

I use to carryon my family’s traditional of frugality. All my produce came from 99 Cent Only and local ethnic grocers, as they had better prices than the Big 3 here (Ralph’s-owned by Kroger, Albertsons and Vons-the latter two have since merged). The I got a job at a firm that maintained fruit and veggies for snacking, and all was purchased from legacy Whole Foods (Amazon has changed its business model).

Legacy Whole Foods bought the best of the best. The best sweet potatoes are grown in California, but these don’t make it out of the region because logistics play a role in purchasing. North Carolina harvests 3x to 4x more sweet potatoes than CA, and they’re sold at a far lower cost so if you live in the East, that’s what your local grocery will likely sell (cheaper in cost with less transportation). But you could find CA sweet potatoes at NC Whole Foods, because they sold the best of the best.

I’m not a foodie but once I got acclaimed to Whole Foods, I could tell the difference. Ironically we never shipped there ourselves but we do go to Albertsons and Ralphs now, since it’s a good comprise. Went to Aldi not that long ago and it’s just… bad.

 

[LAS2AMS]

a couple of factors that can play into food prices as well as other goods are-

volume purchasing

individual store's price point depending on how they market themself.

a store like Walmart buys large volume so it tends to buy at a lower per unit price so they can offer lower prices BUT Walmart also embraces and promotes that they are a lower price point seller to attract consumers in. another large grocery chain (like Safeway/Albertsons) may get comparable volume discounts but while they have ads with 'specials' they tend to not promote themselves as the least expensive option. Where it gets interesting (at least to me ) is a company like Kroger's b/c they own a variety of different store chains (I believe 19 at this point) so they have the buying power to negotiate low per unit prices but they choose to promote some of their stores as 'nicer' and higher end while down the street is another in their pocket that's considered 'bargain basement'-and the prices for identical items are grossly different.

I see this allot with pantry staples so I was curious and just did a quick search of my local stores for an identical item/size (none of these prices are sales)-

hunts tomato sauce 29 oz-

walmart-$2.17
local employee owned small chain (marketed as nice but 'affordable')-$2.99
Kroger owned (marketed as above average experience)-$2.99
safeway (tries to market as nicer store in our area)-$3.49
local but private owned (markets itself as 'nicest' in region)-$3.49.

that's a pretty significant price difference but I don't think anyone that chooses to shop at the local/private would bat an eye at paying almost 38% more for that item b/c that chain presents itself in a certain manner and I know folks that shop there b/c they wouldn't think of shopping anywhere else (at Safeway you just kick yourself for not having gotten it when they had it on sale/the majority of Safeway shoppers I know strictly shop the sales/which in reality are still often higher prices than they could get at Walmart or our local employee owned chain).

In fairness, Walmart uses an everyday low price model whereas traditional grocers use a high-low model. If you game the high-low model (buy only the stuff on sale), you’ll come out ahead in the long run. Obviously it’s not a practical model for many.

 

[barkley]

I watched a show on how Walmart works with their suppliers to lower cost and add value. I think it was on CNBC. The example I recall was not with some small supplier, it was General Mills. Walmart asked for a lower price on certain cereals. General Mills said they could not do it. Walmart showed them that if they made the box shorter by like 2 inches, they could save enough money on cardboard and shipping that they could not only lower the price to Walmart, but could put 2 more ounces of cereal to make the Walmart version a better value. It is odd to put a box of cereal from Walmart next to one from another store and see it is smaller, but look at the label and it has more in it.

too funny-i was just pointing out to dh earlier today how you can't tell by the size of the cereal boxes we have (unopened) which has the larger contents-the Walmart ones are smaller but have more product than the larger boxes purchased elsewhere.

I’m not a foodie but once I got acclaimed to Whole Foods, I could tell the difference.

we have none near us but (and I don't know if it's changed post COVID) when we did their deli/bakery/prepared hot items were like nothing anyone else offered and that was a huge draw. that said-i was surprised recently when I needed to stock up on some canned goods and was price comparing between Walmart, a couple of other stores and on amazon only to find that the whole foods brand is sold on amazon for far less than whole foods sells it on their shelves for. I get that they are owned by the same company but it seems odd that there's such a significant price difference (right now the product is $1.19 per can at whole foods/$.93 on amazon but if you subscribe you can save another 5% or just buy 4 cans and save an additional 10%). if I were a fan of whole food non perishables I would likely be getting them from Amazon.

In fairness, Walmart uses an everyday low price model whereas traditional grocers use a high-low model. If you game the high-low model (buy only the stuff on sale), you’ll come out ahead in the long run. Obviously it’s not a practical model for many.

the high-low model works for maybe one of the stores around us but there are a handful of items we use regularly that never go on sale and Walmart just underprices them so much i'm not prone to buying elsewhere. safeway used to be a good regular place to use this model at but in recent years (dating back to pre-covid) they would claim something was on a big sale with a large percentage off on the price but they would escalate what they claimed their 'regular price' was such that it was little to no actual savings. they are notorious for doing this with meat items (even before prices sky-rocketed).

I just sit with my list and price compare between 2 or 3 stores, amazon and Walmart and set up my orders. grocery pickup has made me less apt to impulse buy which greatly keeps down our monthly expenditures.