This didn’t tell me much that I didn’t already know, but I did learn some interesting tidbits. I stopped shopping for groceries at Walmart years ago because it was actually surprisingly expensive....
This didn’t tell me much that I didn’t already know, but I did learn some interesting tidbits. I stopped shopping for groceries at Walmart years ago because it was actually surprisingly expensive. The prices were about the same as, say, Albertson’s or Von’s. I know that they’ve done a lot to improve their grocery department in more recent years, though, so this is more of a factor of them being in a relatively inconvenient location for me now that there is better competition.
The choices of stores to represent seem a bit odd to me. For Southern California they include WinCo (a great company I wish more people knew about), but they only have a handful of locations in the region and none of them are near Central LA. They don’t include Smart & Final which has significantly more locations. With them excluded it seems ever so slightly unfair to include Costco who is playing a different game than the rest with their exclusively bulk-sized packaging, something that S&F at least partially tries to compete in with select bulk items in their stores.
I’ve said this a lot but here in SoCal the Asian markets have fresh products that are higher quality, freshness, and with better variety while generally having lower prices. The same is likely true at Hispanic grocers.
Tbh I shop for groceries almost exclusively by proximity. In practice I just don’t eat enough food for going large distances away to save dollars on an item to change very much. There’s also a lot...
Tbh I shop for groceries almost exclusively by proximity. In practice I just don’t eat enough food for going large distances away to save dollars on an item to change very much. There’s also a lot of other metrics I’m trying to optimize for in terms of food intake, like health. Or just choosing to cook at all.
Like, I could drive 30 minutes in normal traffic to get to Costco, so an hour round trip, so I can get eggs for $2, or I can go to the local incredibly overpriced supermarket that’s a 3 minute drive/ 10 minute walk and get eggs for $7/dozen, which is more than 3x the price but it takes me like two weeks to eat a dozen eggs, so would I rather spend $5 more to not have to drive for an hour? Kinda, yeah? If I eat out, it’s usually like $60-$80 so that’s a much bigger hit to the wallet anyway.
The price depends a lot per item. I don’t see a listing of the exact items that were purchased. I generally like Costco but I don’t think that produce is less expensive at Costco than at Walmart....
The price depends a lot per item. I don’t see a listing of the exact items that were purchased.
I generally like Costco but I don’t think that produce is less expensive at Costco than at Walmart. Also you often have to buy large quantities at Costco and it may go bad before you can use it all.
Also comparing Trader Joe’s, Costco, and even Aldi to supermarkets like Safeway is a little hard (for me) because I make trips to the smaller stores for specific items. For example I like Trader Joe’s peanut butter so I get that and maybe raw nuts there, but I don’t get much produce or dairy there.
Not a big fan of this analysis. It's a single data point each store from a single point in time in a single year. Seems like a big discount on an item or two (or coincidental lack thereof) might...
Not a big fan of this analysis. It's a single data point each store from a single point in time in a single year. Seems like a big discount on an item or two (or coincidental lack thereof) might make a difference in some rankings.
Ultimately, it seems like generally the stores that are more complete have the highest prices, aside from slightly specialty stores like Trader Joes and Whole Foods, which makes sense. More variety in items and range of quality, higher prices. Costco or Aldi may be cheap for some items, but I can't get all my grocery shopping done there and need to supplement with another grocery store. I usually go for a Chinese or Mexican grocery store or a discount grocery like Food4Less rather than something like Safeway though.
Safeway and Albertsons are the same company and I perceive Albertsons to be a lower quality store, so I'm surprised to see that Albertsons is more expensive. That company is pushing their store...
Safeway and Albertsons are the same company and I perceive Albertsons to be a lower quality store, so I'm surprised to see that Albertsons is more expensive.
That company is pushing their store brand more and more, thrive stopped carrying brands I like in favor of those. It's not like Trader Joe's, most of their genetics that I have tried are terrible.
We've moved from shopping at Safeway weekly to once every 4-6 weeks, usually only when we have a prescription to pick up and can grab things not available elsewhere. That's been replaced by an ethnic market and the local restaurant supply store, both of which cost considerably less.
On the pro side for Safeway, their pharmacy pricing is fantastic and they always automatically apply coupons when insurance won't cover something. They also have the lowest cost gas in the area.
In my area of Texas, HEB is known for low prices compared to the other, regular supermarkets. There is one Costco, but it is an hour drive to get there for me. HEB store brand products are...
In my area of Texas, HEB is known for low prices compared to the other, regular supermarkets. There is one Costco, but it is an hour drive to get there for me.
HEB store brand products are generally good quality too, and I can't say that about Walmart. There are always exceptions, but I've had good luck with HEB products overall.
My biggest gripe with HEB is that they will stop carrying a product I buy with no warning. Sometimes it seems like they want to direct traffic towards alternatives under their brand, but other times, there's just no explanation.
This didn’t tell me much that I didn’t already know, but I did learn some interesting tidbits. I stopped shopping for groceries at Walmart years ago because it was actually surprisingly expensive. The prices were about the same as, say, Albertson’s or Von’s. I know that they’ve done a lot to improve their grocery department in more recent years, though, so this is more of a factor of them being in a relatively inconvenient location for me now that there is better competition.
The choices of stores to represent seem a bit odd to me. For Southern California they include WinCo (a great company I wish more people knew about), but they only have a handful of locations in the region and none of them are near Central LA. They don’t include Smart & Final which has significantly more locations. With them excluded it seems ever so slightly unfair to include Costco who is playing a different game than the rest with their exclusively bulk-sized packaging, something that S&F at least partially tries to compete in with select bulk items in their stores.
I’ve said this a lot but here in SoCal the Asian markets have fresh products that are higher quality, freshness, and with better variety while generally having lower prices. The same is likely true at Hispanic grocers.
This tracks with my experience in Dallas. We do a lot of our shopping at Costco and Aldi's because they have some of the best value.
Tbh I shop for groceries almost exclusively by proximity. In practice I just don’t eat enough food for going large distances away to save dollars on an item to change very much. There’s also a lot of other metrics I’m trying to optimize for in terms of food intake, like health. Or just choosing to cook at all.
Like, I could drive 30 minutes in normal traffic to get to Costco, so an hour round trip, so I can get eggs for $2, or I can go to the local incredibly overpriced supermarket that’s a 3 minute drive/ 10 minute walk and get eggs for $7/dozen, which is more than 3x the price but it takes me like two weeks to eat a dozen eggs, so would I rather spend $5 more to not have to drive for an hour? Kinda, yeah? If I eat out, it’s usually like $60-$80 so that’s a much bigger hit to the wallet anyway.
You should mention: In the US. Many of us don't live in the US.
OK, ok, no need to rub it in :)
Stealing this.
/noise
The price depends a lot per item. I don’t see a listing of the exact items that were purchased.
I generally like Costco but I don’t think that produce is less expensive at Costco than at Walmart. Also you often have to buy large quantities at Costco and it may go bad before you can use it all.
Also comparing Trader Joe’s, Costco, and even Aldi to supermarkets like Safeway is a little hard (for me) because I make trips to the smaller stores for specific items. For example I like Trader Joe’s peanut butter so I get that and maybe raw nuts there, but I don’t get much produce or dairy there.
Not a big fan of this analysis. It's a single data point each store from a single point in time in a single year. Seems like a big discount on an item or two (or coincidental lack thereof) might make a difference in some rankings.
Ultimately, it seems like generally the stores that are more complete have the highest prices, aside from slightly specialty stores like Trader Joes and Whole Foods, which makes sense. More variety in items and range of quality, higher prices. Costco or Aldi may be cheap for some items, but I can't get all my grocery shopping done there and need to supplement with another grocery store. I usually go for a Chinese or Mexican grocery store or a discount grocery like Food4Less rather than something like Safeway though.
Safeway and Albertsons are the same company and I perceive Albertsons to be a lower quality store, so I'm surprised to see that Albertsons is more expensive.
That company is pushing their store brand more and more, thrive stopped carrying brands I like in favor of those. It's not like Trader Joe's, most of their genetics that I have tried are terrible.
We've moved from shopping at Safeway weekly to once every 4-6 weeks, usually only when we have a prescription to pick up and can grab things not available elsewhere. That's been replaced by an ethnic market and the local restaurant supply store, both of which cost considerably less.
On the pro side for Safeway, their pharmacy pricing is fantastic and they always automatically apply coupons when insurance won't cover something. They also have the lowest cost gas in the area.
In my area of Texas, HEB is known for low prices compared to the other, regular supermarkets. There is one Costco, but it is an hour drive to get there for me.
HEB store brand products are generally good quality too, and I can't say that about Walmart. There are always exceptions, but I've had good luck with HEB products overall.
My biggest gripe with HEB is that they will stop carrying a product I buy with no warning. Sometimes it seems like they want to direct traffic towards alternatives under their brand, but other times, there's just no explanation.