Local 6 news in Central Florida is accusing Walmart of setting their prices for sugar and other “staples” by demographic — charging more in stores where the population isn’t as wealthy as other neighborhoods. Walmart’s spokesperson claims to be offended by this accusation.
Local 6 says:
“When we see that a nearby competitor might temporarily lower a price on an item, our stores have the authority to adjust their price lower. This can happen in a very small vicinity of stores,” the company said in a statement to Local 6.
However, the Problem Solvers found that the prices concerned were not temporary as Wal-Mart described, but consistent over a period of at least two months.
Barnaby [a consumer who reported the price differences] said she thinks that Wal-Mart is charging more for the same products in poorer neighborhoods than in neighborhoods with higher incomes.
“It disgusts me that the people who can least afford to buy the food have to pay more money than everyone else does,” Barnaby said.
That’s a serious accusation and the Problem Solvers probed further, Cooper reported.
First, Cooper looked at the most recent census data, which showed the median household income is highest in Apopka — where the prices were the lowest, compared to incomes in Mt. Dora and Clarcona/Pine Hills where the prices were higher.
Cooper brought that data to Wal-Mart’s attention and a spokeswoman for the company said she was offended by the suggestion that the company was charging more in poorer neighborhoods.
She insisted that Wal-Mart does not price by demographic, that it remains the low price leader in every market — and that the three stores we visited represent entirely different markets with different sets of competition, Cooper reported.
But when the Problem Solvers checked the competition, they did not find a similar pattern of pricing, Cooper said.They visited Publix stores in the Windermere/Ocoee area, the Rosemont neighborhood of Orlando, and Altamonte.
The prices of the sugar, condensed milk and asparagus were consistent at all three stores. Visits to different Winn-Dixie stores generated the same results, according to Cooper.
Here are the prices they checked:
Sugar
$2.38 Mt. Dora
$2.36 Clarcona/Pine Hills
$1.76 Apopka
Condensed Milk
$1.54 Mt. Dora
$1.56 Clarcona/Pine Hills
$1.04 Apopka
Asparagus
$2.42 Mt. Dora
$2.54 Clarcona/Pine Hills
$1.86 Apopka
Congratulations, Central Florida. You’ve realized that Walmart’s pricing is shady and inconsistent.
Wal-Mart Price Discrepancies Investigated [Local 6] (Thanks, pattie-anne!)
(Photo: RowJimmy )
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I’ve noticed the complete opposite, at least in the past. The richer neighborhoods always had higher prices for things like milk. Not that it was a huge difference, but a nickel to a dime higher with every gallon I’m sure eventually makes a nice pile of change.
The WalMart I shop at is in a richer area of Central Florida… but I’m getting about sick of “Rollbacks” that only last a few weeks before they roll right back up to the original price. A sale is a SALE and a “Rollback” insinuates something a little more permanent. What I can pick out particularly is 12 packs of canned soda. They were $4.78 and then a “Rollback” to $2.50. Two weeks later they were right back to $4.78.
Since Publix was used as a “virtuous” comparison, I thought I’d share my findings about them.
When I lived in Columbus, GA, two Publix stores were built. One, in a high-end “prestigious” location, and one in a more established, but decidedly lower status area. The store at the high-end area was bigger.
Anyway, the prices were identical. But, the service was far, far, better at the “rich” store. I asked the managers at each store about this and they explained, without apology, the volume of business and the average profit per check, was much greater at the “rich” store. Thus, much more labor cost was justified.
Kind of the “shrink wrap” solution when it comes to labor cost, wouldn’t you say? Same cost, less service.
There are a ton of factors here like: Was said store forced to make a donation to local community groups in exchange for being allowed to build. Were there city taxes in play in that community that aren’t in play in other communities. The same goes for gas. Why do gas prices vary widely among same chain of stations all throughout the city? Yes Walmart could be very wrong here but there could also be a lot more reasons than just Walmart is trying to screw poor people.
One thing not mentioned in this case is Mt Dora is in the middle of nowhere IE it costs more to get the stuff there vs the other places which are literally off the freeway.