We don’t quite know what to say about this Mid-Atlantic regional grocery store bakery price war. It is intense, baby.
(Thanks, Chris!)
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This must be in Pennsylvania. Only Pennsylvania Dutch would get excited over a 1¢ savings.
/ is of Pennsylvania Dutch descent
// Had Dutchie relatives who would drive across town to save 2¢ a gallon on gas.
@Quake ‘n’ Shake: You know how PA rolls when it comes to baked goods!
@bloggerX: +1 shoofly pie
@Quake ‘n’ Shake: +1 Manure piles on side of road.
@Quake ‘n’ Shake: Thanks!!
@Quake ‘n’ Shake: I know people who do that for gas….spend a buck in gas to save 20 cents.
@RonDiaz: Isn’t it the other way around…you spend money in the store and they give you X cents off per tank?
@nstonep: No, he means that you waist $1 of gas driving across town to save 20 cents on gas from the other gas station.
@RonDiaz: People will spend as much as it takes to save a buck.
@RonDiaz: Yeah…. I know plenty personally who have done that. They have an update on their phone that shows which stations have the lowest prices. One specifically I remember she picked me up and we were going the complete opposite way of the gas station that she saw on her phone. She decides we should drive a good 4 miles to the station just so we can drive EIGHT miles back the other way. If there’s no more than a 50cent difference and if the station isn’t within a mile of where i’m at, then I won’t even bother if there’s already a station closer to me.
A penny saved is a penny earned?
@changed my name: Not if you’re spending more than penny to save a penny.
I’m curious whether the rounding up of the penny on sales tax* negates the savings or not.
* assuming it’s a state that charges tax on bread
@Applekid: Nope, no tax on most food here (PA)
@catnapped: Yep, that’s the one of the (few) things I miss about PA. Stupid NC food tax…
@pecan 3.14159265: Just priced that way HEY-OH!
@PSUSkier: What is it these days? It’s getting ever so close to 10%, is it not?
@Con Seannery:
Pa sales tax is currently 6%, but almost all food and clothing is exempt!
(and, if you use any coupons, the tax must be calculated on the final sales total AFTER the discount. CVS got their hand slapped for that with those DigitalTV transition coupons)
@Applekid: I dunno, but I’ve never seen any groceries at Wegmans, bakery or otherwise, that are an even dollar amount. Here, those baguettes are usually $1.79 or $1.99.
Begun, the Price Wars have.
OTOH, it’s good for business, no?
$1.99 and $2 are pretty good prices! Whole Foods charges $2.35, those jerks.
@pecan 3.14159265: Yes but their buffalo wings are pretty damn tasty!
@pecan 3.14159265: Isn’t everything at Whole Foods organic? That may account for the extra cost.
@karmaghost: Here’s your organic toothbrush it’s made of a birch branchling and sun dried horse’s mane (for the bristles obviously).
@karmaghost: No, not everything at Whole Foods is organic.
@pecan 3.14159265: But, they don’t use artificial colors or preservatives. Its impressive what kind of crap goes into the stuff at Giant’s bakery. I’ll pay the .35 to save my liver the trouble.
I wonder how much of this is corporate fueled…
IE. Headquarters says “we must beat prices on these 100 specific items. Go across town and check the prices for those 100 items and put up signage” And whatever formula/pricing sheet they use as long as X
@bhr: You’re actually close to spot on…in markets that have a Wegman’s, Giant often pulls this sort of thing. They don’t even have to have someone go around since Wegman’s posts their prices on their website.
Even more disgusting, another Giant location that’s only a few miles away but in a different pricing zone will quite often have a higher price (sometimes substantially)
@bhr:
Legally, at least in my state, one must actually buy the product (and keep the product) to showcase the competitors products.
Hence there would always be a shopping cart of food in the front of the store with signage about the prices and date of the transaction.
Date is the critical part of the law because a store can and will change their prices so you must show the date of the transaction.
How many loaves of bread do they have to sell to make up for the printing costs of that sign?
@lehrdude: Less than one, bread is cheap to make
@yasth: You should see some of the prices on Giant’s gourmet breads…$5 or $6 a loaf isn’t unheard of.
I don’t see how they can turn profit on that if they undercut the competition that low…
@Con Seannery: Actually it seems like it is a store brand that is cheaper. Store brands are usually cheaper than name brands and stores still seem to make money on them. Since in this case the undercutting is pretty manageable ($2 compared to $1.99) I would assume the store is still turning profit despite the undercutting.
@RPHP: Sarcasm remains as unprofitable as ever. But boy, is it fun!
Is the bread Kosher?
That’s the Fairsley difference.
This HAS to be MY Giant. This is a regular occurrence. Anything they can do to compete with Wegmans.
@Chaoss: Agreed, This has to be one of the Royersford Giants. Wegmans just opened 2 miles away from these 2 Giants, and I’m sticking with Giant. Wegmans is WAY overpriced on most things.
@pmcpa4: @pmcpa4: I really have to disagree with you for the most part on the pricing at Wegmans. Yes, there are items that cost more at Wegman’s than they do down at the ShopRite. But generally, those items are higher quality or brand than the same item you could buy at any other store. The main reason is variety. At a Giant or ShopRite, they will only offer one type of hamburger bun. That pack of buns will run you $.99. Wegmans will offer that same type of bun at the same price, but will offer several other styles such as whole wheat, whole grain, kaiser, hard roll, etc that come in at a higher price. The trick is that Wegman’s will make the regular hamburger buns look less appealing than the same type you get at Giant, therefore, you spend more to get the higher quality product.
If you make a list, check the sales paper and stick to only the items you need, you will definitely SAVE money by shopping at Wegman’s. My problem is that I find myself buying things I don’t really need or gourmet items like the 17 year old Balsamic Vinegar I bought last time or the aged herbed french goat cheese.
@pmcpa4: We’ve ended up saving between $8-$10 per trip by shopping at Wegmans (Mechanicsburg) over Giant, once you take into consideration the Wegmans coupons.
@Chaoss: My Giant has it out for Harris Teeter. Or sometimes Safeway.
@Chaoss: lol I was thinking it was my Giant, in Phoenixville. Since the Wegmans opened we’ve been getting coupons for Giant, Target, and Wegmans…it’s great!
I’d probably pay $10 for Wegmans’ baguette if it meant that I didn’t have to shop at Giant. If only Jewel and Dominicks would at least try to do what Wegmans does, then maybe I wouldn’t curse them every time I step foot in one of their stores.
@Wes_Sabi: The Giant stores I’ve seen in Virginia are pretty good. I’ve seen a few crappy ones, but overall, they’re very bright and clean. I’m wondering whether the Giant pictured in the photo is a different chain altogether, because the logo for my local Giant stores is this: [kiwanis.avenue.org] and [activerain.com]
@pecan 3.14159265: There are 2 different Giants. This is Giant in PA: [www.giantfoodstores.com]
@pmcpa4: Hm. I guess what threw me off was that the post called it “Mid-Atlantic” and for me, Mid-Atlantic stops when you get north of Maryland. Then it’s New England.
@pecan 3.14159265: Nope: New England doesn’t begin until Connecticut. The Mid Atlantic states are: Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and yes, New York. I’ve heard people include VA and WV in this, too, which makes sense in a Chesapeake watershed kind of way.
(I’ve lived in 3 out of the canonical 5, so I feel I qualify as an midatlantician.)
@thesadtomato: And New England has their own Royal A-hole company: Stop & Shop. Meh.
@pecan 3.14159265: Both chains are owned by the same company–Royal Ahol(e)d, but they operate autonomously for the most part (they share some store branded products though). Yours is what’s considered to be Giant of Landover (MD), while the ours is considered Giant of Carlisle (PA).
Nice. Well worth putting the signage up to advertise that fact. Of course, Wegmans also puts up price comparison signs for many common items (comparing to Walmart and the local competitor), even if Wegmans isn’t cheaper. It’s like their way of saing, “Yeah, you can save a few penny’s at Walmart, but then you still have to go to Walmart.”
@cabjf: I’ve been to wegmans…I’d rather go to walmart.
@nstonep: You must be nuts if you would pick Walmart over wegmans. Here, Wegmans is cheaper than Walmart and any other grocery store on pretty common items like bread, spaghetti, canned veggies, etc. Then again, I shop at 3 different grocery stores and BJ’s wholesale.
@mbz32190: Ditto…there’s a number of items locally that Walmart is higher than everyone else. So much for their “we shop the competition so you don’t have to” creedo
At least it makes mathematical sense, unlike Target signs.
And hey, if you buy a thousand loaves, it starts to be serious money. Then you could build a house out of the bread after you get foreclosed on. It’s all good, eh?
@kaceetheconsumer:
I was drinking bottled water, but I wasn’t able to keep it in my mouth after reading this. (because it made my laugh too hard). Then I like swallowed some of the water wrong and was coughing a bit.
“You mean for an extra penny, I could be shopping at Wegmans?!?!”
@AgentMunroe: Haha, well put.
@AgentMunroe: I’d pay TWO extra cents to be able to shop at Wegmans.
/In Texas
For less than 30 cents I could bake my own baguette.
The prices at the grocery stores in NYC are so ridiculous, a penny of savings IS a rare boon to be celebrated. What is to become of us, indeed?
**Wail** WEGMAAAAAAAAAAAAANS
@Laura Northrup: If there was ever a retail store I could say I loved, Wegmans would be it. I don’t think I could move anywhere that didn’t have a Wegmans to shop at.
@cabjf: I love Target and Wegmans. I unfortunately do not have a Wegmans nearby, but I’ve heard that they’ll be building one in the next…five years. Sigh. There’s always Target!
@pecan 3.14159265: They’re a very conservative (business-wise) company…only builds a couple of stores a year at most.
There are two gas stations on opposite sides of a street in McLean, Virginia. The price difference per gallon is always one cent. I don’t know if the Chevron station (which is the “cheaper”) stands there and waits for the Sunoco station to post its price and then puts up its one cent cheaper price, or if it’s simply coincidental…for the past four years anyway.
@H3ion: Heck, the gas stations along a line of about 10 miles from here in town eastward are dependent on what one Sheetz station is charging. It goes up and the rest will follow…and they won’t drop their prices until Sheetz does.
I wonder why hasn’t Wegmans expanded to Long Island yet? You think they’d make a killing here since the grocery market here isn’t that great (Stop & Shop is meh, Waldbaums and Pathmark are both owned by A&P so they’ll always find a way to fail, King Kullen is overpriced, and Walmart and Target have no supercenters).
LOL @ the penny difference.
Stop & Shop (big here in New England) has taken to posting little hangtags over shelf displays that *appear* to be sale or special flags; they are bright yellow. On closer inspection, they simply compare a S&S price on that item to the everyday price at a competitor, Shaw’s Supermarkets.
I often have the urge to add a post-it note saying, “And at TARGET, you can get this juice for a dollar less than here.” That’s a risky game to play. I also think the hangtags tempt people to assume these are bargains or sale items, when they are simply competitor comparisons on selected items that make S&S look filled with bargains. I don’t like it. Cluttered, confusing, and misleading. It’s one reason I do more and more of our grocery shopping at small independent markets that have amazing sales on meat and fish, also local produce in season. Just tell me the price and spare me all the distractions.
This happens at Hy-Vee all the time. They’ll have something for $2.54 and compare it to the Bag-n-Save at $2.55. I’m always glad I’m getting such a great deal.
See that all the time here (Super Saver), comparing their prices to Hy-Vee, Super Target, Super WalMart – but not Russ’s IGA since SS and Russ’s are part of the same corporate family. They even do the comparison of a shopping cart full of a typical consumer’s shopping experience, showing how much cheaper the selected items are there than at the store they are comparing to.