I've wanted to know how much grocery shoppers save at WalMart
compared to their neighborhood supermarket. Or is there a difference?
Apples to Apples
I randomly picked and then made a list of a dozen grocery
items to compare. Three were in the produce departments: apples, spring mixed
salad greens, and slicing tomatoes. I was surprised to see two United Foods
employees checking produce prices. “We do this every week,” one told me.
I'll come out ahead at WalMart I thought, especially when I noticed apples for 99¢ per pound. Wrong. Later at home, comparing pound for pound and package for package, United’s produce cost 3¢ less than Walmart’s.
Who has the crème de la crème?
United also undercut WalMart on Plains Dairy whipping cream
by 9¢. But it wasn't easy to compare other whipping cream brands. WalMart
handles Gandy’s, while United Foods stocks Red River Farm’s whipping cream at
2¢ more per 8-ounce carton.
Two cents makes little difference between products, but
quality does. I recently bought a carton of Red River Farm’s whipping cream,
and had to use scissors to open it. How annoying when trying to make supper in a
hurry. It’s also potentially dangerous. A person using a knife to pry the spout
open could slit a hand open instead. In reporting the defective packaging problem
on United’s Website, a glitch prevented my sending the message. More time
wasted. I phoned. United’s phone rep apologized, but
didn't ask for product
identification or batch numbers. Strange.
What is Service Worth?
On the other hand, United Food’s store employees make up for
the unprofessional telephone worker. They excel in service. And what’s that
worth? A panhandler approached me in WallMart’s parking lot today. With a
strong employee presence at a United Foods facility, would that man have been
so brazen?
All in All
Differences between the two store’s grocery prices balanced.
I purchased a number of generic products and plan taste tests. That may be the
subject of another blog.
© 2013, Bernice Simpson
