Jeff's Editorial #81 - Walmart - One person's...

We shop a lot at Walmart for years for several reasons:

Our local Walmart store is close by, and is located between my home and office
We always found better values at Walmart on most items, including services like optometry and photo processing
They carry most name brands and generic brands, so variety is not great, but adequate.
They are open 24 hours, so that's a convenience

As I said, this is one person's opinion, and is not a scientific survey. We started discovering two annoying trends for daily and small products at Walmart in the last several months.

Some generic brand products are more expensive than name brand stuff
The price creep has been slight, but definitely on the way up. 10 cents and 20 cents here and there, but enough to make us start price comparison with other stores.

I plan to conduct comparison pricing on few items over the next few months, but please respond if you've seen a similar trend in your local Walmart.

Comments: 10

Donna Besso Sep 20, 2009, 4:11pm EDT

I have noticed the same thing. This week, Green Peppers and Cucumbers were real cheap, on the other hand the Eggs were a bit more expensive than there than at my local grocery store.

Jeff S. Sep 20, 2009, 4:26pm EDT

I'll check them out locally

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Spencer T. Sep 21, 2009, 8:52am EDT

I find often that they do not seem concerned about specific brands or flavors of many items. I lke Zest Ocean Energy shower gell but rarely can find it there. They will have the Zest but not the Ocean Energy. I have found some items are packaged just for Walmart and some items are not what they are supposed to be. I discoverd Zip Lock Freezer storage bags in the large box were actually the regular bags. That box is packaged only for Walmart and is found only there. Other items like 4 X 6 inch Index cards are made thinner than most purchased elsewhere and don't hold up to much use. I am sure special packaging and the demand to hold prices down is the reason for some of these situations.

Jeff S. Sep 21, 2009, 9:48am EDT

I had inkling of what you are talking about, but couldn't put my finger on it. You are one sharp shopper. I'm sure everything hinges on the bottom line for Walmart because it is such a huge retailer. I will be more observant next time.

Spencer T. Sep 21, 2009, 10:13am EDT

I find if I shop at Walmart I must make sacrifices for some of my purchases because I can't count on them to have the specific flavor of things I prefer.

Jeff S. Sep 21, 2009, 11:52am EDT

Yes, Walmart is lacking in variety

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Charles Temm JR Sep 25, 2009, 10:03pm EDT

My wife buys everything there. She has even tried comparing with the PX/Commissary and found Wal Mart wipes them out.

Jeff S. Sep 25, 2009, 10:10pm EDT

that says something. I always thought PX/Commissary was the lowest of lows.

Charles Temm JR Sep 25, 2009, 10:21pm EDT

Not the PX, its chief claim to fame is electronics and higher end foreign goods. Prices have sucked since the mid 80s. No taxes is a big attraction though

Commissary has better foreign food selections and meats but overall variety isn't as good as Wal Mart and prices are about the same at best. No taxes though makes it better it some places.

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Tina Temm Sep 25, 2009, 10:51pm EDT

There is no other place for me to shop then WM! lol Some of the prices have gone up just like other stores. Some products have gotten smaller while their prices have gone up from ~59 cents to 65 cents. But you have to watch it. Great Value (WM Brand) can be more expensive then name brand. EX: Allen Bush Beans are 50 cents (not sure just saying) while GV is 65 cents. So.....not all GV prices are cheaper. But from what I was told about bread....they practically come from the same co. but w/different wrappers?! That's what I was told.....not sure if that is true or not....but would be interesting to find out?! Anybody???? Otherwise.....tomorrow off to Wally World - or as I say the Neiman Marcus of our town! hahaha

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Jeff's Editorial #81 - Walmart - One person's opinion

Comments: 10

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