Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Grocery stores are in trouble. A lot of them are not making as much money as they have in the past. Too much competition.
I have always wanted to visit a Grocery Outlet. What's it like?
I love them, the ones I have shopped at, have all been fairly small, around the same size as Trader Joes. They carry most basic items, & not a huge variety, I go for price, they are often half the price of Safeway. The produce section has all the basics, but if you want a more obscure item of produce, you likely won't find it. ( such as fresh horseradish) They specialize in close out deals, if a store has closed down or a warehouse has an over run, you can pick up some really great deals, But if you find an item you like, stock up, as it might not be back in stock again.
My neighbor gets her dog pads thee & it is cheaper than Walmart.
They also seem to have some own brand items that are always available, I get sliced bread for 1.59, white or whole wheat, 24 oz, & it is more solid than the air breads available for .99 at places like Safeway. I get a lot of produce there & frozen items, like breakfast sausages & milk.
I love them, the ones I have shopped at, have all been fairly small, around the same size as Trader Joes. They carry most basic items, & not a huge variety, I go for price, they are often half the price of Safeway. The produce section has all the basics, but if you want a more obscure item of produce, you likely won't find it. ( such as fresh horseradish) They specialize in close out deals, if a store has closed down or a warehouse has an over run, you can pick up some really great deals, But if you find an item you like, stock up, as it might not be back in stock again.
My neighbor gets her dog pads thee & it is cheaper than Walmart.
They also seem to have some own brand items that are always available, I get sliced bread for 1.59, white or whole wheat, 24 oz, & it is more solid than the air breads available for .99 at places like Safeway. I get a lot of produce there & frozen items, like breakfast sausages & milk.
I think we have just enough. In my immediate area (3 mile radius), we have around 15, including two Target stores and 2 Wal Mart stores. They've all managed to stay open, so they must be doing OK.
I don't know because we do not have Aldi in the part of the state ( yet) but they definitely are cheaper than any of the other main, supermarkets in this area, except Winco, which also has good prices.
Where I live, we need a few more grocery stores. If I shop on the weekend, the store is so packed it's hard to get through the aisles and lots of shelves are empty. Sometimes I drive across town just so I can shop where it doesn't feel like there's some kind of food shortage.
Considering the number of grocery stores, the U.S. has the lowest store density (per capita) in the developed world. Therefore it seems absurd to think that the U.S. has too many grocery stores. But the main reason for the small number of grocery stores is of course that the U.S. is so car oriented.
On the other side the U.S. has too many different grocery chains. Many regional grocery chains have just a few hundred stores or even less than hundred. It's ok when those chains have a unique selling point like Wegmans, but smaller chains that offer nothing special, should left the market. It's just inefficient when grocery chains operate only such a small number of stores. Fewer, but larger chains could increase the pressure on food manufacturers.
In my opinion the U.S. needs fewer chains but much more grocery stores. A higher grocery store density makes it for customers much easier to switch between stores from different chains. That would make it more difficult for retailers to rip off the customers. It's absurd when the regular price for a certain name brand product at one chain is $2.49 and at another chain $2.99. The huge price differences for identical or similar products between different chains in the U.S. are strange.
Then just let the free market decide who stays and who goes. There's never "too much competition".
Amen.
I love Wegmans all day long, but anyone who's looking for a bargain had better hope there's beaucoups competition when they come to your town. I owe them no allegiance simply because they originated here, and don't care to help pay for another one of Danny's Canandaigua castles--thank gawd for local competition, with Tops, Aldi, Walmart Supercenters, etc. all located nearby. That makes it easy (and worthwhile) to go where the bargains are. When Wegmans prices for an increasing number of products continue to soar, we can easily go elsewhere. Same with being able to purchase name brands that Wegmans has jettisoned (in favor of theirs, of course). Variety? Hah! They don't even carry Sargento cheese anymore. Too many coupons, I guess.
Competition, as it allows comparison-shopping, is always good for the consumer.
What do you think? Some people say we have too many grocery stores, other people say our stores are too big. Then other people say the stores we do have don't have the right selection.
All I know is, there is no perfect store. And I usually have to shop 3-4 different stores every week. Sometimes I want organic French olive oil, sometimes I want Oreos. Sometimes I want fresh halibut, sometimes I want boiled peanuts. Why can't one store have everything?
Why has no one been able to come up with the perfect store? Not too big, not too small, not too expensive. This should not be that hard.
Seriously? A store would have to be vast to meet everyone's diverse and specialized whims. And prices would be high due to all the specialty items that wouldn't move in great quantities.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
