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Old 10-25-2009, 12:35 PM
 
125 posts, read 293,803 times
Reputation: 61

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Well just got home from another trip to HEB. My back is sore from having to reach for national brands on bottom shelf. HEB Mac and cheese eye level with 20 facings, Kraft on bottom almost out of stock. The funny thing is the HEB brand was fully stocked, not everybody is buying this ploy. I spoke to a manager to see if anyone else has complained.
“Nope not a one in fact our customers love it.”
So guess I am the only one.
“Low Price/Low Quality “ new HEB slogan!
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Old 10-25-2009, 12:49 PM
 
Location: Avery Ranch, Austin, TX
8,977 posts, read 17,542,882 times
Reputation: 4001
Maybe the grocery folks are reading C-D and figuring that Trader Joe's in on to something with a store filled with house brands. If the quality is there, I'll bite...but, I don't always find house brands to be of the same quality as comparably priced national brands(whether it's HEB, Kroger, CVS or even ACE hardware). TJ's did a great job of controlling quality as does Target, IMO, on many items.
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Old 10-25-2009, 01:32 PM
 
8,231 posts, read 17,312,752 times
Reputation: 3696
Quote:
Originally Posted by 10scoachrick View Post
Maybe the grocery folks are reading C-D and figuring that Trader Joe's in on to something with a store filled with house brands. If the quality is there, I'll bite...but, I don't always find house brands to be of the same quality as comparably priced national brands(whether it's HEB, Kroger, CVS or even ACE hardware). TJ's did a great job of controlling quality as does Target, IMO, on many items.
OMG, house brands wasn't invented by TJ! Every store in the world has a house brand, usually made by the national brand manufacturing facility but without the PR/adv costs.
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Old 10-25-2009, 03:33 PM
 
Location: Avery Ranch, Austin, TX
8,977 posts, read 17,542,882 times
Reputation: 4001
Quote:
Originally Posted by mimimomx3 View Post
OMG, house brands wasn't invented by TJ! Every store in the world has a house brand, usually made by the national brand manufacturing facility but without the PR/adv costs.
Chill, mom...TJ's MO is to sell almost ALL house brands; thus cutting down on incidental markups and controlling quality, packaging, costs, etc. Their popularity isn't simply because C-D-ers want something to talk about. I'm not aware of another significant grocery chain operating the way they do. Central Market could pull it off if they felt the need.
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Old 10-25-2009, 04:29 PM
 
Location: Central Texas
20,958 posts, read 45,383,992 times
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Since I've been a professional chef, and am a foodie, I've tried house brands versus national brands quite a bit. Most of the time, in a blind taste test, it's not possible to tell the difference in quality. mimimomx3 has a point - a lot of times, it's the exact same thing in a can with a different label. (This isn't just in groceries, either. I have a friend whose mother used to sew for Neiman Marcus back in the days of Mr. Stanley. The same item, sewn by the same seamstress, if it was not absolutely perfect (something as minor as a slipped stitch that you'd have to look long and hard to find and that would not show on the outside of the garment or effect the quality in any way), would have another label put on it and be sold for a little less at another store in town. Same item, same quality materials, same seamstress, different price due to nothing more, really, than the label.

That being said, if the worst thing that can be said about a grocery store is that it puts its own brands at eye level and I might actually have to reach to get another, more expensive, brand that I prefer, I'm being pretty darned picky, I'd think.
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Old 10-25-2009, 05:28 PM
 
125 posts, read 293,803 times
Reputation: 61
The problem with house brands is the store group will take several manufacturer quotes and select one based on current price quote. Six months later they will pack one of the other manufactures item under the same label. You think you are receiving the same item but is produced at a different plant. Coca Cola is coke. Companies have tried for years to duplicate the taste to no avail. Some come close but it’s still not Coke. If you think store brands are all ok, I beg you to try a box of HEB vanilla wafers. I love shopping at HEB and appreciate the brands I grew up on. I don’t believe I should have to dig thru 40 packages of HEB frozen vegetables to find Green Giant. I will now let this go! OMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM….OMMMMMMMM……………….. relax.
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Old 10-25-2009, 05:37 PM
 
Location: Central Texas
20,958 posts, read 45,383,992 times
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Coca Cola isn't Coke. Since I was a little girl (my first word was "Coke"), I've been able to tell (and so could my mother) where a particular bottle of Coca Cola was bottled by the taste. It has to do with the water used in the particular bottling plant. (Don't even get me started on the whole New Coke "You'll like it better AND you won't be able to tell the difference" fiasco.)

So you don't get that consistency even with name brands.
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Old 10-25-2009, 06:15 PM
 
8,231 posts, read 17,312,752 times
Reputation: 3696
Quote:
Originally Posted by 10scoachrick View Post
Chill, mom...TJ's MO is to sell almost ALL house brands; thus cutting down on incidental markups and controlling quality, packaging, costs, etc. Their popularity isn't simply because C-D-ers want something to talk about. I'm not aware of another significant grocery chain operating the way they do. Central Market could pull it off if they felt the need.
I honestly wouldn't be interested in a store that only sold their house brand. I really prefer diversity in my shopping- especially imprted things.

I admit I am a little irrational about TJs, but I really don't want to go there.
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Old 10-25-2009, 06:28 PM
 
Location: Avery Ranch, Austin, TX
8,977 posts, read 17,542,882 times
Reputation: 4001
Quote:
Originally Posted by mimimomx3 View Post
I honestly wouldn't be interested in a store that only sold their house brand. I really prefer diversity in my shopping- especially imprted things.

I admit I am a little irrational about TJs, but I really don't want to go there.
We agree on the limited selection downside...but, if you like TJ's organic decaf coffee for example(they usually had two or three different blends), it's nice to know it will likely be the same from month to month AND only cost $7.99/lb. Many of their organic products were the same price as 'conventional' products from other suppliers; cereals, for example, cost the same or less than popular non-organic brands. It's the tighter controls and shorter distribution chain that allows the stricter quality control and lower cost. Not everybody can/wants to go that route...TJ's just found their niche. I'll not continue to dwell...lest the dark side present itself.
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Old 10-25-2009, 08:47 PM
 
Location: Round Rock, Texas
13,447 posts, read 15,466,742 times
Reputation: 18992
Quote:
Originally Posted by achtungpv View Post
Really you should decide how you like to eat. It's easy to pick a store then.

Expensive/Healthy/Organic/Variety------------------------>Cheap/Junk Food/HFCS/Fat Kids

Whole Foods > Central Market > Sprouts > New Flower > Randalls > HEB > Target > WalMart
Eh, we shop at Wal-Mart. No one in my family is fat. And Target > Wal-mart. Don't think so. They're cut from the same cloth as far as I'm concerned.
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