Giant Eagle Food Prices (Pittsburgh, Erie: sales, coupons, co-op)

[algia]

Publix does this in FL and probably everywhere else they have stores...and what's worst they do it one day after another...unreal....

It's the location/habit/convenience that makes them get away with it...we won't walk into a Walmart here it's disgusting...in good areas of town! If it makes you drive further to get the same thing for a dollar cheaper, then you end up spending more in gas! no win...(sadly that we are subject to this...but...the time that would take me to get to another store plus dealing with traffic is just not worth it)

[hornet67]

Giant Eagle is pricey on many items, but IMHO, they offer good quality, at least in the items my wife and I buy. I'm closest to the Bethel Park Market District GE, and it's ALWAYS jammed. ( Do NOT go on Sunday afternoon unless absolutely unavoidable !) Shop n'Save is a viable alternative, but there are of course far fewer of them than Giant Eagle.
I'm looking forward to Trader Joe's opening up soon nearby.
I despise Walmart for many reasons, and refuse to enter their doors. A pox upon them, along with Sam's Club; Costco is much better, IMHO.

[algia]

Ohh, the fact that there will be a Trader Joe's there makes me very happy....I emailed them several times in 4 years to bring one to Tampa and nothing, no answer....so, it is good to know that once there we'll have one available to us.

Originally Posted by hornet67

Giant Eagle is pricey on many items, but IMHO, they offer good quality, at least in the items my wife and I buy. I'm closest to the Bethel Park Market District GE, and it's ALWAYS jammed. ( Do NOT go on Sunday afternoon unless absolutely unavoidable !) Shop n'Save is a viable alternative, but there are of course far fewer of them than Giant Eagle.
I'm looking forward to Trader Joe's opening up soon nearby.
I despise Walmart for many reasons, and refuse to enter their doors. A pox upon them, along with Sam's Club; Costco is much better, IMHO.

[Pitts10yrs]

Giant Eagle has saturated the area both with stores every few miles and their Get-Gos. They have pushed all the other grocery stores out, and so have control and somewhat of a monopoly on food here. That is until Wal-mart came, and if you notice Wal-Mart at Waterworks only carries a limited food line. Simply if the Wal-mart was unchained it would crush Giant Eagle at Waterworks, and if you are puchasing food the trip to Wal-mart is worth the savings.

I'm not a Giant Eagle hater, there stores are clean, good quality, and have a wonderful selection of foods. But, it is expensive and here in the city the prices are much higher, and I am sure the profit margins are huge.

[gg]

Originally Posted by Pitts10yrs

Giant Eagle has saturated the area both with stores every few miles and their Get-Gos. They have pushed all the other grocery stores out, and so have control and somewhat of a monopoly on food here. That is until Wal-mart came, and if you notice Wal-Mart at Waterworks only carries a limited food line. Simply if the Wal-mart was unchained it would crush Giant Eagle at Waterworks, and if you are puchasing food the trip to Wal-mart is worth the savings.

I'm not a Giant Eagle hater, there stores are clean, good quality, and have a wonderful selection of foods. But, it is expensive and here in the city the prices are much higher, and I am sure the profit margins are huge.

I wonder if the Waterworks is owned by GE or if there is some no-compete in place. Seems hard to believe that anyone can tell Walmart what they can and can't do in any of their stores. Walmart has way more power than GE. On the other hand, there is a certain population that controls the food supply in the US and they sure seem to make piles of money with such control. Kind of reminds me of the bank industry, but with food, we need to eat. You can keep money in a mattress.

[greg42]

Well, in Cranberry Walmart is within half a mile of GE (and most of that is parking lots and such; effectively it's across the road). There seems to be plenty enough for both of them to go around. That Walmart is a super center with full grocery (wasn't originally, but they expanded it several years ago). So Walmart is not guaranteed to crush them. A Walmart super center takes a much bigger footprint than a Giant Eagle so it's a bit harder for them to find good places to locate.

One place where Walmart probably will crush GE if GE does not do anything different is on Rt 65 at Northern Lights plaza (Beaver County). The land behind this plaza will be developed for a Walmart super center. Giant Eagle tried to block the town from taking a pathway through the existing plaza to have access to the land behind. They LOST. The development will go forward. GE's store there is ancient, never remodeled to their current standards. Assuming they don't just close it when Walmart opens they will most likely lose in that area to Walmart. But GE losing to Walmart is not at all guaranteed everywhere. There seems to be room enough for both. I'm sure GE is not unhappy that projects like the Walmart at Emsworth on Rt 65 near I-79 (where the hillside collapsed onto the road) and on McKnight Rd at the former site of Sam's Club have fallen through.

Waterworks doesn't appear to be controlled by Echo but I wouldn't think it uncommon for Giant Eagle's lease to have a provision that no other full-serve grocery be opened there, and that would include the Walmart full grocery. Why they have a scenario like Cranberry Mall (where Kuhn's, and before that a Shop n Save, are right next to it) I don't know. Been that way for ages though, and they're both still there, in addition to the super Walmart across the road.

Control of the food supply is actually worse at the production end rather than the retail end. Although a lot of that comes from store (Walmart, often) pressure and consumer pressure that everything be cheap cheap cheap. Watch Food, Inc. Maybe you already have; you seem to have an interest in organic food and better, local meats and so forth.

[PeterRabbit]

Right next to Waterworks is Fox Chapel Plaza which has a pretty good full service supermarket - Community Supermarket. They even sell GE brands of some items in all 4 of their locations. I've always heard that these guys own/ed a few Giant Eagles.

Walmart keeps abreast of GE prices and always undercuts them even when GE has stuff on sale, Isaly's Ham for instance.

Based on 2005 revenue, Giant Eagle is the forty-ninth largest retailer in the country and they're only in 4 states. (Wikipedia) That's quite an accomplishment.

[gg]

Originally Posted by PeterRabbit

Right next to Waterworks is Fox Chapel Plaza which has a pretty good full service supermarket - Community Supermarket. They even sell GE brands of some items in all 4 of their locations. I've always heard that these guys own/ed a few Giant Eagles.

Walmart keeps abreast of GE prices and always undercuts them even when GE has stuff on sale, Isaly's Ham for instance.

Based on 2005 revenue, Giant Eagle is the forty-ninth largest retailer in the country and they're only in 4 states. (Wikipedia) That's quite an accomplishment.

Community Market is owned by the same person that owns the Verona GE. I am not sure what they all own. Community Market is good for meats that are slow cooked, because those kind of meats don't have to be super high quality. They have Coleman beef there which is very high quality, but the price is so high. Sometimes you can get really lucky in the Community because they will set out some meat like lamb chops for $2.99 a pound. You have to look it over, but I have eaten like a king from there sometimes. The vegetable/fruit section is okay, but I use Trader Joes for most of that.

All and all, I am not thrilled with food shopping in Pittsburgh, but Trader Joes has helped me as far as frozen organic veggies, fruit and half and half. Some canned goods there. I am not a big fan of Trader Joes meat section, so that is an issue, but the beer brats they have are good.

I can honestly say, I avoid GE at all costs. The fuel perks thing is also a pain for people that drive cars and not giant SUV's. You can get up to 30 gallons of fuel if you use your card. My cars hold about 15 gallons, so my savings are half, IF I just pulled my car up and filled up. I don't believe there should be a benefit to those that waste and drive Excursions or whatever, so I bring 3 5 gallon fuel containers to fill, so I get my fair share. I have pulled both cars up to the pump as well to fill both, so I have the same advantage as the dumb SUV drivers. Still with all that hassle fuel perks are a joke and I feel GE shouldn't be in that business as well. Truthfully, I hate everything GE stands for, but what they do makes them tons of money and they are here to stay.

[Hopes]

GE prices are way too high. I've found Kuhns and SnS to have better prices.

GE has a better selection though. That's probably why so many people shop there even though it's over priced.

[SteelCityRising]

Why is it that nearly everyone I speak to abhors Wal-Mart, yet their stores are always packed? I'm of a lower socioeconomic status myself right now, and (gasp) I'm able to afford NOT shopping at Wal-Mart.