Well, the deal with Amazon and Whole Foods appears to be over. Already Amazon has cut prices at Whole Foods. That's old news. But---there appears to be a bit of chaos showing up at supermarkets.
It appears that the grocery industry, including Walmart, either haven't figured out the next move yet, or they are still stunned by the Amazon deal that appears to have caught them off guard.
Yesterday, I went to two Aldi's. The reason for two was that I was out and could pick up dry and non-perishable items on my way to the lake and then get the cold things on the way back home from the other side of the lake. It turned out to be an adventure. I shop Aldi's for the items that are main stays like coffee and crackers. They have the best prices in town on those items. Yes, even better than Walmart, which isn't hard to do because over the years Walmart is not really that cheap. People seem to think that they are, but if you look at what they are buying, and you know prices, like I do, then you quickly see that those people are really paying through the nose and either don't care or do not do comparative market analysis before they buy.
Aldi's have kept their coffee prices at the lowest from the very beginning here in the states. But, the label change caught my eye. Then, the size of the can. The price was back down to where it had been for years after a small boost upward. So, before making the purchase, I checked out the can. It was less weight than before by three ounces, but still a very hot deal at the listed price. There instant coffee, which I also buy, held at the same price, which is also the lowest price around town. Buy good 8-ounce coffee for under $4.00 is a deal.
When I stopped at the second Aldi's, the eggs were $0.59 a dozen for grade A large. The limit was 6. I loaded 5 dozen into my cart. The expiration date was October 8 and my plans were to boil a dozen and a half for deviled eggs and hard cooked eggs for lunch. Protein and tasty items like eggs are helping with the weight. No, I'm not going to clog my arteries. First, the new reports out give eggs a new life and my test have been super for more than a year. Plus, I like deviled eggs made with mustard. Don't clog your arteries with that mayo stuff!☺.
I stopped at El Rio Grande Latin Market and got two watermelons. The price on those were $1.99 each. And, big, beautiful peaches were $1.29 per pound. Thee made a pound and a third or $0.58 each.
Now, what I learned about the grocery panic this past week.
Kroger's is Retiring the Senior Citizen's Discount on September 5th. It must be their ideal of something funny with the play on words like "Retiring Senior Citizens Discounts" I've been telling my store's manager for months that Kroger was loosing grounds on the price point. Apparently, the managers are being rotated like their prices. Kroger announced new, lower prices. So far, their lower prices are on things that I certainly don't buy. When the manager would try to make a mute point, I didn't hesitate to mention that I can go just down the street. There is Aldi's in three directions, Sprouts in another Fiesta, Albertson's, Tom Thumb and as well. I have shopped the digital coupons at Tom Thumb and Albertsons the past two months and Winco has blown the socks off the meat prices, frozen and canned goods ET AL.
I used to think that it was expensive to eat healthy. It just takes a bit more planning. It still blows my mind that organic cost more when organic is actually less costly to produce. Yeah, I know. My account can also show me on paper where it cost me more to live without air conditioning than to turn it on. Accounting can do wonders with numbers, but all-in-all, organic is still grown with less cost.
So, back to Aldi's. The eggs were different prices at two different Aldi's and the coffee was at different prices at those same two store. Either pay more for eggs and drink cheaper coffee or drink higher priced coffee and pay less for eggs. I have not seen that at Aldi's before. I've shopped Aldi's for a long time, too.
Here's a comparison on one item at Kroger's and Aldi's using the senior citizen discount.
Kroger brand saltine crackers $0.99. Aldi saltine crackers $0.79
less senior citizen 10% .09 no discount 0.00
Kroger cost .90 Aldi cost 0.79
So, already half my core grocery for September has been spent outside Kroger's
There seems to be some strange things going on in the Aldi, Kroger (Walmart doesn't even figure in because of quality) food fight. Kroger's is saying don't worry about your senior citizen's discounts being retired (there is that play on words at Kroger's again) because of all the 1,000 new lower prices at Kroger's. Already, I see that the discounts that are going away at Krogers will move me on down the street. My first purchase in a grocery store was 65 years ago in a Krogers. It's not that the customers are not loyal. It's the supermarket leaders that are not loyal.I honestly believe that Kroger thought when they started the senior citizens discounts a few years back that seniors were not that tech savvy and would use it that much. Well, they got a shock and now, they want to do away with it. My savings for the year past was $251.00. This year already, I am already at $245.13 for 2017.
Another German Grocery opened its first 10 stores in the U.S. in June. Lidl. I can't wait until they enter the Dallas market. Yesterday, it was like shopping in a European market in the El Rio Grande. The cafe tables were filled and hustling and bustling as I bought my melons and peaches. The days of the old style grocery is coming back with modern technology. The prices are going to drop and keep dropping. The El Rio would be a cultural shock for some. The different smells would scare some because we Americans are spoiled. For me, culture is ever thing and to mingle in such an atmosphere while shopping allows you to get out of that comfort zone, which I learned long ago is not really a comfort zone, it's a spoiled brat zone. I didn't see one person on their cell phones or using their cell phone to scan an isle and it was nice. It was very nice.
09/02/17: edited and added text. Removed the word Walmart in one paragraph where it was redundant.
It appears that the grocery industry, including Walmart, either haven't figured out the next move yet, or they are still stunned by the Amazon deal that appears to have caught them off guard.
Yesterday, I went to two Aldi's. The reason for two was that I was out and could pick up dry and non-perishable items on my way to the lake and then get the cold things on the way back home from the other side of the lake. It turned out to be an adventure. I shop Aldi's for the items that are main stays like coffee and crackers. They have the best prices in town on those items. Yes, even better than Walmart, which isn't hard to do because over the years Walmart is not really that cheap. People seem to think that they are, but if you look at what they are buying, and you know prices, like I do, then you quickly see that those people are really paying through the nose and either don't care or do not do comparative market analysis before they buy.
Aldi's have kept their coffee prices at the lowest from the very beginning here in the states. But, the label change caught my eye. Then, the size of the can. The price was back down to where it had been for years after a small boost upward. So, before making the purchase, I checked out the can. It was less weight than before by three ounces, but still a very hot deal at the listed price. There instant coffee, which I also buy, held at the same price, which is also the lowest price around town. Buy good 8-ounce coffee for under $4.00 is a deal.
When I stopped at the second Aldi's, the eggs were $0.59 a dozen for grade A large. The limit was 6. I loaded 5 dozen into my cart. The expiration date was October 8 and my plans were to boil a dozen and a half for deviled eggs and hard cooked eggs for lunch. Protein and tasty items like eggs are helping with the weight. No, I'm not going to clog my arteries. First, the new reports out give eggs a new life and my test have been super for more than a year. Plus, I like deviled eggs made with mustard. Don't clog your arteries with that mayo stuff!☺.
I stopped at El Rio Grande Latin Market and got two watermelons. The price on those were $1.99 each. And, big, beautiful peaches were $1.29 per pound. Thee made a pound and a third or $0.58 each.
Now, what I learned about the grocery panic this past week.
Kroger's is Retiring the Senior Citizen's Discount on September 5th. It must be their ideal of something funny with the play on words like "Retiring Senior Citizens Discounts" I've been telling my store's manager for months that Kroger was loosing grounds on the price point. Apparently, the managers are being rotated like their prices. Kroger announced new, lower prices. So far, their lower prices are on things that I certainly don't buy. When the manager would try to make a mute point, I didn't hesitate to mention that I can go just down the street. There is Aldi's in three directions, Sprouts in another Fiesta, Albertson's, Tom Thumb and as well. I have shopped the digital coupons at Tom Thumb and Albertsons the past two months and Winco has blown the socks off the meat prices, frozen and canned goods ET AL.
I used to think that it was expensive to eat healthy. It just takes a bit more planning. It still blows my mind that organic cost more when organic is actually less costly to produce. Yeah, I know. My account can also show me on paper where it cost me more to live without air conditioning than to turn it on. Accounting can do wonders with numbers, but all-in-all, organic is still grown with less cost.
So, back to Aldi's. The eggs were different prices at two different Aldi's and the coffee was at different prices at those same two store. Either pay more for eggs and drink cheaper coffee or drink higher priced coffee and pay less for eggs. I have not seen that at Aldi's before. I've shopped Aldi's for a long time, too.
Here's a comparison on one item at Kroger's and Aldi's using the senior citizen discount.
Kroger brand saltine crackers $0.99. Aldi saltine crackers $0.79
less senior citizen 10% .09 no discount 0.00
Kroger cost .90 Aldi cost 0.79
So, already half my core grocery for September has been spent outside Kroger's
There seems to be some strange things going on in the Aldi, Kroger (Walmart doesn't even figure in because of quality) food fight. Kroger's is saying don't worry about your senior citizen's discounts being retired (there is that play on words at Kroger's again) because of all the 1,000 new lower prices at Kroger's. Already, I see that the discounts that are going away at Krogers will move me on down the street. My first purchase in a grocery store was 65 years ago in a Krogers. It's not that the customers are not loyal. It's the supermarket leaders that are not loyal.I honestly believe that Kroger thought when they started the senior citizens discounts a few years back that seniors were not that tech savvy and would use it that much. Well, they got a shock and now, they want to do away with it. My savings for the year past was $251.00. This year already, I am already at $245.13 for 2017.
Another German Grocery opened its first 10 stores in the U.S. in June. Lidl. I can't wait until they enter the Dallas market. Yesterday, it was like shopping in a European market in the El Rio Grande. The cafe tables were filled and hustling and bustling as I bought my melons and peaches. The days of the old style grocery is coming back with modern technology. The prices are going to drop and keep dropping. The El Rio would be a cultural shock for some. The different smells would scare some because we Americans are spoiled. For me, culture is ever thing and to mingle in such an atmosphere while shopping allows you to get out of that comfort zone, which I learned long ago is not really a comfort zone, it's a spoiled brat zone. I didn't see one person on their cell phones or using their cell phone to scan an isle and it was nice. It was very nice.
09/02/17: edited and added text. Removed the word Walmart in one paragraph where it was redundant.
