All Over Albany

Well, let's really look at Walmart does do to our local economy, shall we:

With the lack of health coverage for its employees (In the past four years, the National Labor Relations Board has found the company guilty of illegal work practices in 25 percent of 40 cases with violations disproportionately affecting women ) this sends employees of Walmart to apply for government programs such as food stamps, medicaid, welfare benefits, etc. Please feel free to check any Wal-mart lunch room they proudly and freely announce and show how their employees can apply for such programs. These programs are income eligible and because Wal-mart pays such low wages, wal-mart employees will always be approved to be on food stamps, medicaid, etc. These are programs that are funded through our taxes both NYS and Federal.

Is it too cheap for its own good? Obviously, exploiting countries with no labor laws and deplorable conditions that amount to modern day slavery, Americans make a statement that they are accepting and supporting child labor and modern day slave labor when they shop at Wal-mart. Saving a few dollars to get cheap, poorly made products is more important than quality and ethical, moral standards. A person is inevitably hurting yourself by not knowing where your products and produce comes from and the contents of the product. Let's think about how capitalism, free trade and the mass consumerism has hurt consumers in the past year: lead in our toys, chemicals in our cosmetics, the beef recall and the massive slaughter company in the midwest.

Let's be aware, conscious consumers and shop at local, independent stores that actually care about our business and our health. Is it worth an extra few dollars, I think so..what about you?

... said Amelia on Feb 21, 2008 at 1:44 PM | link

Ok you answered my question, but I had to check so first I created a excel spead sheet of your work and then removed the things I would not buy, (no dog, dont drink, Im a guy) and Walmart still came up cheapest, so then I removed all the things I would not buy at a grocery store (stretching it, trying here...) and Walmart still came up cheapest.... SO, how about I walk to the Price Chopper, cant walk to Walmart... Does that count for something..? Then why would I go to Walmart?

... said H R Green on Feb 21, 2008 at 2:54 PM | link

Glad to see "Price Chopper" is false advertising!
I think I'll stick with my lovely Hannaford's, thank you very much.

... said JKT on Feb 21, 2008 at 4:36 PM | link

One more thought. Most of your items were national name brands. For comparing apple to apples, that makes sense. (They still MAKE Haagen Dazs?) But we almost always buy the store brands which I think might make it a bit closer. In the end, there are a few items we buy from W--T when we need them because they are not available at other stores. Then it's off to the Hannaford. Unless we need produce, then it's PC. How much is gas again?

... said Bob B on Feb 21, 2008 at 4:38 PM | link

Did you use an Advantage Card at Price Chopper?

... said Joe on Feb 21, 2008 at 6:52 PM | link

Amelia: Those are all important things to think about. Total cost is always a hard thing to get a hold of -- and keep in mind.

H R: You had us at "I created a excel spread sheet..." We've posted the spreadsheet we used in case anyone else would like to play around with the price data.

Bob B: That's a good point. We picked mostly national brands so we could do direct comparisons. We're kicking around the idea of doing something with store brands in the future -- we just have to recover from all the price checking during this round.

Joe: Good question. Yes, we did. The sale prices at Price Chopper are only available with the Advantage Card.

... said Greg on Feb 21, 2008 at 7:29 PM | link

People like to get all holier-than-thou about shopping at Wal-mart. Its an easy way to feel morally superior about one's supposedly educated consumerism. Trouble is, if everyone stopped shopping at Wal-mart we would not be back in some mythical era of mom-and-pop stores selling fair trade goods along picturesque pedestrian and bicycle accessible Main Streets. No, we would be suffering from a massive economic downturn and eating lots of canned beans and ramen.

Wal-mart carries the same national brand products as the other grocery retailers. So not everything in a Wal-mart store is handmade for spoiled American children by exploited developing-country children. Wal-mart also hires a lot of people who have, shall we say, underdeveloped skill sets and gives them a chance to gain valuable work experience. Its not like Wal-mart is singlehandedly putting people on the welfare rolls. Those names were already listed.

Only the weekly specials at Price Chopper are a good deal. Hannaford is better but still costs more. Whereas I can buy my organic cereal and baby crackers at an affordable price at Wal-mart any day of the week and support an organic, earth friendly manufacturer right here in the United States whose products I could not otherwise afford.

The poor Golubs, I am not supporting their uber-expensive local family owned business. Waaah.

... said Elizabeth on Feb 21, 2008 at 8:21 PM | link

We've preferred Hannaford for a long time... I've always found Price Chopper to be more expensive, especially on things we use frequently. For example, organic milk, which we buy for the kids: the last time I looked, it was $1.00 more per HALF GALLON at PC compared to Hannaford.

I refuse to get the "Advantage Card" so that PC can track my purchases, so on the rare occasions I do stop in, I end up paying higher prices.

This was an interesting exercise - I look forward to the next version!

... said Wendy on Feb 21, 2008 at 9:54 PM | link

One last comment, I went to walmart twice in the last year to get what I had thought were good walmart items. First I went for envelops... I wanted #9's .... well walmart does not carry anything more than #10 ok,

then I went to have my battery changed in the car... i waited in line 45 minutes, and then was told that they dont carry a battery for my car.. I drive a ford....

Elizabeth, this has nothing to do with either uber consumerism or mom and pop, for me anyway, walmart just doesnt cut it.

... said H R GREEN on Feb 21, 2008 at 10:59 PM | link

This was a great exercise and confirmed what I always thought about PC.

I hope that you do follow through with your store brand comparisons, and in so doing I hope you'll include Aldi's. Over the past few years, several of my neighbors have convinced me to shop there for the basics. Their daily prices on milk, eggs, bread, canned goods and limited produce ( Florida grapefruit & NY apples) embarasses PC & Hannaford. After much "sampling" I have their store brands (frozen veggies, pretzels, crackers, cereal, condiments, etc) to be VERY high quality.

Their product range is far less than the big boys, but the savings are huge.

... said bocuse on Feb 22, 2008 at 9:42 AM | link

could you include The Niskayuna Co-op in your study? their meats are beyond compare! don't know about the other items but they have regular sales which are good.

... said nancy on Feb 22, 2008 at 10:19 AM | link

I wish locally owned grocery stores like Greulich's (Rotterdam)
, Gabriel's (various locations), Niskayuna Co-Op, and Honest Weight were considered in this lineup.

These stores offer the usual array of grocery brands plus boutique items and seem to have a more knowledgeable staff. I find their prices are comparable, if not lower than the big chains... but never have done a head-to-head comparison.

Supporting locally owned businesses is always a good thing. However, even though locally owned, I avoid Price Chopper for their high prices and mandatory Advantage Card.

http://www.greulichsmarket.com/ -- Greulich's
http://www.gabfoods.com/ -- Gabriel's
http://niskayunacoop.com/ -- Niskayuna Co-Op
http://www.hwfc.com/ -- Honest Weight

... said mogwai on Feb 22, 2008 at 10:40 AM | link

H R Green- I did not mean to imply that there are not perfectly good reasons to skip shopping at Wal-mart. I understand not everyone wants to go there for whatever reason and I respect everyone's right to choose. I was speaking out against a specific preachy anti-Walmart attitude that I think is misleading and attempts to unjustifiably induce guilt.

... said Elizabeth on Feb 22, 2008 at 10:41 AM | link

What would skew our household's numbers is that we buy the non-food items at Wal-Mart, and the food items at Hannaford & Pricechopper. We save big on detergent, toiletries, and that sort of thing at WM, but their produce and meat are worth it. The quality just isn't there. We rather buy less of a good thing than more of a mediocre (value over cheapness).

... said James on Feb 22, 2008 at 9:05 PM | link

I wish Save-A-Lot had been included in this. If you want to find cheap prices, there's no question it's Save-A-Lot. You won't be able to find those brand names, though. You'll have to settle for the store's own brand, which usually appears as all sorts of different weird names depending on the food. The quality is as good as the national brands on most items.

... said Ryan on Mar 8, 2008 at 5:07 PM | link

I'm with Ryan and Bocuse on this one; I shop usually at Save-A-Lot (and occasionally at Aldi,) for my groceries, and my food bill is HALF of what it was when I was shopping at Price Chopper/Hannaford. It's worth noting too that I was buying generics whenever possible at Price Chopper/Hannaford, and they *still* can't beat Save-A-Lot/Aldi's in price, and the quality's the same! Save-A-Lot in particular usually has great produce, and unless you're looking for something a wee bit offbeat, they usually have what you're looking for in the way of groceries. I rarely spend more than $15/mo anymore at Price Chopper/Hannaford to get these little items, so it's totally worth it! Your wallet will thank you, especially on the brink of a recession!

... said Kim on Mar 28, 2008 at 9:13 PM | link