Image credit Pretty ‘N Flawed
Although inflation has come down, prices remain high everywhere thanks to price gouging. Despite record profits, sales and foot traffic are down at stores like Target in comparison to wholesale clubs like Costco, Sam’s Club, and BJ’s. Even the Dollar Tree is pricing customers out. Just because the executives and stockholders are getting richer, it doesn’t mean the shoppers are. As a result, stores like Target, Walmart, IKEA, and Aldi have all announced that they’ll be lowering prices on thousands of items in order to stay competitive and get a little bit of good publicity.

Since many senior citizens in America are on a fixed income, AARP decided to make a shopping list of 30 common food items in the produce, canned goods, snacks, grains, dairy, meats/proteins, and frozen sections. Then, they looked at the prices for these items at a Walmart, Target, and Aldi on Long Island, NY and figured out the unit price for each one to determine which one is most affordable. Their results found that while some items like yogurt, peas, and chicken broth were all within pennies of each other, there were other items, like large eggs, cereal boxes, milk, and frozen berries that had substantial differences. The results? Ding, ding, ding, Aldi is the winner!

The Winner: Aldi: Aldi, which has 2,381 locations in 39 states and territories, including California, Florida, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania,Texas, and Washington, D.C., was the clear winner. From bananas to salmon, the basket at Aldi cost $66.11, compared with $67.63 at Walmart and $83.62 at Target. Agnes Sollecito, a 62-year-old retiree from Floral Park, New York, does her food shopping mainly at Aldi, lured by the low prices. She plans her meals by the bargains she finds at the store. “It’s definitely cheaper,” says Sollecito, pointing to two pineapples in her shopping cart. “These are $1.79.”

Aldi recently announced plans to reduce prices on over 250 items, including picnic supplies, barbecue essentials, travel-ready snacks and healthier foods, that it expects will save customers $100 million through Labor Day. A similar campaign saved customers $60 million last year, according to the company. Aldi pointed to persistent inflation as why it expanded its price reductions this year. Prices have clearly come down since last year. The same basket of goods cost $90.91 in May 2023.

Second Place: Walmart: Walmart, with more than 10,500 stores in every state and 19 countries, was only $1.52 more expensive than Aldi. Walmart’s generic brand held its own but was slightly more expensive in some categories, which pushed its basket bill over Aldi’s. In our price comparison last May, Walmart came out on top. At $88.37, its basket was $2.54 cheaper than Aldi’s.

Walmart may win back its top spot as it expands its ongoing program of price rollbacks this summer. Paul Madiefsky, a 68-year-old retiree from Long Island, hasn’t noticed the price cuts yet, but is still fond of the retailer. “Prices are reasonable. I don’t find them expensive, and they have good stuff,” says Madiefsky. To save money Madiefsky uses coupons, finding them online and in newspapers. As for Walmart’s price cuts, Madiefsky welcomes any savings. “It’s only a few pennies here, 20 cents there. But it adds up for people who are struggling,” he says.

Third Place: Target: Target, with 1,956 stores in every state, had the priciest basket by a wide margin. In many categories, Target’s prices were only slightly higher, but higher-priced salmon and no store-brand milk or cornflakes proved costly. Target’s basket was $17.51 more than Aldi’s with those three items, but just $5.86 more without them. It was $15.99 more than Walmart’s with them and only $2.21 more without them.

That may not matter for shoppers like Annette Kruzynski, a 78-year-old retiree from West Hempstead, New York, who sees grocery shopping at Target as an extra convenience. It was only recently, when she was shopping for cat litter, that she realized Target sold groceries. “Anytime we go to Target we pick up a few things,” says Kruzynski.

Target just cut the prices on 1,500 items, from milk to paper towels, with more to come. The retailer plans to reduce prices on about 5,000 items, which it says will save consumers millions of dollars this summer. Kruzynski says she’ll likely visit Target more if she can save. “We go where the sales are. Whoever has the lowest price gets our business,” says Kruzynski.

[From AARP]

When you look at the difference in some of those prices and total numbers, it is kinda crazy. I grew up on Long Island; it’s not a cheap place to live, but I know that higher prices are everywhere. We do a lot of our weekly grocery shopping at Wegmans and Target and get the bulk items at Costco. I noticed several months ago that Wegmans’ prices had come down quicker than other stores’ did and started scanning certain items using the Target app to price compare. In my area, Wegmans’ vegetables and store brand bread, milk, and cereal are all better prices and quality than Target and other local stores. I don’t live conveniently close to an Aldi, but it having the best prices does track with what I’ve heard from friends and read on local mom Facebook groups. Do they have good quality chicken, fish, and meat? I will have to make it a point to make a trip there within the next week or so.

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Photo note by CB: Some images are thumbnails from Pretty ‘N Flawed, who has shopping videos. Alsi video is here