Free State Family is a parent blog full practical and entertaining information for parents in and around Lawrence, Kansas. Not from the area? No problem! We also have a healthy dose of general musings suitable for the wider audience.
I went to Dillons on 23rd the other day to stock up on some snacks for a trip and to get a few dinner supplies. (Normally, I choose to support Lawrence's locally owned supermarket, Checkers, but you can't avoid a trip to Dillons once in a while if you live in Lawrence.)
When I looked down at my receipt, I felt the usual warm glow of thriftiness: I'd saved 12.91 just by having my Dillons plus card.
Then I started wondering: how much does this little piece of plastic really save me? Is it just an illusion that I'm saving any money?
I decided to do some comparison shopping. Two days later, I returned to Checkers with the exact same list of things I bought at Dillons. Here's what I came up with. (OK, I realize there's a lot of junk food here. I'm not Richard Simmons.)
Item
Price at Checkers
Price at Dillons
Red Baron Pizza (x2)
7
5.04
Mendota sparkling water 12 pack
3.38
3.99
Santitas chips
2
2.29
Keebler Bistro crackers
3.25
2.99
Kraft "Cracker Cuts" cheese
2.39
2.99
Juicy Juice boxes 8-pack
2.25
3.29
Pace Picante Sauce 64 oz
4.99
6.89
Pepperidge Farm cookies
2.70
2.79
Oroweat "HealthNut" bread
2.75
2.50
2 Ribeye steaks (1.45 pounds)
8.53
11.58
Kansas City strip steak (.81 pounds)
5.82
6.47
Senor Stan's hot salsa
3.05
3.89
Store-brand brown rice (32 oz)
0.95
1.79
Store-brand unsalted butter, 1 pound
2.29
2.49
Hot-house tomato (.45 lb)
0.68
1.35
Avocado
1.35
1.59
Danimals yogurt smoothies (8 pack)
2.99
3.15
TOTAL
56.37
65.08
There you have it. Checkers really is cheaper. If I hadn't had the "Plus" card at Dillons, the discrepancy would have been $12 greater.
Granted, there are some things I'd prefer to get at Dillons. (Lately they've had good avocados. Checkers has decent steaks, but those at Dillons are consistently better.)
The floors aren't finished at Checkers and you have to bag your own groceries. But if you live in Lawrence and you've never been there, don't let snobbery hold you back. You don't even need a "Plus" card.
Comments
Aha! Proof positive.
I knew it always FELT like I was spending less at Checkers. But I was always too lazy to see if it was so.
Posted by: Brenda at July 14, 2007 01:06 PM
Thanks for sharing! I shop at HyVee quite a bit, but think I'll try going to Checkers more often. Isn't it true that they sell more local products as well?
Posted by: Lori at July 14, 2007 06:23 PM
Yeah, I left out Hy-Vee on this one, in part because it's far away from me and I can't stand the in-store TV advertisements. Plus, the last time I went, they gave me one plastic bag for every 1.2 grocery items before I had a chance to protest. But maybe I'll save my receipt next time I go there and see if the Vee can beat Checkers.
I'm not sure about whether they carry more local products at Checkers, but I know they have a lot of local stuff and lots of good Asian/Mexican foods.
Posted by: Eric at July 14, 2007 08:17 PM
The bread, something we buy multiple times a week, is cheaper at Dillons. I'd also like to compare the orange juice, block cheese, and organic milk prices.
The difference is salsa price is pretty impressive.
Posted by: liz at July 15, 2007 09:04 AM
My husband always, always shops checkers for the mainstays and Costco for the bulk meats and pasta and stuff that we store in our deep freeze. I am trying to get him to buy a side of beef from Amy's Meats but he's all about saving money.
Checkers appeals to all of the foreign graduate students so you can find a bigger international offering.
I was in charge of getting grocery sacks for the cub scout "scouting for food" to replenish the salvation army food pantry and Dillons made a big stink about donating. I would have had to request by application and wait until their committee met to deem my cause worthy of the donation. I called Jim Lewis, in a panic, and he said, come on down, you can have all that you need. He's a nice guy and a shrewed business man. All of his sacks say "Checkers" on them. I passed out at least 100. And the food pantries benefited too.
Posted by: Meg at July 20, 2007 10:10 PM
I'm curious about Aldi. I'll bet the food is cheap, but something about it feels Mormon cult-like to me. Am I alone in my fears?
Posted by: molly at July 22, 2007 10:32 AM
My mom has a friend who is an pretty loyal Aldi shopper, but I have always been skeptical as well. They make you pay for use of a cart and bags (I actually think all stores should charge for bags, but that's another blog). I'm sure that allows them to have noticeably lower prices.
Posted by: liz at July 23, 2007 10:27 AM
Aldi and Checker's are thee best stores in town. Both don't require cards. Both have professional and courteous staff who care. The prices correctly match the shelves, all the time. In a pinch, Checker's will help you sack -and they do it right. At Aldi, your car will never get hit by a cart because you deposit a quarter and get it back when you return the cart. Hy-Vee is a very frusterating store -cheese in four different places. For Deli items, Dillon's is best.
Posted by: rae-rae at July 23, 2007 03:23 PM
Well, if we're adding Aldi in the discussion, should we include Wal-Mart? I really dislike Wal-Mart, but I can get Kashi cereal for less than $2.50 a box! It's really hard to pass that up. However, I prefer to support the locally owned businesses for the bulk of my purchases and it sounds like Checkers is great about supporting the community as well.
Posted by: Lori at August 1, 2007 07:55 AM
WalMart has prioritized pricing for niche markets to prevent expansion into those markets by competitors. They are losing money on organic foods, etc. in order to make sure that other grocery stores find no efficacy in stocking organics.
That way they get you to buy your other items there, too. Because they know that people who shop organic are tenacious loyalists -- and they want that business.
