Kroger now playing "high center store price" games?

[pseudo3d]

I'm normally an H-E-B shopper but Kroger is closer, and despite missing a lot of items I normally buy at H-E-B, it's less crowded and even carries a few items H-E-B doesn't (this is a chronic problem I've noticed even in Houston, what does H-E-B have against kumquats?) but I had to "shop around" today because the Pompeian extra virgin olive oil was now $7.99 for a 16-ounce bottle, nearly twice as expensive as what H-E-B and Walmart normally charge. I refused to buy it at that price, and instead went to Walmart where I purchased a bottle for $8.25 but a 32 ounce bottle. Admittedly I don't shop at Kroger all that much, but when did they start playing the high/low pricing game? Who do they think they are, Albertsons circa 2001?

[klkla]

Albertson's is still like that today. At least here in SoCal.

Kroger has never been an EDLP chain. They've always been hi/low but had lowered a lot of every day prices a couple years ago.

It could be a mistake or a temporary price increase, as well. Back when I was in the industry it was not unusual to raise prices on high volume items like milk, eggs, butter, bread e.t.c... for a couple days because it was a quick way to raise cash and then lower them again when the goal was met. I remember one specific incident when prices were raised for a weekend so they could make payroll instead of doing short term borrowing.

[buckguy]

Albertson's is still like that today. At least here in SoCal.

Kroger has never been an EDLP chain. They've always been hi/low but had lowered a lot of every day prices a couple years ago.

It could be a mistake or a temporary price increase, as well. Back when I was in the industry it was not unusual to raise prices on high volume items like milk, eggs, butter, bread e.t.c... for a couple days because it was a quick way to raise cash and then lower them again when the goal was met. I remember one specific incident when prices were raised for a weekend so they could make payroll instead of doing short term borrowing.

Depends where you live and when...have lived in a number of different Kroger territories and they've had EDLP and high/low, sometimes going from to another. Kroger tends to be a defensive operator, esp. when it comes to price. I can only recall one time where they instigated a price war and they were gone a few years later.

[pseudo3d]

Albertson's is still like that today. At least here in SoCal.

Kroger has never been an EDLP chain. They've always been hi/low but had lowered a lot of every day prices a couple years ago.

It could be a mistake or a temporary price increase, as well. Back when I was in the industry it was not unusual to raise prices on high volume items like milk, eggs, butter, bread e.t.c... for a couple days because it was a quick way to raise cash and then lower them again when the goal was met. I remember one specific incident when prices were raised for a weekend so they could make payroll instead of doing short term borrowing.

I say 2001 because Albertsons had the card back then (J4U is not exactly the same thing). I don't like grocers with shoppers cards, but I could put up with Kroger because it had comparable and sometimes cheaper stuff than H-E-B did. Walmart's staple items (like milk) is usually the highest of the three locally (H-E-B, Kroger, Walmart--Aldi's not counted because I'm not driving 7 miles to a grocery store when I can access three within two miles), but Kroger had both decent prices on perishables and center store. But when I'm paying $4 more (twice as much) as other retailers for center store, that's a really bad sign, and I've never seen that at Kroger before. I used to get olive oil like that when I lived in Houston (same division) and while I can't recall the exact price, it sure as heck wasn't $7.99 for a bottle.

[storewanderer]

This is nothing new at Kroger. There have always been certain items across various categories that they have priced very high. These are usually slower moving items, specialty items, etc. Their prices in the vitamin category are crazy high, for instance. Their "lower prices" focus has always been on a minority of SKUs but over the years they have continually added more and more SKUs. There are a number of items I do not buy there unless they are on a deep discount sale, but over the years, that has become fewer and fewer items as they keep sharpening up their pricing. The selling point is Kroger has competitive prices within 5-10% of Wal Mart on an everyday basis on thousands of items, often fast moving items. Then, many sale prices that easily beat Wal Mart on top of that.

As you point out, they are reasonably priced on a lot of items on an everyday non-sale basis. Not every item. This is why it pays to know your prices. And this is why I like Kroger. I know they may attempt to rip me off on 2 of 10 items, and since I know my prices, I can easily go elsewhere. The problem with Albertsons and Safeway is they try to rip me off on 9 of 10 items, so it is a waste of time and effort to even attempt any major shopping there. Albertsons and Safeway at present and 10 years ago were not and are not reasonably priced on anything unless the items are on sale, and deeply discounted at that.

I did a few price checks today and found that same olive oil is 8.59 at Smiths and the tag date is from December, so this is not a recent increase, and appears to be something they do not put on sale much... same oil is 4.54 at Wal Mart in Nevada and WinCo only has the 34 ounce stocked, which is currently on sale at 4.97 (they don't post regular prices so no idea what it is). Kroger's pricing in the entire olive oil category seems very high. Conversely, their vinegars are well priced and other oils were all over the place (well priced on Kroger brand stuff, not so well priced on name brand ones).

In my walk through Wal Mart today I found numerous items that had higher everyday prices there than Smiths, along with numerous sale items at Smiths that are priced significantly below Wal Mart. I cannot stress and believe you have attested to what a benefit it is to know your prices. I actually think a full cart shop would have a good chance being lower at Smiths than Wal Mart, but it would depend on the items. I do think WinCo could beat Smiths on a cart even with a lot of good Kroger sales mixed in.

[aroundtownbrown]

Hey Guys One category does not create a trend.
With the shortage of Olive oil world wide, it makes sense as the distributors sale out of old stock and have to restock. That the retailer would either have to raise the price or sale it at a lower margin.

Olive oil prices going up after bad Italian harvest.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/bu ... /98202144/

[storewanderer]

I was at Save Mart (usually a high price leader) and saw they had the 34 Pompeian EVOO ounce at a sale price of 5.99 and regular price of less than $10....

Over at Smiths the 34 ounce Pompeian EVOO was $15.99.

I have looked at olive oil at all major chain grocers in my area lately; Save Mart, Raleys, Wal Mart, Safeway... Smiths everyday prices for name brand olive oils are dollar(s) higher than every other competitor and they don't have much promotion going on (maybe that will change next week?). They are fairly priced on the Kroger brand, which is what I have bought for years. Curiously, Smiths selection of brands, sizes, and types of olive oil is far wider than any of the competitors.

[SamSpade]

In a larger Portland-area QFC today. The only Pompeian carried is $8.99 for a 16 oz. "Less acid" bottle. Large Napoleon or Bertoli brand bottles $11.99.

[SamSpade]

WinCo Foods this week (& remembering what I like & dislike about it) the large Pompeian was $8.98 / 48 oz. , 24 oz. $4.48. Odd sizing by this manufacturer. Most bottles here were 1/2 or 1 litre.