Discussion of product brands seen across the retail landscape. This is not to discuss products themselves, just the news and history of associated brands.
norcalriteaidclerk wrote: ↑December 23rd, 2023, 12:31 pm
$1.32 for the name brand candy bar?Doesn't seem that much cheaper than at the drugstore.
CVS is 1.79 for standard size candy bars (had a deal the past couple weeks 2 for $2 then get back $1 Extra Buck on 2).
7-Eleven is 2.19 for standard size candy bars. Some are $1 through tomorrow.
Quik Stop is 2.49 for standard size candy bars.
Rite Aid was 1.19 in Gardnerville/Tahoe/Truckee for standard size candy bars before it closed.
Smiths has been trying some things- they were trying to get 1.59 for Hershey Standard Size (lower for Ferrero/Mars-0.99-1.19) but now they are back down to 1.19 on Hershey products. Also near constant 1.00 sale price.
Wal Mart should be 0.98 for standard size candy bars in name brand. I don't know how they got so far past $1.
J-Man wrote: ↑December 22nd, 2023, 11:24 am
How true. I'm a store-brand fanatic, but only real Diet Coke will do. I always found it interesting that some products have either never been tried as store brands, or have been tried and abandoned. I'm thinking about things like anti-perspirants, toothpaste, etc. Bar soap, shower gel, and shampoo might exist as store brands, but I don't think they're very popular.
Does anyone have store-brand toothpaste anymore? (I think a few chains have a knockoff Sensodyne, but not regular ol' toothpaste) I remember in the 90's, CVS had store brand toothpaste, but I can't recall anyone else. I guess it's hard to get much lower than the $1 toothpaste brands from Chuch & Dwight (Arm & Hammer) like Aim and Pepsodent. Colgate uses the UltraBrite brand for their own 'discount' toothpaste. I know store-brand body wash and hand soap is a thing, but not bar soap. Walmart had some knockoff of Dove soap bars, but that seems to be gone. Outside of Dandruff and Baby Shampoo, store brand doesn't really to exist either except at the 'club stores'. I don't think I've ever seen store brand deodorant.
Side note:
UltraBrite was rated the #1 toothpaste (for just about everything) by Consumer Reports.
Yet you can hardly find it anywhere
When I do find it I buy at least a case of it ($1.25ea to $2.99 last time I found some).
veteran+ wrote: ↑December 24th, 2023, 7:59 am
Side note:
UltraBrite was rated the #1 toothpaste (for just about everything) by Consumer Reports.
Yet you can hardly find it anywhere
When I do find it I buy at least a case of it ($1.25ea to $2.99 last time I found some).
It seems like Walmart (still $1.00) and Dollar Tree are the only places that have it. Pretty much every basic toothpaste does the same basic thing...its a category I never really understood as there are several brands each with a half dozen+ different varieties.
storewanderer wrote: ↑December 23rd, 2023, 12:07 amI'm curious who makes these Wal Mart bars and where they are made. I'll have to look for one. With all the clearance upcoming on Christmas Candy, Valentine's Candy, and Easter Candy though, getting those items in name brand on clearance will be a better deal.
Or naybe not, The two Walmarts local to me marked everything down to 75% much later than they usually would. After one week, they tossed remaining inventory out. No 90% off and a short window to get it for 75% off.
storewanderer wrote: ↑December 23rd, 2023, 12:07 amI'm curious who makes these Wal Mart bars and where they are made. I'll have to look for one. With all the clearance upcoming on Christmas Candy, Valentine's Candy, and Easter Candy though, getting those items in name brand on clearance will be a better deal.
Or naybe not, The two Walmarts local to me marked everything down to 75% much later than they usually would. After one week, they tossed remaining inventory out. No 90% off and a short window to get it for 75% off.
My units went 75% off around December 31 and I could not believe how heavily it was being shopped that day. 90% off happened on around January 8 or 9 but excluded food/gift sets/cosmetics (so only wrap/decor/trees/lights/bags/bows/kitchen). Never found any pet stuff to see if it went 90% or stayed 75%. I went to one store that had junked everything that day it went 90% off then went to another one nearby that still had a couple aisles of stuff left and was selling it down at 90% off. Really inconsistent in how this was handled at stores a few miles apart.
I went into one store on Janaury 5 that had quite a bit left on December 30 and they had an employee clearing the stuff off the shelves throwing it into a watermelon pallet (literally throwing- could hear the banging and breaking). I was so disgusted as they had quite a bit and I was looking forward to 90% off there.
I found a store last weekend that had TONS of this stuff left in outdoor garden at 90% off. I bought something like 50 items. It was a fun checkout. I went to the cashier instead of self checkout for that one. First time at a Wal Mart cashier in a very long time. Just the slow and not very friendly attitude I remember from pre-self checkout days. Hate to say it wasn't really much less efficient or any less friendly than most grocery chain cashiers are now. Wal Mart's service has remained stable while the attitude at the chain grocers has really nosedived.
Matt Mitchell, a comedian on YouTube (formerly of the It's a Southern Thing channel) who does a fair number of food review videos, just released a video where he compares all five of the Great Value candy bars to the originals:
TL;DR version in spoiler text:
► Show Spoiler
He was able to correctly identify 4 out of the 5 Great Value candy bars blindfolded (the Kit Kat clone was the only one he missed.) Out of the five, he thought the Twix and Kit Kat clones were the closest ones to the real thing, and the 3 Musketeers clone was by far the worst. That said, he'd still buy the real ones because they are made in the USA.
