Target in DC seems to peg their pricing a little below the major chains for groceries and related items although they don't seem to have as much promotional activity on some items. This means that Starbucks and other branded coffee like Peet's is $1 or so a bag cheaper, but once a month you can get it for $2-3 less than Target at Safeway or Giant. The price of the Starbucks coffee is closer to NYC or SF in DC than your other locations, and there isn't a city-suburban differential here. The pegging to local prices has been the case for as long as I've been here time, so I'd assume that Target has pegged their prices to the market everywhere for consumables. DC prices used to be higher than those in the suburbs, at least in Safeway, but they eliminated that around the time that Giant began investing again in DC proper.
Apart from whatever it is that Target does, NYC is very competitive for a lot of items and has been for ages. The wholesaling districts have mostly moved to the suburbs but until recently, lighting was cheaper than in most places. It remains a good place to buy electronics and the big operation were doing mail order to build volume for decades. I've been buying camera equipment in person and by mail from NY places for a long time--the selection and price beat anything local even in a big city like Atlanta (which really had only one decent store, which was part of the crappy Wolf chain) or DC. Even with the disappearance of the garment district as a manufacturing or wholesaling area, it's possible to get very good deals on very typical clothes. There's a great legacy army/navy type store that beats all on Carhartt and similar clothing.
storewanderer wrote: ↑March 24th, 2024, 1:54 pm It appears Target has determined how to deal with the issues in San Francisco and evidently places like NYC too. They have increased prices compared to many other areas on consumable/high theft drugstore type items.
The following list of items:
San Francisco 789 Mission (large store just off Union Square)
Pleasant Hill, CA (30-40 miles from San Francisco, well off suburb)
Seattle, WA Pike Plaza 2nd St.
Burbank, CA 1800 West Empire
Tulsa, OK 1701 S. Yale
Fort Worth, TX 301 Carrol St.
Manhattan, NY Upper West Side 98th at Columbus
Orlando, FL 880 Sand Lake Road
Gillette Fusion 5 with 4 blade refills:
San Francisco: 21.99
Pleasant Hill: 19.99
Seattle: 21.99
Tulsa: 19.99
Burbank 21.49
NY: 23.99
Orlando: 19.99
Tampax Pearl 18ct Regular Absorbancy:
San Francisco: 6.49
Pleasant Hill: 5.29
Seattle: 4.99
Burbank 5.39
Tulsa: 4.79
NY: 5.99
Orlando: 4.79
Tampax Pearl 36ct Regular Absorbancy:
San Francisco: 10.19
Pleasant Hill:8.39
Seattle: 8.49
Tulsa: 7.99
Burbank: 8.39
NY: 10.19
Orlando: 7.99
Advil 200ct
San Francisco: 19.69
Pleasant Hill: 18.39
Seattle: 19.49
Burbank: 18.99
Tulsa: 18.39
NY: 20.99
Orlando: 18.39
Trojan Condoms 12ct
San Francisco: 10.89
Pleasant Hill: 8.59
Seattle: 10.19
Burbank: 9.99
Tulsa: 7.99
NY: 10.19
Orlando: 7.99
Tide Pods Original 76ct
San Francisco: 19.99
Pleasant Hill: 19.99
Seattle: 22.49
Tulsa: 19.99
Burbank 19.99
NY: 19.99
Orlando: 19.99
Starbucks 12oz Dark Ground Coffee
San Francisco: 11.69
Pleasant Hill: 9.99
Seattle: 11.29
Burbank: 10.39
Tulsa: 9.99
NY: 11.19
Orlando: 9.99
Heinz Ketchup 32 oz
San Francisco: 6.29
Pleasant Hill: 4.99
Seattle: 5.99
Burbank: 5.79
Tulsa: 4.99
NY: 6.39
Orlando: 4.99
Schwinn Cyclone Bike Tire Pump Floor Orange
All: 19.99
Mr. Coffee 12 Cup Switch Black Coffee Maker
All: 27.99
Quaker State 5W20 Motor Oil
All: 4.79