Albertsons’ Soaring Prices

[HCal]

NorCal Safeway has some new increases the past week or two:

These are Reno prices so some items are still lower than CA.

Signature Hamburger/Hot Dog Bun (basic) old price 1.25 new price 1.55 (CA Price 3.79)
Signature Hamburger/Hot Dog Bun (premium) old price 3.99 new price 4.49
Signature English Muffin 6ct old price 3.49 new price 3.99
C&H 4lb Sugar old price 2.29 new price 3.29 (CA Price 3.99)
Signature Canned Vegetables old price 0.79 new price 1.99 (ouch... what are they thinking?)
Deli Pizza Dough (defrosted frozen ball) old price 1.99 new price 2.49

Are those base prices or card prices?

I just checked vons.com and the prices seem to be closer to Nevada than NorCal. Canned vegetables still 99 cents for example.

[Bagels]

Another example on this stacking of what appear to be "manufacturer" coupons.
Rite Aid- this week- has a thing on Colgate Toothpaste. It is an in-ad coupon. It says Rite Aid Coupon Offer.
Sale 3.99
In Ad Coupon 2.00-
Coupon at Riteaid.com 2.00-
Final price FREE

Now to dig a bit here.
The in-ad coupon says Rite Aid Coupon offer then in small print says "coupon value paid by manufacturer." Further when I go redeem that coupon in CA I have to pay sales tax on the redemption value so it is clearly coded as manufacturer coupon (not store coupon where the tax would fall off).

Then that coupon at Riteaid.com it too is a manufacturer coupon. In this case you actually need to buy additional items to make both coupons work so in this case I took a .40 candy and my subtotal is .39 (since the -.01 from the 2 coupons got applied to the candy).

So another example of when there is a promotion where 2 of what appear to be manufacturer coupons are being stacked on the same item and this is being promoted right by the retailer in the retailer's print ad.

You bring up some excellent points, but do they apply to Albertsons? The way CVS & Rite Aid handle their promotions is unique -> presumably to limit loss leaders, they would require a paper coupon (at CVS, it printed with your card; at Rite Aid, it came in the paper ad that was mailed to your home--but was often omitted in the paper ad available in store) that was tagged "manufacturers" and stackable.

In recent years, Kroger has acknowledged that "deal hounds" stacking paper and digital coupons was increasingly becoming a problem. They've instructed their cashiers that consumers can stack only one manufactures and one store coupon, whether they were paper or digital. Kroger has instructed its staff that when in doubt, reject the coupon. I play by the rules, and I regularly encounter resistance (and they're not duplicate coupons -> it could be a mailed store coupon that says 'take $1 off any brand cereal, etc.' "Deal hounds" often will often stack identical digital and paper coupons, and when told no, bring up Rite Aid/CVS thing. IMO, Rite Aid/CVS should really modify their policy to conform with the rest of the industry, so people can't plead ignorance.

I briefly re-joined Ralphs as a cashier when I was laid off during the Great Recession. Kroger's coupon policy was clear: you must read every coupon and ensure that consumers are purchasing the items, quantities and sizes specified, and following the rules set forth (e.g. one like coupon per transaction). Corporate was clear that the computer systems were not sophisticated enough to do this. Yet we got an increasing number of consumers who'd bring a $10 off Huggies coupon and insist it was perfectly legal to redeem it on a bottle of Tide, as long as the computer system accepted it. And that was at the beginning of the Mommy Blogger era, shortly before Extreme Couponing took off (which itself regularly committed coupon fraud, although allegedly the production company covered the full cost of the basket, and no coupons were actually redeemed, out of precaution).

[Bagels]

NorCal Safeway has some new increases the past week or two:

These are Reno prices so some items are still lower than CA.

Signature Hamburger/Hot Dog Bun (basic) old price 1.25 new price 1.55 (CA Price 3.79)
Signature Hamburger/Hot Dog Bun (premium) old price 3.99 new price 4.49
Signature English Muffin 6ct old price 3.49 new price 3.99
C&H 4lb Sugar old price 2.29 new price 3.29 (CA Price 3.99)
Signature Canned Vegetables old price 0.79 new price 1.99 (ouch... what are they thinking?)
Deli Pizza Dough (defrosted frozen ball) old price 1.99 new price 2.49

Are those base prices or card prices?

I just checked vons.com and the prices seem to be closer to Nevada than NorCal. Canned vegetables still 99 cents for example.

Safeway's Northern California division's prices are notoriously high. In NorCal, Safeway has 50% market share -- almost unquestionably the highest of any traditional grocer in any major market. Jewel (Chicagoland) came close, but it's fallen tremendously in recent years -- and despite being the only large chain in the third largest grocery market in the country, Jewel's prices are actually very competitive to Walmart and Target.

There's a looming canned vegetable shortage due to "supply chain issues," so Safeway's price hike may be a proactive response. But in any event, Albertsons seems to be taking full advantage of inflation concerns in unprecedented price hikes. Gotta wonder how long - at least in competitive markets - before people notice and take their business elsewhere.

[BillyGr]

Another example on this stacking of what appear to be "manufacturer" coupons.
Rite Aid- this week- has a thing on Colgate Toothpaste. It is an in-ad coupon. It says Rite Aid Coupon Offer.
Sale 3.99
In Ad Coupon 2.00-
Coupon at Riteaid.com 2.00-
Final price FREE

Now to dig a bit here.
The in-ad coupon says Rite Aid Coupon offer then in small print says "coupon value paid by manufacturer." Further when I go redeem that coupon in CA I have to pay sales tax on the redemption value so it is clearly coded as manufacturer coupon (not store coupon where the tax would fall off).

Then that coupon at Riteaid.com it too is a manufacturer coupon. In this case you actually need to buy additional items to make both coupons work so in this case I took a .40 candy and my subtotal is .39 (since the -.01 from the 2 coupons got applied to the candy).

So another example of when there is a promotion where 2 of what appear to be manufacturer coupons are being stacked on the same item and this is being promoted right by the retailer in the retailer's print ad.

Glad to hear that actually worked - it wouldn't here simply since there were no ads in the store, and we don't get them in newspapers since there are so few Rite Aids left after many switched to Walgreens.
The manager tried to modify the price of the toothpaste to $2 (to make up for the missing ad coupon), but then it didn't take the e-coupon (it had worked before the modification). I did have other items as well, though being the price was modified to $2 (rather than $1.99) it should have worked anyway.

Not sure exactly why these work when they seem they shouldn't, but if that is the way the stores do them it isn't really an issue with the customer, as they could easily program them not to (and even more easily not show you in the ad to use both).

[storewanderer]

Another example on this stacking of what appear to be "manufacturer" coupons.
Rite Aid- this week- has a thing on Colgate Toothpaste. It is an in-ad coupon. It says Rite Aid Coupon Offer.
Sale 3.99
In Ad Coupon 2.00-
Coupon at Riteaid.com 2.00-
Final price FREE

Now to dig a bit here.
The in-ad coupon says Rite Aid Coupon offer then in small print says "coupon value paid by manufacturer." Further when I go redeem that coupon in CA I have to pay sales tax on the redemption value so it is clearly coded as manufacturer coupon (not store coupon where the tax would fall off).

Then that coupon at Riteaid.com it too is a manufacturer coupon. In this case you actually need to buy additional items to make both coupons work so in this case I took a .40 candy and my subtotal is .39 (since the -.01 from the 2 coupons got applied to the candy).

So another example of when there is a promotion where 2 of what appear to be manufacturer coupons are being stacked on the same item and this is being promoted right by the retailer in the retailer's print ad.

You bring up some excellent points, but do they apply to Albertsons? The way CVS & Rite Aid handle their promotions is unique -> presumably to limit loss leaders, they would require a paper coupon (at CVS, it printed with your card; at Rite Aid, it came in the paper ad that was mailed to your home--but was often omitted in the paper ad available in store) that was tagged "manufacturers" and stackable.

In recent years, Kroger has acknowledged that "deal hounds" stacking paper and digital coupons was increasingly becoming a problem. They've instructed their cashiers that consumers can stack only one manufactures and one store coupon, whether they were paper or digital. Kroger has instructed its staff that when in doubt, reject the coupon. I play by the rules, and I regularly encounter resistance (and they're not duplicate coupons -> it could be a mailed store coupon that says 'take $1 off any brand cereal, etc.' "Deal hounds" often will often stack identical digital and paper coupons, and when told no, bring up Rite Aid/CVS thing. IMO, Rite Aid/CVS should really modify their policy to conform with the rest of the industry, so people can't plead ignorance.

I briefly re-joined Ralphs as a cashier when I was laid off during the Great Recession. Kroger's coupon policy was clear: you must read every coupon and ensure that consumers are purchasing the items, quantities and sizes specified, and following the rules set forth (e.g. one like coupon per transaction). Corporate was clear that the computer systems were not sophisticated enough to do this. Yet we got an increasing number of consumers who'd bring a $10 off Huggies coupon and insist it was perfectly legal to redeem it on a bottle of Tide, as long as the computer system accepted it. And that was at the beginning of the Mommy Blogger era, shortly before Extreme Couponing took off (which itself regularly committed coupon fraud, although allegedly the production company covered the full cost of the basket, and no coupons were actually redeemed, out of precaution).

When the coupons changed to the current form of bar code, they were able to better link the coupons to specific items. Before that, the coupons were programmed loosely based on UPC family (first series of numbers of UPC) and if you scanned a $10 off Huggies Coupon meant on a case of Huggles retailing $30+ on a transaction with a $10.99 Tide (both of which had the same first series of numbers of UPC) it would sometimes work. However this should not be the case anymore with how the coupon barcodes are set up now. It may still be the case at some retailers.

Kroger's system no longer allows the use of a digital manufacturer coupon and paper manufacturer coupon in the same transaction. It has been this way for at least the past 5 years now. It will kick out whatever was applied first if you try. Kroger's system used to allow this. Then they did an update where it allowed it only if a paper coupon was scanned before the loyalty card- a definite loophole (so the new policy became to make sure loyalty was scanned before coupons). They since fixed it so now it does not matter what order anything is scanned in, it will just only apply whatever was applied last and kick out what was applied first. The cashiers do not have to physically inspect each coupon (but nothing says they can't); customers are allowed to self-scan coupons at self checkout now as well.

I believe the system at Safeway works identical to Kroger with regard to paper coupon and digital coupon attempt on the same item.

[BillyGr]

Kroger's system no longer allows the use of a digital manufacturer coupon and paper manufacturer coupon in the same transaction. It has been this way for at least the past 5 years now. It will kick out whatever was applied first if you try. Kroger's system used to allow this. Then they did an update where it allowed it only if a paper coupon was scanned before the loyalty card- a definite loophole (so the new policy became to make sure loyalty was scanned before coupons). They since fixed it so now it does not matter what order anything is scanned in, it will just only apply whatever was applied last and kick out what was applied first. The cashiers do not have to physically inspect each coupon (but nothing says they can't); customers are allowed to self-scan coupons at self checkout now as well.

I believe the system at Safeway works identical to Kroger with regard to paper coupon and digital coupon attempt on the same item.

Is that only on one item?

It makes no sense if it is more than one. For instance if you have a $1 off item G digital and a $1 off item G paper coupon and you buy 2 packages of item G, you should be able to use both (the digital on one package, the paper on the other)?

That scenario is no different than if you had 2 newspapers and cut the coupon out of each one (of course, as long as the coupon doesn't say limit one per transaction, which most don't but there are a few that do).

[storewanderer]

Kroger's system no longer allows the use of a digital manufacturer coupon and paper manufacturer coupon in the same transaction. It has been this way for at least the past 5 years now. It will kick out whatever was applied first if you try. Kroger's system used to allow this. Then they did an update where it allowed it only if a paper coupon was scanned before the loyalty card- a definite loophole (so the new policy became to make sure loyalty was scanned before coupons). They since fixed it so now it does not matter what order anything is scanned in, it will just only apply whatever was applied last and kick out what was applied first. The cashiers do not have to physically inspect each coupon (but nothing says they can't); customers are allowed to self-scan coupons at self checkout now as well.

I believe the system at Safeway works identical to Kroger with regard to paper coupon and digital coupon attempt on the same item.

Is that only on one item?

It makes no sense if it is more than one. For instance if you have a $1 off item G digital and a $1 off item G paper coupon and you buy 2 packages of item G, you should be able to use both (the digital on one package, the paper on the other)?

That scenario is no different than if you had 2 newspapers and cut the coupon out of each one (of course, as long as the coupon doesn't say limit one per transaction, which most don't but there are a few that do).

I have had this exact issue at both Kroger and Safeway. I have seen it "kick out" the digital after the paper one is scanned even if two items are in the transaction. The best thing to do in this case is scan one item, then scan loyalty card, then total it out. The digital coupon will apply to that one item. Then scan the second item, total it, scan the paper coupon, and it will attach to the second item.

This issue does not take place if you have two identical paper coupons- wait until end of transaction and scan both and they will attach just fine.

[mjhale]

I have had this exact issue at both Kroger and Safeway. I have seen it "kick out" the digital after the paper one is scanned even if two items are in the transaction. The best thing to do in this case is scan one item, then scan loyalty card, then total it out. The digital coupon will apply to that one item. Then scan the second item, total it, scan the paper coupon, and it will attach to the second item.

This issue does not take place if you have two identical paper coupons- wait until end of transaction and scan both and they will attach just fine.

It is a pain to "out-manipulate" the system like this but you have to do what you have to do. I have also asked the cashier or self-checkout attendant to override on the second quantity of item X that I'm unable to scan my paper coupon for because the digital one already applied to the first of that same item. So far as long as the employee can verify that I am in fact buying two quantity of item X and want to use one digital and one paper coupon they have been willing to do that. What you can't do is to use a digital and paper coupon on the same item when you are only buying one. You can only use a paper or digital coupon along with the Just4U discounts.

Speaking of digital coupons, I had something interesting happen at Giant-MD (Ahold) today. I had on my card two digital coupons - one for $1 off two General Mills Cereals and another for $1.50 off two General Mills Cereals. I bought two boxes of Cheerios. I wondered if the system would give me the $1 or $1.50 coupon. Well it gave me both. $1 off one box and $1.50 off the other even though the coupons were off 2 boxes. I really should have purchased four boxes for both coupons to be valid. With the sale and the coupons each box of cereal was under $1. Nice little bonus today.

[Super S]

I don't play the coupon and card game. I have pretty much shifted to WinCo and Walmart. I do occasionally pop in to Fred Meyer for a gallon of milk and a couple of frozen dinner varieties I like that I can not find elsewhere, but other than that have moved most of my shopping elsewhere already due to all of the gimmicks. Safeway could disappear altogether and it would not affect my shopping habits at all.

I don't play the card/app/coupon games.

[Bagels]

We were in Albertsons last night and I was bored, so I started scanning various items with my Ralphs app. Ralphs was cheaper on nearly every single item -- the biggest culprits I found were large family style Stouffer's entrees ($18 at A, vs. $12 at R), Purex detergent ($14 at A vs. $7 at R) and Bounty towels ($28 at A vs. $15 R). Nearly every "specialty" item as well -- Justin's Peanut Butter and Matt's juices, for example, were $2+ less.

But if you change your location on your J4U to New England, download a coupon specific to Star Markets, then stack it with a paper coupon carried at Albertsons/Vons in Las Vegas area, then use a coupon intended for another item (don't worry, the system will take it but you must do it yourself at the self-checkout!!!), Albertsons in SoCal is cheaper!!!! Also, if you use the self-checkout and hit 'look-up item' before you put your king crab and lobster on the scale, then choose bananas, you can get them for 69c a lb. instead of $32.69!!!! What an amazing deal!!! If the cashiers are too lazy to do anything about it -- even if you leave the store with a cart full of groceries you didn't pay for -- it's the store's problem.

Just kidding . Please, ALWAYS use coupons responsibility so that we can enjoy savings forever.