Roof on the local "budget" grocery collapsed this am (Milwaukee suburb)

[HereSince1628]

http://www.jsonline.com/watch/?watch=1&date=3/1/2007&id=19900

Apparently rain on top of the weekend snow was too much for the Pic & Save roof at 124th and Capitol Drive. I think that's Brookfield but it's on the border with Milwaukee and Wauwatosa.

I don't use the store much, I don't much like "warehouse" shelving and Nascar shopping cart skills...

The parent corp bought out a bunch of Jewel stores, including the one that was across the street. Sweet revenge I guess...Pic loses its highest dollar volume store in the area as the Jewel sells off it's inventory at 50% off.

[Norquist Nemesis]

1. You guys have certainly had more than your share of snow lately

Every time there's a trickle, it seems like you're getting slammed.

[HereSince1628]

2. At least it hasn't been ice...no major power outages

at least yet...

[kestrel91316]

3. OMG. My sister works at St. Luke's, the big hospital there in

Brew City! Wonder if anybody was hurt?

Guess she'll tell me if there was...........

[dragonlady]

4. Ha! Not really a "budget" store

Pick n Save used to have low prices, back around 1990, when you actually had to pack your own groceries and it was more like a warehouse store. It has gradually morphed into near-upscale. Now they have the full line of products, baggers, deli and fancy produce, pharmacies in some of them, etc. Since the Kohl's grocery stores closed, their prices have been going up, and now with replacing the Jewel stores they'll have even less competition. They have also built some unnecessary stores (too close to the ones they already have) in order to drive out other chains that might build on those sites.

So, what to do? Instead of just capitulating, we have diversified our purchasing among other stores: a real budget store for some of the basics, another chain store farther away that has some things we can't get nearby, and a smaller supermarket that has really good produce and great price on milk. And when I shop at Pick n Save I buy mostly the sale items and go on double coupon Wednesdays. It's a great feeling when the tape tells me I saved about a third of the total.

[HereSince1628]

5. For our neck of the woods, the Jewel was the cheapest place

to get most things. But like you we shop around. It's really the only way to have an idea what "regular" prices really are. Also shopping several times a week makes it quite likely that you'll catch products being discounted

You probably know it, but what the receipt tape says you saved really means nothing. When I worked at Pic a couple summers ago, they rather commonly reset prices for their Produce Dept. 50% up from the previous week and then the folks in pricing sent out big bicolor sale signs indicating that higher price was a 15%-25% savings. It made it pretty obvious thatthe percent off statement was ambiguous bordering on misleading.

Also, you probably know that in terms of profitability, grocery sundries--things in boxes and cans have little profit margin, it's the perishables and value added stuff that makes the stores profitable. Hence the spread of fancy produce (there's a great margin in pre-cut fruit near 50% while a box of cereal is a tiny percent), bakeries and delies in almost all grocery stores.

When you "shop the walls" of the store, like many nutritionists will tell you to do, you make the grocer more money than when you go up and down the isles buying the "unhealthy" processed foods. The grocers know it and they put in the mid-aisle displays in the profitable areas to try to slow you down and keep you in those areas to make an impulse purchase.

[dragonlady]

8. I treat it as a game

I do what I can to get around their tricks. True, the sale price is rather fictional, but when they put something we use on sale I really stock up. It's better than buying one at a time at their regular price. And the dollar coupon on that low-profit cereal doubled on Wednesday makes me smile. That's what I mean by saving. I buy only what we need (no deli and fancy veggies), and I have an upper limit for things and won't buy at a higher price.

[WI_DEM]

6. yeah I was wondering about the budget thing too, since Pic and Save around here is pretty nice

looking and fully stocked store.

[HereSince1628]

7. Well, I guess I need to do more than put something in quotations

to indicate the notion is questionable. I'm not quite sure what punctuational convention provides for that but I'll try to do better in the future.

I don't think any chain in Milwaukee county claims to be cheaper than these Roundy's Big Box stores? If you know of one please let me know.

[dragonlady]

9. A cheaper chain

We've been going to Aldi's more often lately for basic things like eggs and garbage bags and tissues at a big saving. Many of their items are of quite reasonable quality. The only drawback is that you need cash or debit card or food stamps, and they charge for bags (we take some from home). If you plan ahead, it's a way to save some on the household budget.