|
 Nov 13, 2003 - Budgetary-Dairy @ Trader Joes
 Congratulations to HeavyDuty (93110) again. She who won more free MOOOvie tickets for coming closest correctly ranking local grocery stores by the price they charge for milk. Duty had the first two in order ... which was better than anyone else.
Back in the good old days grocery stores tried to entice customers with low low prices. Stephanie Edwards has more than just Rose Bowl Parades on her resume, you know.
Now days, the key to choosing a store is whether or not there is a picket line in front. The Great Grocery Crunch of 2003 has eased off a little since the pickets were removed from Ralph’s (but there still is a bustling of stolen grocery carts heading off in all directions). The hard working staff at edhat.com journeyed into grocery land on Wednesday to see the difference in milk prices at grocery stores in town. Being 100% politically correct, we only surveyed the non-picketed stores.
Why Milk? Because milk is one of the most basic got-to-have items for which people go shopping. There is no such thing as impulse milk buying. You need it on your cereal, you need it in your coffee, and your kids need it to grow strong bones and teeth. If you go shopping and don’t come home with milk, the chances are you have to go back to the store.
Being a non-impulse item, milk is often displayed far from the store entrance so shoppers will need to walk past many other impulse items on the way. Many stores place milk on the opposite side of the store from the bread (the other key staple) to maximize a shopper’s exposure to all the store is selling. In our visit to 14 local grocery stores, milk was always in the back, 5 times in the back right, 8 times in the back left, and one time in the back middle. There are lots of brands available: Knudsen, Ross Swiss, Alta Dena, Sunnyside, Golden Cream, and Chas Bros. Only two stores, however, sold more than one brand.
The winner for cheapest was a runaway. Trader Joes, home of Two-Buck-Chuck, is also home to Budgetary-Dairy (you can use that) where it only costs $1.69 for a half gallon! The next cheapest prices were found at drug stores, Longs and Walgreen’s, which sold the Ross Swiss brand for $1.99. You can also buy a half-gallon of Knudsen for $1.99 at Cantwell’s Market (which looks more like Cantwell’s Deli these days). All of the other places that sold Knudsen sold it for more (much more) including Scolari’s ($2.99) and Gelson’s ($2.79).
Here is the complete list sorted by price:
|
Market
|
Location
|
Brand
|
Price
|
|
Trader Joes
|
Goleta
|
Trader Joes
|
1.69
|
|
Cantwells
|
Downtown
|
Knudsen
|
1.99
|
|
Longs
|
Upper State
|
Ross Swiss
|
1.99
|
|
Walgreens
|
Goleta
|
Ross Swiss
|
1.99
|
|
Santa Cruz
|
Goleta
|
Chas Bros
|
2.16
|
|
Seven Eleven
|
Upper State
|
Knudsen
|
2.49
|
|
Macs Market
|
IV
|
Chas Bros
|
2.49
|
|
AM/PM
|
Upper State
|
Knudsen
|
2.55
|
|
Lazy Acres
|
Mesa
|
Knudsen
|
2.59
|
|
Scolaris
|
Milpas
|
Sunnyside
|
2.59
|
|
Ralphs
|
Goleta
|
Ralphs
|
2.69
|
|
IV Market
|
IV
|
Golden Cream
|
2.69
|
|
Gelsons
|
Upper State
|
Knudsen
|
2.79
|
|
