Comparing Grocery Store Prices
Comparison by Arboreality
Arboreality recently compared base grocery prices for 22 items at 3 stores: Madison Market, QFC on Broadway, and Whole Foods on Denny Way (neighboring Capitol Hill), then compiled a list. The store with the lowest base price? Whole Foods, followed by Madison Market. QFC had the highest prices without sale or club card. Granted, these products are brand name, organic items, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the numbers came back in a similar order even if you bought store brand, non-organic (if offered) items.
This experiment casts a bit of doubt on the idea that Whole Foods = Whole Paycheck, though I suppose if you were comparing Whole Foods to Grocery Outlet, G.O. would win. There is also the idea that buying groceries at Whole Foods/PCC/Madison Market causes people to spend much more than they have to, but there are ways around that. My husband and I implemented a limited grocery budget while we shuffle extra money into savings and though that restricts impulse buys (which aren’t an issue for us most of the time), we’re still able to shop primarily at Madison Market.
It would be interesting to include prices of food staples of other grocery stores, such as Trader Joe’s, Safeway, and Pike Place Market.
Good lord. That is the most cherry picked grocery list I’ve ever seen. I’d like to see the family that specifically buys WestBrae black beans, Quiron breaded chicken patties, Nancy’s fruit & yogurt cup, Amy’s California burgers. (ironically those would be families that don’t need to save the $14 noted here…)
For normal people who just want to buy english muffins, peanut butter, cheerios, luncheon meats and aren’t going to spend the premium on "organic, all-natural", Whole Foods is still ridiculously expensive.
So basically, if you’re going to buy ultra premium stuff and drop $200 a week on groceries, you can go to Whole Foods or Madison Market and save 15%? Great…
(also, I’m betting QFC prices don’t include their regular 50% off sales on various goods….)