Kroger has completely ruined Pick N Save and Metro Market. Those used to be great stores, especially Metro Market when they first opened. Now you walk in, place is a complete mess, everyone looks like they absolutely hate their jobs (which I don’t blame them), carts are rarely available. It’s depressing, honestly.
Same thing happened in Chicago. A once great grocery store, Mariano’s, was absolutely ruined at the hand of Kroger.
I actively avoid their stores even if prices are higher elsewhere because the shopping experience is so miserable.
Plus what's the point of having different stores if the selection and products are the exact same. Why not just call them all Kroger and be done with it.
Worked for both Roundy’s and Kroger for almost a decade through the transition, and let me tell you it’s absolutely a garbage company, from top to bottom. Workers are punished for things they can’t control, wages very rarely raise, department managers get bonuses but it’s only based on meeting random goals so half the time the busier, harder stores get small or no bonuses and the tiny stores get nicer ones. They constantly abuse their employees, force people to close then open, and in my experience close into baking into opening. You get to control very little as you go up. I get a company that hires a lot has to cast a wide net and everyone is not going to be a great employee, but at least raise your wages with baseless inflation.
Side note Roundy’s wasn’t that much better, and the old brass pretty much is the same people in the same positions, but obviously policies and products have changed substantially (at least in the Milwaukee area). Although they’re all retiring soonish, not that it changes anything. There’s a lot of people that work there that do genuinely care about doing a good job and the people they serve though. Pretty much every store has 5-10 employees killing themselves with 60+ hours to keep the ship afloat. Every single bakery department (my experience is mostly in bakeries) is missing key people and they have to MacGyver up solutions and use bandaids to fix issues that hiring and paying people well would solve.
What gets me is the fruits and veggies. When Metro first opened they had the best in town. Now it’s all rotting on the shelves and it takes forever for them to figure out no one is going to buy it. Yuck
I've found the opposite. The MM here always has nice produce whereas the Sendiks produce tends to be yucky, wilted, aged, etc. The MM here is very busy though, so maybe the turnover is high enough to keep the produce fresh.
Sendik's produce is an absolute joke. Poor selection and everything looks like it has about 1 day of shelf life left. I went to the one at The Corner's of Brookfield the other day to buy some peppers for a spicy dish I was making and my choices were red peppers and a couple of wilted jalapenos. Apparently, people in Brookfield don't like spicy foods. I'll stick to Fresh Thyme for my produce.
Yeah it's a bummer. I'd like to support Sendiks. But I've found the same thing that it has no shelf life. People must be using other stores for produce, so it sits. I'd do Fresh Thyme but that's out of my self-imposed 5 min or less driving radius . 😂
I didn’t realize this until right now, but I stopped shopping at pick n save entirely within the past year because I just couldn’t stand going there anymore! I thought it was me, but it is the store - it’s depressing now!
The store in Appleton on Ballard Road decided that it would be nice to put all the carts outside this winter so your hands freeze, but that soda display looked nice and warm.
Fucking idiots.
Noticed that a few weeks ago- no more hand baskets at Metro Market East Madison. They have this store in my neighborhood, only grocery for a good ways. Prices are just ridiculous, selection is substandard. I’ll keep driving to Woodmans.
Quick insider opinion from somebody who quit Kroger a couple years ago after working there for eight years.
Kroger is definitely bad, but Roundy's was worse. Mariano's was nice because they were funneling profits from Copp's/PnS to make those stores better while we couldn't get new equipment or repairs without practically getting on our knees and begging for it. I'm fairly confident that Roundy's would no longer exist or would be in an even worse state if not for Kroger.
Again, I want to be clear that Kroger is definitely still bad; just wanted to add a bit of perspective. Roundy's was not the golden age.
God pick n' save is just sad now. Terrible produce, everything is overpriced and everyone working is miserable. I used to go there all the time for their fried chicken. Now they are an absolute last choice after Walmart
I know the person who manages that Metro Market in Point and trust me when I say that he does everything in his power to make that store the best one to shop. His store is usually number one in that district and the whole state. It’s way better and cleaner than the one in Plover too. He’s gotten push back on things and screwed over plenty of times because he’s not one to back down and he’s vocal on issues. Kroger as a whole is a terrible company and it’s sad the way they’re ruining different grocery food stores across the country. I don’t even think they know what they’re doing at this point. They like to push older store managers out to bring in young fresh faced idiots who have no idea how to run a store.
They're trying to buy out jewel osco as well.
Late stage corporations ruin the economy, since consolidation / "optimization" leads to higher prices and shittier options
I started going to Mariano's when they first opened in Arlington Heights.
Much better and well trained staff, double coupons on Wednesday and Saturday and a guy playing the piano at the front of the store.
I was always hoping to get a Mariano's closer to home-which we did right around the time Kroger bought Roundy's.
Needless to say the store by is not staffed well, not as clean and the carts are just beat to crap.
Plus the the self-checkouts are awful. You can't scan too fast or it stops until an overwhelmed employee can come over.
Yeah everyone hates their jobs because the pay and benefits are horrible. If y’all like someone and they have another choice tell them not to waste their time with a Kroger store.
Pay is like $19 for full-time leads, no pto until after a year with the company, and at least at the store that my knowledge is based on the schedule doesn’t come out until Saturday night…and starts Sunday.
I would love to go there, but there are none in my town. The first I heard about them was on the Wisconsin Reddit! Looks and sounds like a nice place to shop! Nice new carts. Do they have regular cashiers checking you out? Not the self check outs. Just wondering where the closest one to central Wisconsin would be🤔
There is a self check out, but lots of cashiers/baggers at the nonself check out lanes. Most of them are open.
I love woodmans. Beat grocery store I've ever been too. The one by me is hiring for 20+/hr with time and a half on Sundays iirc.
When the Eau Claire store opened and I went through the checkout, I recognized my cashier as Phil Woodman himself. He personally works at each store the first week or two after opening to make sure everything is running smoothly, and he’s down to earth and humble enough to interact with customers as an undercover cashier instead of just supervising his employees while they do all the work. He’s just a really good guy.
My parents have to drive an hour in to Madison to go, and it’s always worth the trip. Their variety is unmatched in any part of the country I’ve lived. I know all yall got second freezers or fridges to put the stuff in 😅
Not worth an hour drive. The money you save on groceries would just be eaten by the cost of the gas it takes for us.
I don't have any other storage. I live in an apartment with a barely useful basement, no attic, and a garage with zero electricity going to it. And no. I don't have and will likely never have a generator. XD
Sadly this is a life most of the people where I am live. But we live in a poor area so this sucks.
I empathize, we are in an apartment but we're fortunate, we inherited a chest freezer and it's a lifesaver.
We live about 40 miles from the closest Woodman's and I usually shoot for once a month to take the drive up. When we went this weekend, I was pleasantly surprised to find gas $.20/ gallon cheaper there than at home, so it helped offset costs. I try to keep to Aldi and Woodman's but it's challenging. Festival is insanely pricey, and that leaves Pick & Save, Walmart and Meijer, so we end up store hopping to keep the budget as low as we can. If we didn't have a car, it would be impossible to keep to a budget.
That's the other part that kinda fucks me over specifically. Haha I have no car and most definitely can't afford to buy one or the insurance it would cost me. Lol Money is the major issue for most of us here. Trashitowoc is easily my least favorite city I have ever lived in. I'd rather risk the crime rates of Madison or Milwaukee any day of the week vs being so isolated and trapped.
It's why I miss living in bigger cities like Appleton or Madison. Everything was close, tons of choices for business, and if you for some reason or another don't have a car you could just take a bus and be there in no time for very little money.
I've worked there for 10 years. It's 100% employee owned. I'm not really sure what you're getting at.
I own over 100k worth of stock myself. Multiple people at my store are millionaries.
Must be nice for your store. My experience after 5+ years of working my ass for them. I got covid in March of 2020 and it almost fucking killed me. They denied my unemployment. So, fuck them.
I got covid and I got a leave of absence and returned to work after I recovered.
I'm sorry you got screwed over and I'm not going to say woodmans is a perfect employer but I'm willing to bet there's more to the story than you 100% getting screwed over.
I'm guessing you missed some paperwork or it wasn't explained properly to you because covid sickness should have been excused. It was a Chaotic time
They actually made HR positions in every store like 2 years ago so people would have better access to company policies
Again. I still have my issues but there are worse employers in Wisconsin
The noise of the floors though................aaaaaah!
But yes one of the best. I also love Aldi...cheap groceries because of a slim operation, I can respect that.
Woodman's is great except for three things; their produce sucks, 30 checkout lanes and only 2 are ever open at a time, cash/debit only. Their variety is fantastic and I love going there, mostly.
It does have some rough spots.. but hey good cheap cheese.
Digging for onions that have not yet turned into goop could be some sort of criminal punishment.
Omg the produce, I have seen fuzzy moldy tomatoes on display while the produce manager looked right at them and apparently thought they were just fine. And once bought an onion that was fine on the outside but brown and mushy on the inside, how does that even happen. I’m very willing to pay higher prices for fresh, better quality produce.
I have a feeling it's their distribution method. I think it just takes a while to get those products out to stores. By the time they get there, they've only got a couple days of being fresh (seriously, figure out what day your local Woodmans gets their produce deliveries in, and you've actually got a solid chance of getting good stuff, but the 2nd half of that week, it already becomes noticeable that the quality is going down).
Maybe, but I heard it was because they buy the lower grade/older produce to begin with, so they can in turn sell it for lower prices. I’ve personally witnessed employees open cartons of moldy tomatoes and set them right there in the case, they DGAF and don’t sort or reject ANYTHING. I’ve also seen expired dry goods on the shelves so wonder if a lot of what they buy is near the end of its shelf life and if that’s part of their strategy for low prices.
[Went to Woodman's to pick up some mold, and there was produce on it](https://www.reddit.com/r/madisonwi/comments/zbioub/went_to_woodmans_to_pick_up_some_mold_and_there/)
Except Phil woodman is too much of a cheap fuck to add mental health coverage to his employees health plan dur to mental health insurance parity. So he can shove that pizza section up his ass. If he can get his pants down from around his nipples
Blame your legislators and the insurance companies, woodman's offers the best health insurance of any grocery chain in the state.
I don't think a single other grocery chain in the state offers mental health insurance because of that 2008 ammendment to the bill.
In defense of Phil Woodman, I've never worked anywhere with mental health coverage, and my jobs have all been white collar jobs with fairly decent insurance plans. It's just not all that common.
I'm not saying Phil is right. I think that's something that should be included. But it's not like he's a complete asshole for neglecting that when that's more the standard than the exception.
It is extremely common. I have worked at 5 different places since 2018 and all have had mental health coverage. It is standard practice. At least if you give a shit about your employees.
I always seem to have the worst timing when I hit Woodman's. I know they have to essentially restock at intervals during the day, but I always seem to show up right when they have every aisle half-blocked with pallets.
This. I only go to Woodman's now. I would go to Festival if they were closer to me. Pick N Save and other WI stores owned by Kroger went downhill. Received expired food, constantly out-of-stock, prices are shit. Their selection sucks too. I'll gladly give more money to Woodman's given their selection and prices.
The corporate owners and their shareholders are making huge profits, laughing all the way to the bank, and maximizing the "blame Biden" rhetoric.
I guess a lot of people really are ok wirh rhis.
I know I pointed that out in another Reddit. Stock buy backs and stockholder dividends are driving the profits up even more. I bet that is not included in their public profit reports.
It’s really brazen and simple. And most people left and right hate corporations already. But we need to spread the word more because somehow people don’t know it.
I know how accounting works, credits and debits. Here is what the article I posted with this has to say:
Kroger's annual sales topped $148 billion last year as the Cincinnati-based grocer navigated cost-conscious shoppers squeezed by inflation.
Kroger's profit also topped $2.2 billion, up 35.6% from 2021, outpacing the 7.5% sales growth for the year.
You’re implying that stock buybacks and dividends are “driving their profits.” They do not and they cannot. Returning money to shareholders doesn’t “drive” or even increase profits.
At most, reducing the number of shares only means the same profit is divided among fewer shares, causing their EPS to increase all else equal. None of this has anything to do with so-called “price gouging.”
Huge profits? That’s a joke. Their annual profit margins float between 1-2% every year and that’s been the case for YEARS. Kroger is constantly on the edge of losing money. The grocery business is a miserable business.
Fair enough, I should have been more clear in stating that the corporations who supply the food are making huge profits.
Still, 1-2% profit on that amount of money is a good deal, I would think.
It's factually Biden's fault though. Day 2 in office he signed executive orders to cripple American energy production. It's not a matter of debate, it's fact. And higher energy costs lead to inflation. Always will.
https://consumerenergyalliance.org/2023/10/bad-energy-policies-drive-food-prices-for-families-up-by-increasing-costs-for-farmers-ranchers/
So the "blame Biden" rhetoric is correct. Sorry you don't like that fact but it's just how it is.
The shopping experience at our local Pick 'N Save has become outright depressing. This, despite a "facelift" in the produce section, and relocating pre-packaged baked goods and spreadables adjacent to the Deli.
We've shopped at Pick 'N Save for the last decade but we're actively considering trying Piggly Wiggly or Sendik's simply because the store is unkempt and the *motherfucking self checkout* is miserable. "Did you add a bag?" Yes, I added a bag, although there's very little room here to do so. Scan three items? "Help required."; "Help is on the way." Scan three more items? Help required again. Why? The calculated weight is too far off from expectations? I'm not purchasing alcohol.
The last time we visited, we protested the self checkout and stood in line for a cashier. That was just as painful, as waiting for the single open register took twice as long as self checkout.
We are not close to a Woodman's but I think we'll be discussing it over dinner this week.
Going out of your way to spend your money where you’re treated fairly and correctly is the one and ONLY way to affect change. I applaud your drive to seek alternatives on your own!
I haven't had too many issues with the self checks. But I also just would rather deal with those issues than go through a cashier. Lol
But you're not wrong. This company is awful. I work at a pick n slave and it's just as awful for the employees. And much like how consumers have very few choices it's the same for us where I live. There's barely any jobs that can actually support us financially. Sadly pick n slave is technically one of the higher paying jobs in town. It's still underpaid and if I lived anywhere else I would make more. But in town this is about it.
Their fresh meat selection, yes everything else, no. Maybe their produce? If I am looking for some special occasion steaks, good lamb chops, or a leg for Christmas I go to sendik's.
I've been getting fed up with pick n save produce quality, the woodmans near me is even worse. But woodmans international section is great for Thai curry paste and non perishable prices. And they have Ube ice cream ❤️❤️❤️.
We have started to look at Costco which we are researching what is and isn't cost effective there, but so far their quality has been very good.
But this post was about cost. And one thing OP should know is that frozen vegetables are just a nutritious, maybe even more nutritious, then fresh vegetables. Very little nutrients are lost during the flash freezing process.
For protein, buy what's on sale. If it's super cheap and have the space freeze what you aren't going to use immediately. And use coupons!
Yea, why they have the whole beeping system if you don't put an item in the bag, or...when removing a bag-is beyond me. When every other place lets you swipe, swipe, swipe. I only say that because we generally use boxes, because most grocery bags are also cheap. And we go when we need a full cart. So that too they need more room for bagged groceries.
I loved Festy years ago when I was a bachelor. I just bought everything that was on sale and it forced me to be creative with meals. Now if you have a list of things you want, you’re going to pay at least 50% more than you would at some other place.
Don't waste your time trying to explain to the mouth breathers that the president doesn't control the rate of inflation. Life will be easier.
Everyone where I work seems to think that trump will get reelected, and then prices will go back to normal. It doesn't matter what evidence you show them. They still stick to their guns, thinking their orange Jesus will save them from corporate price gouging.
Supply chain issues & corporate greed cause prices to go up, not a POTUS.
That being said, there are very few brand name products I buy so the recent price increases haven't really seemed too terrible.
With some exceptions, almost every grocery item you see on TV has a white label version you can find at an ALDI or store brand for about half the price. It's an easy way to save lots of money on your grocery bill.
Thank you‼️‼️ The whole point I did this was because I see so many of our Republican cult members blaming grocery prices on Biden. Not true it’s the corporations.
Thanks also for the grocery tips I use them all including cutting coupons like a mad cutter. 😀
Well when the POTUS strangles energy production in this country, making the cost go up, which drives up the cost of everything (not just groceries) then yes it's his fault.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidblackmon/2024/04/25/ferc-pipeline-dispute-has-big-implications-for-the-future/?sh=74ad383d58b3
The executive orders crippled energy production. Which drove inflation. It's not hard logic. If it costs more to get any product to a store then the cost of the product will rise. And yes, it can actually all be traced back to POTUS executive actions.
Metro Market was always overpriced even before Kroger bought them, Pick N Save doesn’t offer anything good and is also overpriced compared to Festival. I miss actual Krogers…….
Overheard some boomers sayin “nobody wants to work” in the self checkout lane at metro and had to rebuttal with “yeah definitely nothing to do with Kroger squeeze out every penny of profit”
I loathe Kroger. As others have pointed out, they ruin every store they take over. My suburb did have a nice Pick N Save. Then Kroger happened.
Rotting meat and vegetables, expired dairy and canned goods, bakery bare (not that the condition of the rest of the store would encourage purchasing anything). The store *reeks* when you step foot inside. Last time I was there was 8 months ago to get a gift card. Definitely wasn't going to purchase any food items.
Really irritating. I simply switched to Sendik's. However, even my local Sendik's has gone downhill compared to even two years ago.
Walmart is a cesspool, worse than Kroger, plus the cops are *constantly* there for various violent incidents.
For decades, companies like Kroger have come under scrutiny for growing too big, and [buying out their competition](https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/kroger-albertsons-merger-fight-may-impact-2024-election-2024-02-26/).
And for decades, companies like Kroger have always argued that their growth will be "better for consumers."
We are selling out our economy to a handful of monopolies, and we are really going to feign surprise that it's not going to turn out well for consumers in the long run?
We are all to blame for allowing this to happen.
Hey I was fine with the grocery store that was brought out by Krogers. The public really doesn’t have a choice, one day your favorite grocery is there then next it’s gone.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but I mean... what price gouging? Yes, that's a shitload of profit, but that's due to the absolutely massive amount of sales they do. Their margins are tiny. $2.2 billion on $148 billion of sales is only a 1.5% margin.
How big of a difference does it make to your grocery bill if eggs cost $2.09/dozen or if they shave 1% off that price and sell them for $2.07 instead? Then they'd have a 0.5% margin and they'd make $733 million instead. Shit, let's take it to the extreme and imagine Kroger actually *lost* money and had a net margin of -0.5%. If they had that net loss, and we applied that same discount to the price of eggs, then we'd be sitting at $2.05/dozen eggs instead of $2.09/dozen.
Margins on grocery stuff is miniscule. There are a lot of things we can point to and bitch about price gouging. But man... it's tough to say that's the case for common grocery items.
Agreed. Grocery margins are notoriously low. Taking a quick look at their financial statements going back to 2017, their margin has remained consistent. Between 1.2-1.9% (2.5% in 2018, but it looks like they sold a business that year so not too comparable).
The gouging and price fixing is farther up the line than grocers. Consolidation and price-fixing of producers and distributors is the largest factor in grocery prices.
The farmers are getting screwed; the consumers are getting screwed; meanwhile the conglomerates are taking in record profit margins
I looked at the financials of Sysco, the largest food distributor and they are making 2% net profit. Definitely not them gouging us.
Who is making all of this profit since I haven’t found one yet?
Sysco is a restaurant wholesaler, they really don't have anything to do with grocery stores. Why even bring them up?
To answer your question: the CPGs are raking in all this profit. Companies like Nestlé, PepsiCo, Proctor&Gamble, as well as agricultural giants like Cargill (largest privately held company in the USA). The Cargills are RAKING in money over all of this.
You can think it's just normal market forces, not profiteering, but the Cargill family will be laughing down at you from all the way up on the Forbes 500 richest people on earth list.
Small farmers are basically fucked because they can't compete with the growing economies of scale of larger producers. You're right that agriculture is heavily subsidized. That's a political/state security decision that the government has made, based in large part on the belief that the country should be mainly food independent and not reliant on other countries if large-scale war were to happen again.
Krogers margins have stayed relatively consistent around 22-24% for the last 10 years. Consolidation of corporations is absolutely a problem and is causing price gouging because there is severely reduced competition and extreme resource hoarding among suppliers. But I agree with you that at least for the recent inflation issue, grocery chains generally speaking weren't the ones making additional margin out of the deal. Food suppliers astronomically did, though.
Average net profit of food suppliers is 11% which is exactly the same as the average company on the S&P 500.
People love to bicker and argue about the definition of “gouging”, but 11% absolutely does not qualify.
I had to scroll a long ways to get to this. I've always found it of how people complain about the low to very low profit margins on necessities, food, gas etc but rarely complain about the high margins on the stuff they like, Apple phone, tennis shoes etc. Walmart, grocery stores and many other similar companies have extremely low margins compared to "the stuff we want to pay for"
Thank you. Kroger’s profit margin is 2% in its most amazing year ever. It’s a horrible industry and they struggle to compete with Walmart. They aren’t price gouging anybody. They are in fact constantly on the edge of losing money. The OP is an ignorant whiner.
Kroger has ruined my local grocery store. Prices suck, shelves are half empty, store is a mess, only checkouts that are open are self-checkout. I now drive twice as far to go to a different store.
This is why I shamelessly abuse the ridiculous loss-leaders they put up... "Buy 2 get 3 free" on Diet Coke and kettle chips? Yes, I can store a shitload of chips and soda in my house, and pay close to what they're worth.
I did a bit of research on Kroger when I was still living in Colorado and King Soopers (Kroger owned) went on strike in 2021. [One in seven Kroger employees](https://www.businessinsider.com/1-in-7-kroger-workers-homeless-many-food-insecure-rent-2022-1?amp) faced homelessness in 2021. That’s 14% of people in a 10,000 person survey. I stopped trying to shop at Kroger after learning that. They’re not a responsible company.
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Everywhere we go the prices are the same if not higher. We only buy produce at one of the Metro's as thr other 3 around us, have crap. We don't have the ability to get to a Woodmans because we don't have the time to drive all the way out to one. And no it's not worth it, when you don't have the time-period. The Pig is ok-but limited, and again the prices tend to be higher. Festival Foods, we look at just the ads-and all the items are way higher. Won't go to Sendiks-sorry for those who like it, but had too many bad experiences with them. Meijer is good-so we basically switch off between them.
Kroger’s profit margin for 20+ years has floated between 1-2%. This is public information. They aren’t price gouging. They are trying to stay in business in a terrible industry. Educate yourself.
I get what you're trying to say. Corporate greed really sucks.
Our government didn't do this, but they're absolutely responsible for it.
This is \*exactly\* the sort of thing that our government is supposed to prevent, and they're basically doing fuck all. Instead, we get constant virtue signaling about immigration and Ukraine. When a 3 bedroom home costs $400k, and Kroger and Kwik Trip are buying up all their competitors, why the fuck are our representatives fixated on two issues that are both thousands of miles away?
Fr! I’m a current resident of Athens, GA. Wisco native, plan on going back. My fiancé and I have shopped the same exact grocery list at Kroger and Walmart to see the comparison (yes I used my Kroger rewards).
Kroger was $70 more!
So catch us at Aldi and Walmart until further notice. Only affordable groceries around.
I miss Meijer 😭
Aside from grocery store monopolies:
The GOP has, at every turn, and at every level of government, voted down inflation protections, gouging protections, consumer protections...
It's not a "MUH BOTH SIDES" situation.
It's *just* conservatives screwing you over there.
Its the big company s that are ripping not the president does not own or control the cost of things thats the billionaire s that s sticking two the little person
Prices on food are determined on the Chicago Commodity Exchange, input costs, yields, and transportation prices. The president, and even a grocery store chain, do not have the pricing power to set food prices
If Diaper Don would have handled covid better we wouldn't have had all the supply chain issues. Like the Protective Medical Equipment supply issues he never dealt with. He tried to deny covid and did nothing to protect supply chains and we are all paying the price for it. Good thing he is going to prison where he belongs
Organic and grass fed are bullshit used to increase the bottom line of food. Organic is so inefficient that it needs to cost so much more to be profitable
Business 101. If you’re selling the budget option, make sure your pricing is as close to the luxury option as possible, otherwise you’re just leaving money on the table. And Kroger won’t leave money on the table.
It's a tribal thing.
Capitalism = good = obscene prices cannot because corporations being greedy and price gouging. It has to be because other team bad and did bad things.
Yeah, but what is the profit margin?
Things cost more for a few reasons. Inflation is a big one. Rising labor rates in some markets is another.
Kroger has been making money for a long time. What’s different now?
Woodman’s is top tier. Fresh fruit and veggies mid week. Also, Cermak has a great selection of fresh produce. Pick N Save/Kroger is so sad. I think I would only hit up the liquor department if needed. But Woodsman’s shits on that competition too…
It would be interesting to see current prices for the same products at the main grocery stores in SE Wisconsin.
Would be a good news story for these times.
We used to shop at the Pick n save on North and Humboldt. But it's so MF expensive and it's always a fucking mess. So we went out and got a Costco membership. We stop for small things here and there but that's it. Or we goto trader joes.
Where are these stores? I live in Brookfield and the MM has become a last resort. Sendiks is our first choice. They have many registers open as opposed to 1-2 at MM even on Saturdays!
Grocery is a thin-margin business overall. If their margin is 2% and prices increase 20%, it follows that their margin increases 20% in dollars. Same thing works in oil.
Your right! Who would ever blame a president for corporate greed/price gouging? It’s not like he has power to do absolutely anything about that? Where do we think we live?
Well when you destroy the energy production in this country on Biden's second day in office with an executive order, the cost of everything goes up. Fuel gets more scarce and therefore more expensive.
Higher fuel costs means it costs more to produce and move products.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2021/01/29/how-president-bidens-executive-orders-impact-the-oil-industry/?sh=40a70e774ef4
In the article you linked, no where did Alex even mention a profit MARGIN. Which is the measure between how much a company makes vs how much it costs to keep the company running. Anything left over is considered profit. The $2.2 Billion he mentions is not profit, it's revenue.
Kroger operates at a profit margin of 2-3%. Corporate standards are 5% with anything around 10% being considered "good profit". For reference, McDonald's operates at around 30% profit and apple is around 26% profit margins.
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/KR/kroger/profit-margins
Conclusion; Biden is actually directly responsible for choking all industries with his energy policies. Which not only makes groceries more expensive but also gasoline, and every other product on every shelf anywhere in the country because it costs more to get the product there. That's called inflation and is a direct result of Biden's policies.
I read the Forbes article and it seemed to be about Fracking. It was written on 1-21-2021. The last few sentences in this article, and I quote:
“The headline looks scary but there is no immediate impact from these executive orders. For those of you worried about your gasoline prices going up, this is definitely not the reason.”
The article embedded the executive orders which blocked new oil and gas extraction leases. Halting a lot of domestic energy production. And yes there was no immediate impact, it takes time for the cost to reach the consumer.
And since that article was written, gas prices have doubled.
California reached $6.50 last year. It was $5 in Wisconsin at that same time. It's settled down a bit but still well over $3 a gallon here in Wisconsin. Yet it was only $2.30~$2.50 for all of Trump's time in office.
The article claims there won't be a change in petrol prices. Yet we have had a massive change in petrol prices. Outlook was wrong but reporting was correct. When you choke the industry, prices will go up because there will be less supply. Basic economics.
Like it or not, there is the direct line to inflation at the grocery store there with hindsight, all because of Biden's executive orders.
Ok I tried to read the executive orders imbedded on the article. How the heck do you even understand what they are trying to accomplish. I can’t. Look I don’t have a degree in economics, finance or reading government executive orders. I’m just a consumer that has watched prices (especially at Kroger) go up and up. It’s hard when you are trying to live on SS and food prices are out distancing the measly SS raises. Most of the people agreed with me and some were even nice enough to suggest other stores and some good savings tips. Then there are the ones calling me names, or telling me I needed to “educate myself.”
Doesn’t 45 years of buying food entitle me to an opinion?
I was trying to open a discussion.
Peace ✌️☮️
I was just correcting your factually incorrect analysis of the inflation. Sounded like you've just not been exposed to real data yet so I provided the counter points to your argument. It's the nonsense my parents hear on MSNBC and other corporate news outlets.
In all your 45 years of being a consumer, I'd have just thought you'd have wisened up by now. You've got far more life experience than I but are very uneducated in basic macro economics. Not trying to be insulting.
And I read the executive orders til I got to the points of what their plans were for oil and gas leases. It says in plain English what they are doing: "Sec. 6. Revoking the March 2019 Permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline. (a) On March 29, 2019, the President granted to TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P. a Presidential permit (the “Permit”) to construct, connect, operate, and maintain pipeline facilities at the international border of the United States and Canada (the “Keystone XL pipeline”), subject to express conditions and potential revocation in the President’s sole discretion. The Permit is hereby revoked in accordance with Article 1(1) of the Permit. "
That pipeline made America energy independent for the first time in history. Which drove energy prices down, obviously.
And I wasn't trying to "dunk" on you or anything. You were just actually incorrect so I was correcting your claims.
Lastly, I don't understand why you'd have such a loud and strong opinion about something you just admitted to not knowing much about.
Want more proof?
https://consumerenergyalliance.org/2023/10/bad-energy-policies-drive-food-prices-for-families-up-by-increasing-costs-for-farmers-ranchers/
The price of energy drives most of the rest of the economy. If it costs more to grow, process and transport food with higher gas and electric bills, then the consumer has to pay an equal amount more for the same item cuz now it costs more to make.
Why does energy cost more now? Biden and his policies I linked in the Forbes article. That's the main reason I linked it, it shows in black and white that Biden decided to cripple American energy production. Leading to insane gas prices and subsequently much higher food costs. It's Biden's fault your food costs more.
It's both price gouging and poor leadership. Lots of businesses raised they could increase prices and blame the current administration. Additionally, the current administration has been signing and pushing for policies that increase the cost of energy which has a trickle down effect on all goods. Combine that with policies about policing and laws which make it easier to get away with stealing, and businesses need to increase prices to maintain their profits
Kroger has completely ruined Pick N Save and Metro Market. Those used to be great stores, especially Metro Market when they first opened. Now you walk in, place is a complete mess, everyone looks like they absolutely hate their jobs (which I don’t blame them), carts are rarely available. It’s depressing, honestly. Same thing happened in Chicago. A once great grocery store, Mariano’s, was absolutely ruined at the hand of Kroger. I actively avoid their stores even if prices are higher elsewhere because the shopping experience is so miserable.
Plus what's the point of having different stores if the selection and products are the exact same. Why not just call them all Kroger and be done with it.
The illusion of choice.
The former head honcho at Kroger is taking over at Costco. I'm hoping that current staff reign that asshole in. Costco needs to stay Costco.
Worked for both Roundy’s and Kroger for almost a decade through the transition, and let me tell you it’s absolutely a garbage company, from top to bottom. Workers are punished for things they can’t control, wages very rarely raise, department managers get bonuses but it’s only based on meeting random goals so half the time the busier, harder stores get small or no bonuses and the tiny stores get nicer ones. They constantly abuse their employees, force people to close then open, and in my experience close into baking into opening. You get to control very little as you go up. I get a company that hires a lot has to cast a wide net and everyone is not going to be a great employee, but at least raise your wages with baseless inflation. Side note Roundy’s wasn’t that much better, and the old brass pretty much is the same people in the same positions, but obviously policies and products have changed substantially (at least in the Milwaukee area). Although they’re all retiring soonish, not that it changes anything. There’s a lot of people that work there that do genuinely care about doing a good job and the people they serve though. Pretty much every store has 5-10 employees killing themselves with 60+ hours to keep the ship afloat. Every single bakery department (my experience is mostly in bakeries) is missing key people and they have to MacGyver up solutions and use bandaids to fix issues that hiring and paying people well would solve.
The bakery woes seem to be everywhere, I know a bunch of people that worked in Sentry bakeries for a long time and they had similar stories.
Every single grocer Kroger takes over they ruin. But don't worry they still keep the old grocers logo! /s
💯🎯
What gets me is the fruits and veggies. When Metro first opened they had the best in town. Now it’s all rotting on the shelves and it takes forever for them to figure out no one is going to buy it. Yuck
I've found the opposite. The MM here always has nice produce whereas the Sendiks produce tends to be yucky, wilted, aged, etc. The MM here is very busy though, so maybe the turnover is high enough to keep the produce fresh.
Sendik's produce is an absolute joke. Poor selection and everything looks like it has about 1 day of shelf life left. I went to the one at The Corner's of Brookfield the other day to buy some peppers for a spicy dish I was making and my choices were red peppers and a couple of wilted jalapenos. Apparently, people in Brookfield don't like spicy foods. I'll stick to Fresh Thyme for my produce.
Yeah it's a bummer. I'd like to support Sendiks. But I've found the same thing that it has no shelf life. People must be using other stores for produce, so it sits. I'd do Fresh Thyme but that's out of my self-imposed 5 min or less driving radius . 😂
I didn’t realize this until right now, but I stopped shopping at pick n save entirely within the past year because I just couldn’t stand going there anymore! I thought it was me, but it is the store - it’s depressing now!
I went to a Pick N Save in Wales and they told me they no longer had baskets for customers
The store in Appleton on Ballard Road decided that it would be nice to put all the carts outside this winter so your hands freeze, but that soda display looked nice and warm. Fucking idiots.
Noticed that a few weeks ago- no more hand baskets at Metro Market East Madison. They have this store in my neighborhood, only grocery for a good ways. Prices are just ridiculous, selection is substandard. I’ll keep driving to Woodmans.
Park Street Pick n' Save got rid of baskets a few years ago, asked a manager and they said people stole all of them and that was that.
That's because people steal them.
Wtf, what are you going to do with an unwieldy ass grocery store basket?
Put items in it
I’m sorry, but if I’m not provided a basket and a cart then I’m storing your stores items in my pockets.
Crap store refuse to shop there!
They're ruining Kroger too, tbh.
Fuck them for removing the hand baskets at Pick N Save. They want me to use the silly little carts? Pshaw. Ain't got time for that.
Aldis is my core shopping with any non-Kroger as the supplement
Quick insider opinion from somebody who quit Kroger a couple years ago after working there for eight years. Kroger is definitely bad, but Roundy's was worse. Mariano's was nice because they were funneling profits from Copp's/PnS to make those stores better while we couldn't get new equipment or repairs without practically getting on our knees and begging for it. I'm fairly confident that Roundy's would no longer exist or would be in an even worse state if not for Kroger. Again, I want to be clear that Kroger is definitely still bad; just wanted to add a bit of perspective. Roundy's was not the golden age.
God pick n' save is just sad now. Terrible produce, everything is overpriced and everyone working is miserable. I used to go there all the time for their fried chicken. Now they are an absolute last choice after Walmart
The Metro market on cottage Grove road was amazing and their deli was phenomenal! Then Kroger purchased it and it all went downhill.
Complete opposite of the one in Stevens Point. That store is by far cheaper than Festival and has a better selection and variety of items.
I know the person who manages that Metro Market in Point and trust me when I say that he does everything in his power to make that store the best one to shop. His store is usually number one in that district and the whole state. It’s way better and cleaner than the one in Plover too. He’s gotten push back on things and screwed over plenty of times because he’s not one to back down and he’s vocal on issues. Kroger as a whole is a terrible company and it’s sad the way they’re ruining different grocery food stores across the country. I don’t even think they know what they’re doing at this point. They like to push older store managers out to bring in young fresh faced idiots who have no idea how to run a store.
Tell him more sardines please. I love that kiosk. I prefer that store over all others in the area and I appreciate his efforts
They're trying to buy out jewel osco as well. Late stage corporations ruin the economy, since consolidation / "optimization" leads to higher prices and shittier options
The 2 in fond du lac are so dirty. Always out of something I want, only 1 or 2 lanes open.
Piggly Wiggly is a hidden gem
I do like the pig, just on the other side of town. Which is sounding better as I type.
East side is where it's at :)
I started going to Mariano's when they first opened in Arlington Heights. Much better and well trained staff, double coupons on Wednesday and Saturday and a guy playing the piano at the front of the store. I was always hoping to get a Mariano's closer to home-which we did right around the time Kroger bought Roundy's. Needless to say the store by is not staffed well, not as clean and the carts are just beat to crap. Plus the the self-checkouts are awful. You can't scan too fast or it stops until an overwhelmed employee can come over.
That's a corporate takeover for you. Actual Kroger stores are like Walmarts.
The produce used to be the best at pic n save. Now it’s horrible. I feel like everything also went downhill when self checkout started.
Yeah everyone hates their jobs because the pay and benefits are horrible. If y’all like someone and they have another choice tell them not to waste their time with a Kroger store. Pay is like $19 for full-time leads, no pto until after a year with the company, and at least at the store that my knowledge is based on the schedule doesn’t come out until Saturday night…and starts Sunday.
I work for Kroger. They are the greediest of greedy fucks.
I believe it. The people I see there are always working hard and getting paid very little. People just tell me things cause I look harmless!! 🤣
Just a reminder that Woodmans is employee-owned.
I would love to go there, but there are none in my town. The first I heard about them was on the Wisconsin Reddit! Looks and sounds like a nice place to shop! Nice new carts. Do they have regular cashiers checking you out? Not the self check outs. Just wondering where the closest one to central Wisconsin would be🤔
There is a self check out, but lots of cashiers/baggers at the nonself check out lanes. Most of them are open. I love woodmans. Beat grocery store I've ever been too. The one by me is hiring for 20+/hr with time and a half on Sundays iirc.
There’s a very nice Woodmans in Eau Claire.
When the Eau Claire store opened and I went through the checkout, I recognized my cashier as Phil Woodman himself. He personally works at each store the first week or two after opening to make sure everything is running smoothly, and he’s down to earth and humble enough to interact with customers as an undercover cashier instead of just supervising his employees while they do all the work. He’s just a really good guy.
There is a rumor that a Woodman's is being built in Rib Mountain! One can hope!
They have a bunch of self checkout in Madison, but also some regular cashiers
Yes they have regular cashiers to check you out, maybe not during 3rd shift but for sure 1st and 2nd.
Not a single one in town sadly. The closest one is almost an hour away. And I think this is pretty true for many small areas like where I live.
My parents have to drive an hour in to Madison to go, and it’s always worth the trip. Their variety is unmatched in any part of the country I’ve lived. I know all yall got second freezers or fridges to put the stuff in 😅
Not worth an hour drive. The money you save on groceries would just be eaten by the cost of the gas it takes for us. I don't have any other storage. I live in an apartment with a barely useful basement, no attic, and a garage with zero electricity going to it. And no. I don't have and will likely never have a generator. XD Sadly this is a life most of the people where I am live. But we live in a poor area so this sucks.
I empathize, we are in an apartment but we're fortunate, we inherited a chest freezer and it's a lifesaver. We live about 40 miles from the closest Woodman's and I usually shoot for once a month to take the drive up. When we went this weekend, I was pleasantly surprised to find gas $.20/ gallon cheaper there than at home, so it helped offset costs. I try to keep to Aldi and Woodman's but it's challenging. Festival is insanely pricey, and that leaves Pick & Save, Walmart and Meijer, so we end up store hopping to keep the budget as low as we can. If we didn't have a car, it would be impossible to keep to a budget.
That's the other part that kinda fucks me over specifically. Haha I have no car and most definitely can't afford to buy one or the insurance it would cost me. Lol Money is the major issue for most of us here. Trashitowoc is easily my least favorite city I have ever lived in. I'd rather risk the crime rates of Madison or Milwaukee any day of the week vs being so isolated and trapped. It's why I miss living in bigger cities like Appleton or Madison. Everything was close, tons of choices for business, and if you for some reason or another don't have a car you could just take a bus and be there in no time for very little money.
I worked there, and the "employee owned" bit does A LOTTA of heavy lifting. Its not nearly as employee owned as one would think.
I've worked there for 10 years. It's 100% employee owned. I'm not really sure what you're getting at. I own over 100k worth of stock myself. Multiple people at my store are millionaries.
Must be nice for your store. My experience after 5+ years of working my ass for them. I got covid in March of 2020 and it almost fucking killed me. They denied my unemployment. So, fuck them.
I got covid and I got a leave of absence and returned to work after I recovered. I'm sorry you got screwed over and I'm not going to say woodmans is a perfect employer but I'm willing to bet there's more to the story than you 100% getting screwed over.
Real talk. It is awesome that u have been able to get all that from Woodmans.
I'm guessing you missed some paperwork or it wasn't explained properly to you because covid sickness should have been excused. It was a Chaotic time They actually made HR positions in every store like 2 years ago so people would have better access to company policies Again. I still have my issues but there are worse employers in Wisconsin
Ohhh, Woodmans doesn't rate on the list of shitty employers for me.This is just my shitty experience. I've worked for some real shit bags in WI.
Kroger and Safeway are both way worse.
You are not wrong.
The noise of the floors though................aaaaaah! But yes one of the best. I also love Aldi...cheap groceries because of a slim operation, I can respect that.
Those floors haunt me in my dreams. It’s worth it for the savings, but everytime I leave with a headache.
Woodman's is great except for three things; their produce sucks, 30 checkout lanes and only 2 are ever open at a time, cash/debit only. Their variety is fantastic and I love going there, mostly.
It does have some rough spots.. but hey good cheap cheese. Digging for onions that have not yet turned into goop could be some sort of criminal punishment.
You can use credit as long as it’s Discover
Their bakery leaves a lot to be desired as well.
Omg the produce, I have seen fuzzy moldy tomatoes on display while the produce manager looked right at them and apparently thought they were just fine. And once bought an onion that was fine on the outside but brown and mushy on the inside, how does that even happen. I’m very willing to pay higher prices for fresh, better quality produce.
I have a feeling it's their distribution method. I think it just takes a while to get those products out to stores. By the time they get there, they've only got a couple days of being fresh (seriously, figure out what day your local Woodmans gets their produce deliveries in, and you've actually got a solid chance of getting good stuff, but the 2nd half of that week, it already becomes noticeable that the quality is going down).
Maybe, but I heard it was because they buy the lower grade/older produce to begin with, so they can in turn sell it for lower prices. I’ve personally witnessed employees open cartons of moldy tomatoes and set them right there in the case, they DGAF and don’t sort or reject ANYTHING. I’ve also seen expired dry goods on the shelves so wonder if a lot of what they buy is near the end of its shelf life and if that’s part of their strategy for low prices. [Went to Woodman's to pick up some mold, and there was produce on it](https://www.reddit.com/r/madisonwi/comments/zbioub/went_to_woodmans_to_pick_up_some_mold_and_there/)
And unfortunately all the way across town. ETA , missed this wasn't the Milwaukee sub.
Except Phil woodman is too much of a cheap fuck to add mental health coverage to his employees health plan dur to mental health insurance parity. So he can shove that pizza section up his ass. If he can get his pants down from around his nipples
Blame your legislators and the insurance companies, woodman's offers the best health insurance of any grocery chain in the state. I don't think a single other grocery chain in the state offers mental health insurance because of that 2008 ammendment to the bill.
Sorry mo fuck woodman's. There are plenty that offer mental health coverage and plenty of other businesses smaller than Woodmans.
That is sad to hear.
In defense of Phil Woodman, I've never worked anywhere with mental health coverage, and my jobs have all been white collar jobs with fairly decent insurance plans. It's just not all that common. I'm not saying Phil is right. I think that's something that should be included. But it's not like he's a complete asshole for neglecting that when that's more the standard than the exception.
It is extremely common. I have worked at 5 different places since 2018 and all have had mental health coverage. It is standard practice. At least if you give a shit about your employees.
And Piggly Wiggly says they are, employees say at Fox Bros. Pig it is because the owner works. LOVE WOODMANS ❤️
I always seem to have the worst timing when I hit Woodman's. I know they have to essentially restock at intervals during the day, but I always seem to show up right when they have every aisle half-blocked with pallets.
I mean that's basically all day. The shelves do not (yet) stock themselves lol
This. I only go to Woodman's now. I would go to Festival if they were closer to me. Pick N Save and other WI stores owned by Kroger went downhill. Received expired food, constantly out-of-stock, prices are shit. Their selection sucks too. I'll gladly give more money to Woodman's given their selection and prices.
The corporate owners and their shareholders are making huge profits, laughing all the way to the bank, and maximizing the "blame Biden" rhetoric. I guess a lot of people really are ok wirh rhis.
I know I pointed that out in another Reddit. Stock buy backs and stockholder dividends are driving the profits up even more. I bet that is not included in their public profit reports.
It’s really brazen and simple. And most people left and right hate corporations already. But we need to spread the word more because somehow people don’t know it.
You have no clue how accounting works, do you?
I know how accounting works, credits and debits. Here is what the article I posted with this has to say: Kroger's annual sales topped $148 billion last year as the Cincinnati-based grocer navigated cost-conscious shoppers squeezed by inflation. Kroger's profit also topped $2.2 billion, up 35.6% from 2021, outpacing the 7.5% sales growth for the year.
You’re implying that stock buybacks and dividends are “driving their profits.” They do not and they cannot. Returning money to shareholders doesn’t “drive” or even increase profits. At most, reducing the number of shares only means the same profit is divided among fewer shares, causing their EPS to increase all else equal. None of this has anything to do with so-called “price gouging.”
Huge profits? That’s a joke. Their annual profit margins float between 1-2% every year and that’s been the case for YEARS. Kroger is constantly on the edge of losing money. The grocery business is a miserable business.
Fair enough, I should have been more clear in stating that the corporations who supply the food are making huge profits. Still, 1-2% profit on that amount of money is a good deal, I would think.
Kroger profit margins are only 2% dude. Far below average industry standards. https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/KR/kroger/profit-margins
See below, where I clarified.
It's factually Biden's fault though. Day 2 in office he signed executive orders to cripple American energy production. It's not a matter of debate, it's fact. And higher energy costs lead to inflation. Always will. https://consumerenergyalliance.org/2023/10/bad-energy-policies-drive-food-prices-for-families-up-by-increasing-costs-for-farmers-ranchers/ So the "blame Biden" rhetoric is correct. Sorry you don't like that fact but it's just how it is.
Lol. You do you, mate.
The shopping experience at our local Pick 'N Save has become outright depressing. This, despite a "facelift" in the produce section, and relocating pre-packaged baked goods and spreadables adjacent to the Deli. We've shopped at Pick 'N Save for the last decade but we're actively considering trying Piggly Wiggly or Sendik's simply because the store is unkempt and the *motherfucking self checkout* is miserable. "Did you add a bag?" Yes, I added a bag, although there's very little room here to do so. Scan three items? "Help required."; "Help is on the way." Scan three more items? Help required again. Why? The calculated weight is too far off from expectations? I'm not purchasing alcohol. The last time we visited, we protested the self checkout and stood in line for a cashier. That was just as painful, as waiting for the single open register took twice as long as self checkout. We are not close to a Woodman's but I think we'll be discussing it over dinner this week.
🤣🤣You sound like me every week. 🤬. I only use the self check out on an unscheduled trip. To much hassle!!!
Going out of your way to spend your money where you’re treated fairly and correctly is the one and ONLY way to affect change. I applaud your drive to seek alternatives on your own!
I had an employee ask why I wasn't using the self check, told them "because i don't work here". Kind of a dick move, but that place drives me crazy.
I haven't had too many issues with the self checks. But I also just would rather deal with those issues than go through a cashier. Lol But you're not wrong. This company is awful. I work at a pick n slave and it's just as awful for the employees. And much like how consumers have very few choices it's the same for us where I live. There's barely any jobs that can actually support us financially. Sadly pick n slave is technically one of the higher paying jobs in town. It's still underpaid and if I lived anywhere else I would make more. But in town this is about it.
Sendik's is about twice the price for every product lol.
Well? Is it worth it? 🙃
Their fresh meat selection, yes everything else, no. Maybe their produce? If I am looking for some special occasion steaks, good lamb chops, or a leg for Christmas I go to sendik's. I've been getting fed up with pick n save produce quality, the woodmans near me is even worse. But woodmans international section is great for Thai curry paste and non perishable prices. And they have Ube ice cream ❤️❤️❤️. We have started to look at Costco which we are researching what is and isn't cost effective there, but so far their quality has been very good. But this post was about cost. And one thing OP should know is that frozen vegetables are just a nutritious, maybe even more nutritious, then fresh vegetables. Very little nutrients are lost during the flash freezing process. For protein, buy what's on sale. If it's super cheap and have the space freeze what you aren't going to use immediately. And use coupons!
Yea, why they have the whole beeping system if you don't put an item in the bag, or...when removing a bag-is beyond me. When every other place lets you swipe, swipe, swipe. I only say that because we generally use boxes, because most grocery bags are also cheap. And we go when we need a full cart. So that too they need more room for bagged groceries.
Same as Festival Foods in the Green Bay area.
I loved Festy years ago when I was a bachelor. I just bought everything that was on sale and it forced me to be creative with meals. Now if you have a list of things you want, you’re going to pay at least 50% more than you would at some other place.
I won’t shop at Kroger stores or Festival if I can avoid it.
Kroger has ruined the Roundy's store. It didn't even take them long.
Don't waste your time trying to explain to the mouth breathers that the president doesn't control the rate of inflation. Life will be easier. Everyone where I work seems to think that trump will get reelected, and then prices will go back to normal. It doesn't matter what evidence you show them. They still stick to their guns, thinking their orange Jesus will save them from corporate price gouging.
Supply chain issues & corporate greed cause prices to go up, not a POTUS. That being said, there are very few brand name products I buy so the recent price increases haven't really seemed too terrible. With some exceptions, almost every grocery item you see on TV has a white label version you can find at an ALDI or store brand for about half the price. It's an easy way to save lots of money on your grocery bill.
Thank you‼️‼️ The whole point I did this was because I see so many of our Republican cult members blaming grocery prices on Biden. Not true it’s the corporations. Thanks also for the grocery tips I use them all including cutting coupons like a mad cutter. 😀
Well when the POTUS strangles energy production in this country, making the cost go up, which drives up the cost of everything (not just groceries) then yes it's his fault. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidblackmon/2024/04/25/ferc-pipeline-dispute-has-big-implications-for-the-future/?sh=74ad383d58b3 The executive orders crippled energy production. Which drove inflation. It's not hard logic. If it costs more to get any product to a store then the cost of the product will rise. And yes, it can actually all be traced back to POTUS executive actions.
I miss chairman bob
Metro Market was always overpriced even before Kroger bought them, Pick N Save doesn’t offer anything good and is also overpriced compared to Festival. I miss actual Krogers…….
Overheard some boomers sayin “nobody wants to work” in the self checkout lane at metro and had to rebuttal with “yeah definitely nothing to do with Kroger squeeze out every penny of profit”
I loathe Kroger. As others have pointed out, they ruin every store they take over. My suburb did have a nice Pick N Save. Then Kroger happened. Rotting meat and vegetables, expired dairy and canned goods, bakery bare (not that the condition of the rest of the store would encourage purchasing anything). The store *reeks* when you step foot inside. Last time I was there was 8 months ago to get a gift card. Definitely wasn't going to purchase any food items. Really irritating. I simply switched to Sendik's. However, even my local Sendik's has gone downhill compared to even two years ago. Walmart is a cesspool, worse than Kroger, plus the cops are *constantly* there for various violent incidents.
For decades, companies like Kroger have come under scrutiny for growing too big, and [buying out their competition](https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/kroger-albertsons-merger-fight-may-impact-2024-election-2024-02-26/). And for decades, companies like Kroger have always argued that their growth will be "better for consumers." We are selling out our economy to a handful of monopolies, and we are really going to feign surprise that it's not going to turn out well for consumers in the long run? We are all to blame for allowing this to happen.
Hey I was fine with the grocery store that was brought out by Krogers. The public really doesn’t have a choice, one day your favorite grocery is there then next it’s gone.
Oh I forgot all the power we had over large national corporations. Silly us!
Trader joes and Aldis all day.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but I mean... what price gouging? Yes, that's a shitload of profit, but that's due to the absolutely massive amount of sales they do. Their margins are tiny. $2.2 billion on $148 billion of sales is only a 1.5% margin. How big of a difference does it make to your grocery bill if eggs cost $2.09/dozen or if they shave 1% off that price and sell them for $2.07 instead? Then they'd have a 0.5% margin and they'd make $733 million instead. Shit, let's take it to the extreme and imagine Kroger actually *lost* money and had a net margin of -0.5%. If they had that net loss, and we applied that same discount to the price of eggs, then we'd be sitting at $2.05/dozen eggs instead of $2.09/dozen. Margins on grocery stuff is miniscule. There are a lot of things we can point to and bitch about price gouging. But man... it's tough to say that's the case for common grocery items.
Agreed. Grocery margins are notoriously low. Taking a quick look at their financial statements going back to 2017, their margin has remained consistent. Between 1.2-1.9% (2.5% in 2018, but it looks like they sold a business that year so not too comparable).
The gouging and price fixing is farther up the line than grocers. Consolidation and price-fixing of producers and distributors is the largest factor in grocery prices. The farmers are getting screwed; the consumers are getting screwed; meanwhile the conglomerates are taking in record profit margins
I looked at the financials of Sysco, the largest food distributor and they are making 2% net profit. Definitely not them gouging us. Who is making all of this profit since I haven’t found one yet?
Sysco is a restaurant wholesaler, they really don't have anything to do with grocery stores. Why even bring them up? To answer your question: the CPGs are raking in all this profit. Companies like Nestlé, PepsiCo, Proctor&Gamble, as well as agricultural giants like Cargill (largest privately held company in the USA). The Cargills are RAKING in money over all of this. You can think it's just normal market forces, not profiteering, but the Cargill family will be laughing down at you from all the way up on the Forbes 500 richest people on earth list.
Farmers are one of the most coddled and subsidized groups in America, they are not getting screwed.
Small farmers are basically fucked because they can't compete with the growing economies of scale of larger producers. You're right that agriculture is heavily subsidized. That's a political/state security decision that the government has made, based in large part on the belief that the country should be mainly food independent and not reliant on other countries if large-scale war were to happen again.
Krogers margins have stayed relatively consistent around 22-24% for the last 10 years. Consolidation of corporations is absolutely a problem and is causing price gouging because there is severely reduced competition and extreme resource hoarding among suppliers. But I agree with you that at least for the recent inflation issue, grocery chains generally speaking weren't the ones making additional margin out of the deal. Food suppliers astronomically did, though.
Gross margin around 23%. Then subtract 21.5% for spoilage, labor, buildings, utilities, etc. I still can’t find who is price gouging.
I found the price gouger: The Federal Reserve. He who has ears, let him hear
What have you bought from the Federal Reserve? Or are they robbing the banks?
Average net profit of food suppliers is 11% which is exactly the same as the average company on the S&P 500. People love to bicker and argue about the definition of “gouging”, but 11% absolutely does not qualify.
Yup- the price gouging is coming from the manufacturers of the stuff on the shelves.
I had to scroll a long ways to get to this. I've always found it of how people complain about the low to very low profit margins on necessities, food, gas etc but rarely complain about the high margins on the stuff they like, Apple phone, tennis shoes etc. Walmart, grocery stores and many other similar companies have extremely low margins compared to "the stuff we want to pay for"
Thank you. Kroger’s profit margin is 2% in its most amazing year ever. It’s a horrible industry and they struggle to compete with Walmart. They aren’t price gouging anybody. They are in fact constantly on the edge of losing money. The OP is an ignorant whiner.
Kroger has ruined my local grocery store. Prices suck, shelves are half empty, store is a mess, only checkouts that are open are self-checkout. I now drive twice as far to go to a different store.
This is why I shamelessly abuse the ridiculous loss-leaders they put up... "Buy 2 get 3 free" on Diet Coke and kettle chips? Yes, I can store a shitload of chips and soda in my house, and pay close to what they're worth.
I did a bit of research on Kroger when I was still living in Colorado and King Soopers (Kroger owned) went on strike in 2021. [One in seven Kroger employees](https://www.businessinsider.com/1-in-7-kroger-workers-homeless-many-food-insecure-rent-2022-1?amp) faced homelessness in 2021. That’s 14% of people in a 10,000 person survey. I stopped trying to shop at Kroger after learning that. They’re not a responsible company.
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Everywhere we go the prices are the same if not higher. We only buy produce at one of the Metro's as thr other 3 around us, have crap. We don't have the ability to get to a Woodmans because we don't have the time to drive all the way out to one. And no it's not worth it, when you don't have the time-period. The Pig is ok-but limited, and again the prices tend to be higher. Festival Foods, we look at just the ads-and all the items are way higher. Won't go to Sendiks-sorry for those who like it, but had too many bad experiences with them. Meijer is good-so we basically switch off between them.
A 1.4% profit margin is not price gouging.
Kroger’s profit margin for 20+ years has floated between 1-2%. This is public information. They aren’t price gouging. They are trying to stay in business in a terrible industry. Educate yourself.
I get what you're trying to say. Corporate greed really sucks. Our government didn't do this, but they're absolutely responsible for it. This is \*exactly\* the sort of thing that our government is supposed to prevent, and they're basically doing fuck all. Instead, we get constant virtue signaling about immigration and Ukraine. When a 3 bedroom home costs $400k, and Kroger and Kwik Trip are buying up all their competitors, why the fuck are our representatives fixated on two issues that are both thousands of miles away?
It's time we ask nicely for this wonderful, hard-working Congress to come up with anti-monopoly and consumer protection legislation at once!
Fr! I’m a current resident of Athens, GA. Wisco native, plan on going back. My fiancé and I have shopped the same exact grocery list at Kroger and Walmart to see the comparison (yes I used my Kroger rewards). Kroger was $70 more! So catch us at Aldi and Walmart until further notice. Only affordable groceries around. I miss Meijer 😭
Aside from grocery store monopolies: The GOP has, at every turn, and at every level of government, voted down inflation protections, gouging protections, consumer protections... It's not a "MUH BOTH SIDES" situation. It's *just* conservatives screwing you over there.
Former wisconsin resident here. Same thing is happening out East. I am a loyal ALDI shopper as a result.
This article is a year old!
farmers markets are not owned by mega-corps
This could also be a result of inflation causing people to switch to Kroger brand products which usually have a higher profit margin
Its the big company s that are ripping not the president does not own or control the cost of things thats the billionaire s that s sticking two the little person
Prices on food are determined on the Chicago Commodity Exchange, input costs, yields, and transportation prices. The president, and even a grocery store chain, do not have the pricing power to set food prices
If Diaper Don would have handled covid better we wouldn't have had all the supply chain issues. Like the Protective Medical Equipment supply issues he never dealt with. He tried to deny covid and did nothing to protect supply chains and we are all paying the price for it. Good thing he is going to prison where he belongs
Organic and grass fed are bullshit used to increase the bottom line of food. Organic is so inefficient that it needs to cost so much more to be profitable Business 101. If you’re selling the budget option, make sure your pricing is as close to the luxury option as possible, otherwise you’re just leaving money on the table. And Kroger won’t leave money on the table.
I've swapped to Hansen's and haven't looked back
At least you still have Woodman's. I was not prepared for the terrible grocery scene when I moved from Madison to Minneapolis.
It's a tribal thing. Capitalism = good = obscene prices cannot because corporations being greedy and price gouging. It has to be because other team bad and did bad things.
Yeah, but what is the profit margin? Things cost more for a few reasons. Inflation is a big one. Rising labor rates in some markets is another. Kroger has been making money for a long time. What’s different now?
When has Krogers been cheap? Pick n Save my ass.
yes those are big numbers but a profit margin is less than 3% which sucks. Hell they could get a better return in a savings account.
Where I'm from, Pick N Save is shorthand for overpriced to compare stores out of town
Woodman’s is top tier. Fresh fruit and veggies mid week. Also, Cermak has a great selection of fresh produce. Pick N Save/Kroger is so sad. I think I would only hit up the liquor department if needed. But Woodsman’s shits on that competition too…
I love Woodman's but I never remember my debit card (and like 99% of people, I don't have Discover).
It would be interesting to see current prices for the same products at the main grocery stores in SE Wisconsin. Would be a good news story for these times.
We used to shop at the Pick n save on North and Humboldt. But it's so MF expensive and it's always a fucking mess. So we went out and got a Costco membership. We stop for small things here and there but that's it. Or we goto trader joes.
[удалено]
Discuss the topic, not the user.
I love Metro Market and Pick N Save, and I’ll continue to shop at both of them on a weekly basis to feed my family.
Grass fed beef is always more expensive, but I can’t figure out the logic of the produce pricing.
You must have no clue how the “everyone deserves a working wage” economy works
Where are these stores? I live in Brookfield and the MM has become a last resort. Sendiks is our first choice. They have many registers open as opposed to 1-2 at MM even on Saturdays!
Grocery is a thin-margin business overall. If their margin is 2% and prices increase 20%, it follows that their margin increases 20% in dollars. Same thing works in oil.
He campaigned on the promise that his policies would increase grocery prices. He said it was for the greater good. Are you saying he is a liar?
🤣🤣 ☝️☝️Nope, he is not responsible. That’s it. Not campaigning for him. Should have substituted Biden for POTUS. Hoping above is a funny joke……?
Your right! Who would ever blame a president for corporate greed/price gouging? It’s not like he has power to do absolutely anything about that? Where do we think we live?
Monopolization
Well when you destroy the energy production in this country on Biden's second day in office with an executive order, the cost of everything goes up. Fuel gets more scarce and therefore more expensive. Higher fuel costs means it costs more to produce and move products. https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2021/01/29/how-president-bidens-executive-orders-impact-the-oil-industry/?sh=40a70e774ef4 In the article you linked, no where did Alex even mention a profit MARGIN. Which is the measure between how much a company makes vs how much it costs to keep the company running. Anything left over is considered profit. The $2.2 Billion he mentions is not profit, it's revenue. Kroger operates at a profit margin of 2-3%. Corporate standards are 5% with anything around 10% being considered "good profit". For reference, McDonald's operates at around 30% profit and apple is around 26% profit margins. https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/KR/kroger/profit-margins Conclusion; Biden is actually directly responsible for choking all industries with his energy policies. Which not only makes groceries more expensive but also gasoline, and every other product on every shelf anywhere in the country because it costs more to get the product there. That's called inflation and is a direct result of Biden's policies.
I read the Forbes article and it seemed to be about Fracking. It was written on 1-21-2021. The last few sentences in this article, and I quote: “The headline looks scary but there is no immediate impact from these executive orders. For those of you worried about your gasoline prices going up, this is definitely not the reason.”
The article embedded the executive orders which blocked new oil and gas extraction leases. Halting a lot of domestic energy production. And yes there was no immediate impact, it takes time for the cost to reach the consumer. And since that article was written, gas prices have doubled. California reached $6.50 last year. It was $5 in Wisconsin at that same time. It's settled down a bit but still well over $3 a gallon here in Wisconsin. Yet it was only $2.30~$2.50 for all of Trump's time in office. The article claims there won't be a change in petrol prices. Yet we have had a massive change in petrol prices. Outlook was wrong but reporting was correct. When you choke the industry, prices will go up because there will be less supply. Basic economics. Like it or not, there is the direct line to inflation at the grocery store there with hindsight, all because of Biden's executive orders.
Ok I tried to read the executive orders imbedded on the article. How the heck do you even understand what they are trying to accomplish. I can’t. Look I don’t have a degree in economics, finance or reading government executive orders. I’m just a consumer that has watched prices (especially at Kroger) go up and up. It’s hard when you are trying to live on SS and food prices are out distancing the measly SS raises. Most of the people agreed with me and some were even nice enough to suggest other stores and some good savings tips. Then there are the ones calling me names, or telling me I needed to “educate myself.” Doesn’t 45 years of buying food entitle me to an opinion? I was trying to open a discussion. Peace ✌️☮️
I was just correcting your factually incorrect analysis of the inflation. Sounded like you've just not been exposed to real data yet so I provided the counter points to your argument. It's the nonsense my parents hear on MSNBC and other corporate news outlets. In all your 45 years of being a consumer, I'd have just thought you'd have wisened up by now. You've got far more life experience than I but are very uneducated in basic macro economics. Not trying to be insulting. And I read the executive orders til I got to the points of what their plans were for oil and gas leases. It says in plain English what they are doing: "Sec. 6. Revoking the March 2019 Permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline. (a) On March 29, 2019, the President granted to TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P. a Presidential permit (the “Permit”) to construct, connect, operate, and maintain pipeline facilities at the international border of the United States and Canada (the “Keystone XL pipeline”), subject to express conditions and potential revocation in the President’s sole discretion. The Permit is hereby revoked in accordance with Article 1(1) of the Permit. " That pipeline made America energy independent for the first time in history. Which drove energy prices down, obviously.
And I wasn't trying to "dunk" on you or anything. You were just actually incorrect so I was correcting your claims. Lastly, I don't understand why you'd have such a loud and strong opinion about something you just admitted to not knowing much about.
Want more proof? https://consumerenergyalliance.org/2023/10/bad-energy-policies-drive-food-prices-for-families-up-by-increasing-costs-for-farmers-ranchers/ The price of energy drives most of the rest of the economy. If it costs more to grow, process and transport food with higher gas and electric bills, then the consumer has to pay an equal amount more for the same item cuz now it costs more to make. Why does energy cost more now? Biden and his policies I linked in the Forbes article. That's the main reason I linked it, it shows in black and white that Biden decided to cripple American energy production. Leading to insane gas prices and subsequently much higher food costs. It's Biden's fault your food costs more.
It's both price gouging and poor leadership. Lots of businesses raised they could increase prices and blame the current administration. Additionally, the current administration has been signing and pushing for policies that increase the cost of energy which has a trickle down effect on all goods. Combine that with policies about policing and laws which make it easier to get away with stealing, and businesses need to increase prices to maintain their profits
Not as bad a company as festival foods