I have a penny-pinching friend who emphatically declares Meijer has the best overall prices, but she also has one right down the street from her. I would have to drive at least 8 miles to get to the less-preferable one, and 12 miles to get to the better one (I’ve shopped at both and know this to be true re: selection, cleanliness, crowdedness)
I normally shop at Giant Eagle, and take advantage of their gas discounts (I often get 40 cents off/gallon and fill up from nearly empty to maximize the savings) and grocery discounts (something like 1% or 2% back), using my free shopper card. Meijer doesn’t have a shopper card. They do have gas I believe (at the 12 miles away store), but no gas perks unless I apply for a credit card, which I refuse to do.
When I compare receipts, it seems like overall Meijer has a slight edge over the prices I can get at Giant Eagle using my shopper card, but I have a feeling that with Giant Eagle’s gas savings, the shorter trip to Giant Eagle at least makes it a wash, or slightly in GE’s favor. I realize that “shopper cards” are really a marketing tool to make prices seem cheaper and therefore lure people to shop there, but the gas savings is real.
I really don’t want to have to consider Kroger- the closest Kroger to me is a really, really undesirable store: traffic around it is terrible, it’s small w/ a crappy selection, and I’ve never been impressed with the produce. So I don’t have any comparisons to make with their prices.
In general, for any area, the differences are minor. Some sell certain items cheaper; others sell other items cheaper. Driving the extra distance can sometimes wipe out any savings.
I’d choose on which is nearer, factoring in things like cleanliness, selection, etc.
(I find the gas discount program very bogus and hardly worth it – I estimate it would save me 1.60 on every $100 I spend.)
Not in columbus, but I had the misfortune of living in Findlay for a while… they had Kroger, Meijer, and Wal-mart. I honestly couldn’t tell much difference in prices. Some things cost less at meijer and some things were less at some other place. Quality was another variable.
I personally would pick whatever place you like best.
If you wanted to be all sciency, i guess you could figure out the most economical, but I bet the difference isn’t much and you’ll prolly still go wherever you like best, if you’re anything like me anyway.
I’m in Columbus. I’ve never compared prices myself, but I know Giant Eagle has a reputation for being more expensive than Kroger. It’s known as being more “Whole Foods-y” than Kroger, with more exotic, higher-end foods. Not sure about Meijer. I always shop at Kroger.
I live in northwest Columbus, and have a choice of those three plus WalMart – all pretty close to where I live and work. I haven’t noticed much difference in prices overall, so I shop at all four.
What you want to do is go to Giant Eagle. Buy gift cards for any other place that you shop at that are sold at Giant Eagle. These will count toward Food/Fuel perks. NEVER use your Foodperks at 1-2%! They go up to 20% and we’ve almost always gotten them up that high before they start to roll off. Then buy a TON of groceries and use your Foodperks–you can buy up to $300 worth of groceries and get 20% off all of it. Plus then that goes toward Fuelperks as well.
We’ve been playing this game for ages. I don’t generally buy perishables at GE, but by the time we’ve run out of canned goods and dish soap from the last shopping spree, we’re back up to 20% off again. Gift cards are your friend. We probably get about $200 worth of Babies R’US gift cards at Giant Eagle every month for diapers and such, and all that counts just like food would toward the perks.
Kroger Fuel perks are terrible, Meijer’s are not much better. The Giant Eagle Fuelperks at 20 cents/gal for every fifty should net out to a permanent 12% grocery discount if you buy enough fuel cans to get 30 gallons every time you fill up. The cans pay for themselves when they are half full of free gas.
It can actually be a bit better, because occasionally they run specials which give out additional fuel perks or cash back if you buy diapers, snack foods, or some other loss leader. The big thing with Giant Eagle is that it really rewards planning ahead. We save about 1K a year in fuel cost, and another 1k in coupons. If you buy giftcards there before you shop somewhere else it can be pretty dramatic. (getting 1K in best buy gift cards before buying a TV resulted in about 50 free gallons of gas)
But if there is only one of you, or you don’t feel like expending that much effort, just go to Walmart. Everything is consistently a couple cents cheaper.
I forgot to add that I have a fifth choice near where I live: Aldi. They generally have lower prices, but don’t have as wide a range of goods as the others, and also are not open 24/7 like the others.
I would echo what Drain Bead said. We do the same thing, although not so much with the gift cards except for Christmas and Birthdays. Use the food and fuel perks to your advantage. My only complaint is that the GE near my house has a poor selection on many items. But it is not at all “upscale.” Also, look through GE’s weekly specials flyer, buy what is on sale.
We also get somebody to buy is a Costco membership as a birthday gift every year. Some things are cheaper, and even when its the same as the other stores its better quality.
What Drain Bead said. Overall, Meijer’s prices are significantly cheaper than Giant Eagle’s. But if you game the system as described, you can save big bux shopping at Giant Eagle. You will not get this savings just by shopping there normally, though. I have found that their grocery prices are high enough that even with the foodperks/fuelperks savings, Meijer is cheaper overall. Unless you do the gift card thing, which I do highly recommend.
I started a spreadsheet comparing a number of stores including a warehouse store. There was no definitive answer from what I compared. It helps to be aware of the core foods you buy and who sells them the cheapest.
Not in Columbus, but we use a mixture usually. I’ve been to a Meijer probably about 20 times in my life, but not ever for groceries in particular. It is usually a stop to pick up some baby stuff and some random groceries on the way. I will mention that from my house, Meijer is about 50-60 minutes away, in Lancaster. We use specific Kroger and Walmart mixtures due to which are we might be in at the time. The closest Kroger is also about 15 miles away. We hardly ever get to that one just because it is tiny and pretty expensive, but about 20 miles from the house is a nice Kroger. We also hit Sam’s Club in Chillicothe once a month for bulk buys on toilet paper, certain groceries, kid snacks, and other things. I like using Sam’s Club, but hate paying for a membership. We justify it by the discount on gas, which when we bought the membership worked out well, since I worked in Chillicothe and bought gas there twice a week. Now that I don’t drive further than 15 miles a week on average (or 40 miles if we leave town to hit a larger bike path). I would say stick with the cleanest and nicest store. If the savings at Kroger is extremely better, but the store is not as desireable, don’t head that direction…