Schnuck’s recently announced that it is cutting prices on “10,000″ items (whatever that means) in an effort to compete with megagrocer Wal-Mart, which is waging war on the St. Louis staple. This article from the Post-Dispatch says that Schnuck’s will be cutting prices at its stores in the St. Louis metro area along with Springfield, Ill, but will leave its artifically inflated prices at stores in C-U.
Shouldn’t the Champaign and Urbana stores be worried about the Wal-Mart roll-out locally? In the past five years, no less than three Wal-Mart boxes have opened in C-U. Of course, around here, Schnuck’s is the “upscale” grocer, with little competition for the higher-end market (no Whole Foods, I think we’ve been over that once or twice). One wonders/hopes that these price cuts will spread …
9 responses so far ↓
Mrs. Chicken // January 17, 2007 at 9:06 am
Yeah, what SHE said!
Lisa // January 17, 2007 at 9:34 am
Yeah, I can’t understand why they wouldn’t be as concerned about the competition around here, too, and lower prices at the Champaign store. We can only hope.
Dr. Pink // January 17, 2007 at 12:14 pm
Wow, Schnucks as the local “upscale” grocer. That’s so sad. So sad it’s almost funny. Almost.
leeanthro // January 17, 2007 at 2:44 pm
We used to shop at Schnuck’s all the time until their recent remodel. I am not sure who they hired to organize the store, but it doesn’t make sense. I looked high and low for my frozen vegetarian foods. Where are they now? In the meat case!
However, we recently popped in there for milk and much to our surprise, they have Full Circle organic milk (I’ve never heard of that brand before) for more than a dollar less than the Horizon organic sells for at Jerry’s and Target (which are usually sold out or in short supply). So we might be popping in there more often just for milk. But good luck finding anything else on your shopping list.
And on another related note, I just don’t understand why organic products are SO EXPENSIVE in C-U. I guess they figure they can get away with price-gauging since we don’t have a Trader Joe’s or the like which sells decent food at competitive prices. Someone gave me a brochure from Wal-mart about their increase in organic products at low prices, but I would probably burst into flames if I walked through their doors! I am sure they strong-armed some organic companies into taking a loss rather than removing them from their shelves.
But my main problem with Schnuck’s when I used to shop there is that they don’t know how to bag groceries. If I bought fish or meat for my semi-vegetarian husband, it was inevitable that they would bag them with fresh vegetables. Food poisoning just waiting to happen (not to mention gross to a vegetarian)! Or they would put the bananas in with canned goods and they would be bruised by the time I got home.
Anyway, Schnuck’s (or Smuck’s as my mom likes to call them) needs to do more to gain the business of C-U households. And that does include having competitive pricing.
gamera // January 17, 2007 at 3:47 pm
I agree with leeanthro (surprise!) on Schnuck’s.
I like Schuck’s and I’d like to see it survive, but I don’t shop there because I can get the same products for *way* cheaper right across the street at County Market.
Momo // January 17, 2007 at 5:06 pm
One of the reasons I shop at Schnucks (besides my abhorrence for the evil Wal-Mart) is that I want to support a regional chain.
They have such a selection and probably a huge inventory expense - I’m not surprised their prices are higher. And I’m willing to pay their prices instead of suffering a friggin’ heart attack while shopping at Wal-Mart.
I’m also not sure that the stores in the STL area (where my family is from) have such an organic selection. Schnucks is also competing with Dierberg’s and other “high end” grocery stores in that area as well.
Momo // January 17, 2007 at 5:08 pm
Can you tell I love my Schnucks? :0)
lbotp // January 19, 2007 at 3:18 pm
I used to shop at Schnuck’s just for meat and produce, and then I would go to Meijer for staples. But since Peanut was born, I don’t have time for that, so more often than not I shop at Schnuck’s, period. They have all the brands I want, and their organic food is much cheaper than County Market’s. So I guess I figure it all washes out in the end.
Full Circle is Schnuck’s store brand organic. I have been buying the milk for months and like it much better than Horizon.
blue cheese // July 5, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Well here’s another reason NOT to shop at Schnucks: it’s the most racist store I’ve ever shopped in, not to mention the several incidences that’s happened already at Schnucks with international student being body-searched and Schnucks closing down stores that serve mainly black customers.
This is the fifth time I’ve shopped at Schnucks, and 2 out of the first 3 times the bagging clerk just walked off when it got to my turn. So the 4th time I decided to use self-checkout counters and it went okay. Then today a son of a B old clerk asked me if I took items out of the cart and put them into the bag. I mean, there were 3 other counters and I didn’t see him harassing anyone else. Then I was asked to show my id when I purchased with a credit card AND they served the person behind me first!
If you ask me, Sir Schnucks has made enough money according to Forbes magazine and his employees have become complacent cholesterol-ful dumb fatasses who found a pastime of singling out minorities to tease and fulfill their little egos. Maybe losing enough money to close out a few stores will make him learn some respect for his customers and run the stores more efficiently so ppl can shop without hassle.
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