- Wal-Mart effect combines with deflation to eat away at margins
- Two-for-one sirloins? How about a nice deal on a wagyu steak?
Call it the Great Grocery-Store Giveaway of 2016.
In Austin, Texas, Randalls slashed prices for boneless beef ribs by 40 percent, to $3.99 a pound. Not to be outdone, the H-E-B grocer down the street charged $1 a pound less. Not long ago, Albertsons advertised a deal you don’t normally see on your finer cuts of meat: “buy 1 get 1 free” specials on “USDA Choice Petite Sirloin Steak.”
And what does $1 buy these days? In North Bergen, New Jersey, you could pick up a dozen eggs at Wal-Mart. OK, the price was actually $1.14. A mile away, check out Aldi, the German supermarket discounter, which can actually break the buck — 12 eggs for 99 cents. A year ago, you would have paid, on average, three times that price.
Craig Giammona | Bloomberg