When you move to a new area, everyone shares with you what the “local treasures” are.  In the Southeast, that includes Publix grocery stores.  Florida loves Publix.  Having worked in the food industry and visited Florida for more than 30 years, we were very familiar with Publix, but hadn’t shopped there too much as “locals”.  Now that we’ve been doing that, I’m putting Publix on my OVERRATED list. 

They have very nice stores, they keep them clean, the staff is available & helpful – but their pricing strategy is too much work!

First, everyday prices are a bit too high.  On sale, they utilize “BUY ONE GET ONE FREE” or “BUY TWO GET ONE FREE” offers throughout the store.  There’s a catch, though … if you only want one item, you pay full price.  

We’re a small household. It’s just the two of us down here.  We don’t really need two or three of the same item very often.  Today, we went to buy Cheerios for our dog Riley. (Our niece, who’s a veterinarian suggested them as a low-cost healthy treat).

At Publix, they are not low-cost at all. I know a thing or two about the price of Cheerios and $9.29 for the “Family Size” Box or $5.69 for the regular size box is not a good value.  Today, only the “Family Size” box is on BOGO.  Two giant boxes for one little dog?  At Riley’s consumption rate, 2 boxes will take us about 2 years to finish.  Decision – screw the pension, buy the generic Cheerios for $2.49. If there’s a quality difference, Riley won’t complain.

How about granola bars? I like these Nature Valley ones now & then. I would probably eat one every other day, but the BOGO deal makes me buy two huge boxes to get a decent price. 24 bars is two month’s worth. Decision – skip it.

It’s time for a treat …. Let’s look at the Mickey Ice Cream Bars. The everyday price is $10.99?! I’m not paying that. I’ve seen them on BOGO before, but I’m not buying 12 bars at a time. It’s an occasional treat, not something I need to eat 12 of. Decision – no treat for Mr Fire Station. Sad day.

There have been things we’ve stocked up on to make the Publix BOGO mania work, but I’m never happy about it.  And, when something is not on BOGO, I feel like I’m just getting ripped off.  I’m not a complicated guy, I just want stores that just deliver EVERYDAY LOW PRICE per unit.  Enough with the games!

Does your local grocery store play a lot of pricing games, or is shopping for your favorites pretty straightforward?

Images: (c) MrFireStation.com