News to share with … But our price surveys always found it charges whole-paycheck prices; in 2016, when we last shopped area stores, Whole Foods’ prices were 57 percent higher than Fred Meyer’s and 44 percent higher than Safeway, and 21 to 23 higher than Ballard Market, Central Market, and Metropolitan Market, three other area grocery options that consistently get very high quality ratings. Check out the other articles in our “Grocery Stores” category and our ratings tables for info on all the local grocery options, how we rated them, and tips on saving no matter where you shop. in the Puget Sound Area Rated, Medical Tests & Procedures: Reducing Unnecessary Care, Opticians, Optometrists, & Buying Eyewear, 50 Things You (Probably) Shouldn’t Pay For, Credit Cards Provide Strong Protections for Consumers, Identity Theft: How to Monitor and Protect Your Credit, Sale Prices: At Many Stores, the Sale Price Isn't Special. If you need less than 15 servings, then Walmart deli is a better deal than Costco platters because Costco … Chop your budget Meanwhile, Costco and Sam’s Club offer two 20.35-ounce boxes for different prices. Like most grocery stores, Whole Foods uses “loss leaders”—widely advertised discounts on a small number of items—to draw customers into stores (when calculating our price comparison scores, we use these sale prices). Flickinger isn’t the only industry insider discussing WinCo and Walmart in the same breath. WinCo pays at least $11 per hour, offers health/dental insurance, and invests 20% of a worker's salary into a pension, yet has lower prices than Walmart. Rounding up both prices per bag, Costco is a penny … How to Find Savings, Lower Prices, Saving Tips. While WinCo is definitely a no-frills store — in fact, they don't even accept credit cards — don't assume that the blandness of their stores will mean their rotisserie chicken is equally as bland. 7. WinCo is out of the way for me, … Save on Groceries No Matter Where You Shop, Ratings and reviews by surveyed Consumers' Checkbook and Consumer Reports local subscribers, Thousands of undercover price comparisons, Complaint counts from local consumer agencies and attorney general offices. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Grocery stores are in a knock-down drag-out fight for your business. They've been around at least 30 years that I know of. Safeway's sale prices weren't as good as Fred Meyer's regular prices (or were just barely). From Walmart to Kroger (the last store) it’s 4 miles if that. Simple, look for orange Compare the Savings signs throughout your employee-owned store. The Haggen prices were … It's actually the opposite. In general, we found that Target stores around the U.S. that lack scales at checkout and therefore price produce per piece or package, offer undersized items relative to their price tags. How do Trader Joe’s Prices Compare to Other Grocery Stores’? They keep their prices … Mouthwash. These signs will show you true savings… Exact item (brand, name, weight, upc) Our local price; Other local stores’ prices “While many supermarkets strive to keep within a few percentage points of Walmart stores’ prices, WinCo … Like if you buy all Great Value food from Walmart, will there be a significant difference in price as opposed to buying brand name food from Winco? Costco offers their 64-ounce jar of mayonnaise for 10.9 cents per ounce while Walmart’s price is 11.2 cents. If you don't have to pay high prices for groceries, why do it? Lynsi Burton/seattlepi.com Show More Show Less 20 of 60 WinCo. Although Grocery Outlet wins for price, it offers few options compared to other grocery stores: The location we shopped carried less than one-fourth of the items in our market basket. We always shop at Winco for groceries, but sometimes we can't find everything we need and still need to go to Walmart. We compared 15 items at WinCo, Fry's, Safeway and Walmart. To compare prices, our researchers used a 154-item market basket of common items—and a lot of energy—to shop area options. The results are reported in our ratings tables and summarized below. But if none of that impresses you, and you simply want to walk away with the cheapest bill, there's an easy winner in the bunch. On our “overall quality” question, QFC and Fred Meyer were each rated “superior” by 64 percent of their surveyed customers, compared to only 27 percent for Walmart, 43 percent for Safeway, 46 percent for Albertsons, 48 percent for Grocery Outlet, and 55 percent for WinCo. Grocery shopping can get expensive, especially for families. Amazon likely isn’t done making changes at Whole Foods. Hotels Gouge Guests With Absurd Resort Fees, Tickets: Saving on Seats for Shows & Sports, Timeshare Exit Companies Deserve a Time Out, Travel Websites Mislead by Falsely Declaring Few Rooms Remain, Travel: Hidden Fees Can Make Vacation Rentals a Rip Off. Wal Mart does the same thing – they will price match any competitor’s flyer. If those things don't matter to you, WinCo is your place. We’ll continue to check in. Does It Matter? Grocery Outlet, which offers a somewhat odd assortment of steeply discounted surplus national-brand products, offered prices that were about 26 percent lower than the average. The three businesses rated highest overall each had prices that were at least 15 percent higher than the all-store average. For a family that spends $200 per week at the supermarket, a 20 to 27 percent price difference could total savings of $2,080 to more than $2,800 a year. Which Grocery Stores Offer the Best Prices and Quality? You can't get your hair cut or nails done or eyes checked at WinCo either. You can even find bands playing outside some of them on warm Valley nights. First, WinCo is no frills. Second, all of the prices we listed did not take sales or reward perks into account. As a result, prices will also vary by region. Albertsons’ and Safeway’s prices averaged four percent higher than the other chains and stores we surveyed, and QFC’s prices were about six percent higher than the all-store average. When we substituted cheaper generic and store brands for about one-sixth of the items in our price-shopping market basket at the big chains, the total cost of the full market basket dropped by about five percent. Winner: Costco (by a fraction of a cent) 11. Over all, WInco prices are much lower than Safeway and Albertsons though they are probably comparable to Walmart. Our ratings of local chains and stores report how each stacks up for price and quality. Since Costco’s go-to for zip-top bags is Ziploc, offering no store brand alternative, we compared the prices for this brand at both stores.