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Is Whole Foods lowering prices? Try a $3.99 wine
July 29th, 2008, 3:00 am · 16 Comments · posted by Nancy Luna, Staff Writer
These days, shoppers are looking to save a buck — especially on groceries.
And, food retailers — Fresh & Easy, Ralphs, Stater Bros. and Wal-Mart — are accommodating these demands by promoting every day low prices on everything from milk to paper towels.
Now, even Whole Foods Market is getting into the act. The natural foods chain, nicknamed “Whole Paycheck” because of its steep prices, is now pushing its value deals.
Earlier this month, Whole Foods in Tustin introduced its version of Trader Joe’s Two Buck Chuck – a $3.99 wine. (CLICK on photo for more details)
Marketing supervisor Maria Mugica said the wine is exclusive to stores in Southern California, Arizona and Southern Nevada.
The Tustin store is also offering Value Tours this summer at 5 p.m. every Sunday, or by special appointment. The free tour is part of a chain- wide initiative to promote value prices at the chain. In other words, you don’t have to break the bank to get quality food at Whole Foods, the company says.
Tours focus on weekly specials on seasonal produce and low prices offered under the chain’s private label “365″ brand. For example, a 365 Glycerin soaps sell for 99 cents. (Yep…the world is not ending. There is something marked under a buck at Whole Foods.)
“We will point out our value and sale signs (and) talk about buying in season for the best tasting and most affordable fruits and vegetables,” Mugica said.
Tour-goers also get to taste food samples and receive gifts, coupons and a tip sheet for shopping on budget.
But, are the prices really that low, compared to other natural food chains such as Sprouts Farmers Market?
The Arizona-based market is expanding rapidly in the Southwest, and is becoming known for its affordable prices on organic and natural foods. Last week, Sprouts opened its second Orange County store in the old Whole Foods location on Holt Avenue in Tustin.
To see a price comparison on similar products, see my Sprouts vs. Whole Foods chart.
Tell us:
More information: Dates and times for Whole Foods value tours, and other store events in August.
Stay tuned for more on the supermarket value wars at ocregister.com or read the Register’s Marketplace section on Friday.
Related stories:
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- Grocery prices up 8.5 percent, farm group says
- Smart & Final to expand grocery selections, starting in Stanton
- Ralphs introduces new lower-price strategy, caps double coupon values
- Ralphs new lower prices — myth or fact? Take our POLL, see a chart of prices.
- Is Vons’ double-coupon policy better than Ralphs?
- Tesco targets Orange County and Los Angeles for relaunch of Fresh & Easy stores
- Vons opens Fresh & Easy copycat market in Long Beach
- Consumer Reports: tips on saving at the supermarket
- Wal-Mart slashes prices on food to help consumers
- Wal-Mart pursues mini-supercenters with more groceries in SoCal
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Dropping prices is a good start, but they need to make it easier to FIND their low-priced merchandise. It’s mixed in with all the high-priced stuff. They need to have a “value” section in the store. I think they will have a tough time competing with Food 4 Less and Stater Bros.
Whole Paycheck Foods! They are way out of line, you can find the same quality stuff at Trader Joes, and any grocery store.
Even Trader Joe’s has gotten outragous with it’s prices and needs to seriously address the problem ($4 for a jar of mayo???). These markets need to understand that as the economy tanks, it’s low prices people are after!
Vons is pathetic with their silly prices as well I am boycotting Vons that is it!
Sprouts is great on prices and the size of the store is much more shopable than the giant Whole Foods hangar at the District. I still love Trader Joe’s. Quibbling about the price of their mayonnaise, which isn’t a staple, doesn’t equate when you consider the savings on dairy, salad mixes, frozen food, etc.
Stater Bros is still has the all-around best prices, without all of the gimmicks. Trader Joes has great prices on many things, especially beer and wine. Albertsons, Vons and Ralphs are a ripoff compared to these two.
Fresh and Easy has the best prices by far. I have stopped going to Stater Bros. They heavily mark down the expiring meats, bread and fresh prepared foods, you just have to consume or freeze within a couple of days. They are a serious price buster. The competition is heating among all grocery stores.
The $1.99 Charles Shaw wine at Trader Joes’ tastes mighty fine.
Whole Foods has to lead a “tour” of their low priced foods?? Give me a break! If they are that hard to find, I’m not shopping there.
Go to the Super Irvine market off of Culver & Walnut in Irvine. Even though it is a supermarket aimed towards the Persian community (I am not Persian) it is a normal supermarket and they carry all of the produce that we would buy at Ralph’s and even the premium Boar’s Head deli meats and cheeses. The prices are shockingly low (even for Boar’s Head brand)! We have consistently saved roughly HALF of our normal food bill (we used to shop at Ralph’s) and almost anything we could get at Ralph’s is available here. Bread and milk is a little cheaper at Target or Costco though.
When I was at Whole Foods in Laguna Beach recently I was struck by some of their prices - they had dropped and were competitive. I think Trader Joe’s has some great values, and some times you can get a ton of meat cheap at Stater Bros or Vons when it’s on sale, but no individual market has cornered low prices across the shelf. I know a lot of people like Costco, but you have to buy too much food to make it a value propostion. I think you need to pick and choose where to buy.
Trader Joe’s has the best overall values, because they are a blend of Whole Foods (healty-conscious, gourmet) and and Bristol Farms (gorment) but without the high prices. Whole Foods Laguna Beach has lowered some of their prices, which I found refreshing.
whole foods needs to move out of the district..it’sover run by trendy college students
Figures. Two dollar wine is four dollars at Whole Foods.
Oh please my a**!! I went into the whole foods at the Distrtict in Tustin last night and was blown away at how expensive they are. I went the cold drink section and noticed that organic orange juice costs 8 dollars. Are u kidding me? And don’t even let me start on the hot deli per pound prices. Their produce prices at the front should let you know that high prices are coming. I didn’t see on person pushing a full cart,not one. I could go into Walmart,Traders,hell even Ralphs/Vons and see a full cart!
Okay so I went to the WF at The District and I don’t know how people can afford to buy groceries at that store. Pretty much everything was way overpriced compared to TJ and similar stores. The only thing I’ll give them credit for is the Gingerbread slices and garlic bread slices! They come in different sizes and prices(reallly low) and are delish. But overall that store is just out of my budget!