Kroger, Publix

I hit any number of grocery stores any given month. I go to the DeKalb Farmers Market once a month, Wal-Mart, Kroger and Publix at various times. Each store has something the other doesn't so I have to vary. Greg (my husband) is a traditional eater, I tend to travel the extremes.

In a couple of my blogs I talked about my quest for the least expensive raw honey (Kroger).

Yesterday, I popped over to Publix to pick up a few things they carry that none of the other local stores stock. I really like Publix. It's clean, the people are friendly, they'll stock anything if you ask them.

However, I was shocked at the price difference in some items.

I buy a black tea at Wal-Mart and Kroger, same brand, common name. It's usually on sale at one of the two places for $2, regular price being $2.19. I've seen it as high as $2.39 but that's rare. It was $3.19 at Publix. A dollar difference. I've always known they were a little higher on some products, maybe a penny or two. Now all of a sudden prices have jumped. And when I say jumped, I mean sky-high jumped!

I thought that was an anomaly, but it wasn't! Maybe it's just because I buy things that aren't always mainstream items, but almost every thing I picked up ended up going back on the shelf. The were consistently close to a dollar higher on many things.

I still ended up spending $62 so I didn't walk out empty handed! But I put more things back than I bought.

I don't think I'll be going back to Publix any time soon, much as I like some of their foods. Just to end this on a positive note, I really like the selection of healthy foods at Publix, and I like the way they have them with the regular foods instead of stuck off in a section somewhere. I would imagine they sell quite a bit more that way.