Biggest US grocery chain investigated over Uber-style surge pricing
msn.com
Kroger, America's biggest supermarket chain, is being investigated over its use of electronic price labels on store shelves nationwide. US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bob Casey announced they were looking into the practice to see if the chain was engaging in surge pricing. So-called 'dynamic pricing' is common in other industries, such as flights, hotels and car-sharing services like Uber . It sees customers paying more or less depending on demand
There are multiple posts on lemmy about the stores switching to digital tags, some of which claim they will "save the customer money", obviously an outright lie as the point is to make more money for the store.
Ex: https://lemmy.world/post/16718848 , https://lemmy.world/post/17161297
TIL Kroger is the biggest supermarket chain in the US. I thought it would be Walmart.
Walmart is a retailer, because they sell basically everything, while Kroger only sells groceries. I think that's the distinction they're making.
My local Kroger sells clothes, has dressing rooms, has a pharmacy with a clinic, an attached gas station, and has a decent home goods section.
I think most Walmarts don't really sell groceries. Last time I lived near one, it didn't have any produce, which is really the whole point of a grocery store.
Didn't Kroger just buy another chain, though? That might have been what made them the biggest.
every Walmart I've been to has a big grocery section
I think those are the "Superstores." I know in my tiny-ass hometown we had a regular Wal-Mart that was basically just a K-Mart.
Its getting harder and harder to find a regular walmart anymore here in Texas. They seem to be all Supercenters or Neighborhood Markets (only groceries)
https://www.walmart.com/store-directory/tx
I miss my blue light special at KMart š„²
The div1 walmarts without a grocery are mostly phased out I thought? There are only supercenters (general store + grocery) and neighborhood markets (grocery only) in the adjacent states to me.
Not yet. They are trying to merge with Albertsons which owns lots of local stores like Jewel Osco and Safeway. But they need the merger to be approved by the FDA before it can go through. Their case is supposed to be heard early next year. Let's hope it doesn't go through.
Wouldn't that be the Federal Trade Commission to make that determination?
You're probably right, but I was tired last night when I posted this.
Whoever it is will be sufficiently bribed enough to make it happen.
I haven't seen a Walmart since like 1995 that didn't have a fuck ton of groceries, including produce
Walmart has store classifications which govern how they are built according to the demographics of the area they serve, ie: population, average income, etc.
Neighborhood Walmarts are essentially a grocery store. So they do have dedicated grocery stores.
They are trying to buy Albertsonās. Which sucks since those are the two closest to me and one is far better than the other.
Don't worry, once Kreuger merges and becomes even bigger. All this anti-consumer behavior will disappear.
It practically regulates itself!
And with the Kroger/Albertsons merger likely imminent considering they announced all the stores in my city they're going to close or sell off, it's likely to become the norm and even if it's deemed illegal, the fines won't be enough to matter until they can pay to make it legal. It's not like they can be shut down if they're the only grocery stores.
We keep giving them money and they keep fucking us over! What are we to do?!
Unfortunately some people don't have a choice. The only grocery stores near me are Kroger or Albertsons. I have to drive over an hour to get any other options.
But at the same time, even though I only shop for two, it might end up being cheaper to drive an hour and a half to Costco if shit keeps going the way it is. When you have to pay over $100 on less than a week of groceries, gas prices seem quaint in comparison.
Is stater bros still less corporate-y than Kroger?
It's only in southern California I think, so probably. I just left one to start school, and it wasn't that bad. They were just starting to get much more serious about a greeting program, and they send secret shoppers to evaluate the workers a couple times a month, but that's about it. It's unionized, too, which is nice.
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Sure this bot is annoying, but why is everyone down voting it? Am I out of the loop or something?
From what I remember is that the bias reports themselves are quite biased. I believe to favour pro-semitic media's, but I'm not too sure about it.
I could see that. They do seem to favor specific websites. I understand the idea behind it but the execution is mediocre.