Slightly O/T - Variation in Supermarket Prices.....

Noticed the same here.
local Woolworths 8k from the middle of Brisbane, but 3k from any other supermarket is higher on quite a few things than the woolies up at my sisters place on the north coast. That shopping centre has a wollies & a coles in the one centre.
Asked my local woolies manager about it. Said it is up to me. If I want to drive 3 to 5k to a cheaper place, it is up to me to spend the fuel.

Meanwhile he gets a few extra points with the state management for a good profit.

The situation with Coles and Woollies is already well documented. Stores are divided up into any one of 10 or more price groups. It's been that way for a verrrrry long time.

IGA is like a co-op. Stores are privately owned whether singly or in groups. They have some standard prices ( like specials in Woollies and Coles ) but the rest of their lines are priced as per the Store owners wishes.

Hi All

My cook buys from Campbells Bulk Stores they supply small Super
Markets on the Gold Coast, you only have to present an ABN Number,
you can buy a couple of things or a truck load, they beat all the big
Super Markets.

Cheers
Daza

Gidday Tim, until recently the missus worked for a major supermarket and has had some pretty amazing stories to tell of their little tricks and ploys, some of which people would be aware.

Things like:
Working on percentages, ie if its on special, gets put through the till at full price, apparently only 10% of shoppers pick it up, therefore 90% dont.

An item heavily discounted, but the shelf is empty even at 8.30 am, 60% of shoppers will then purchase another brand at full price.

Items that men would normaly purchase are targeted because reasearch has shown that males are less likely to argue about over pricing and very rarely return an item even if its their right.

Generic products 80% of which are sourced from China, you have to look very hard to find the 'Made in China' which is either printed in a very obscure place or hidden behind the fold in the packaging. Found this out the other day with a jar of peanut butter, couldnt taste any peanuts, just brown slop.
[a Chinese made drill is one thing and lead based paints on toys another, so only God knows what they do with foodstuffs before we get it].

Sorry if Im digressing from your original comments but Ive just done a quick run down on an upcoming weekend away for me and the missus. Our chosen campsite about 140 kms from home.

Petrol...............................................................$180
Tucker ............................................................$ 75
9kg gas bottle...................................................$ 31
Carton of fags...................................................$ 70
Our favourite liquids...........................................$ 120

Not far off $500 for 2 days. The same trip 3 years ago $290.

I really feel for those who take longer or extended trips away.

Cheers mate.......my friday rave.

Lionel.

I don't want to defend the supermarkets because they are mongrels but is it a fair comparison. One town has a population of 15000 and is presumably able to support three super markets. The smaller town would appear to have a smaller customer base and less turnover, this inevitably leads to higher prices in my experience.

Gday,
I just did a quick calculation, and I reckon it would it would take me about 20hrs and cost about $800 to shoot up to the next woolies to compare prices.

Think Ill just pay the price.

Cheers