Wal-Mart expanding store brand line from household cleaners and Oreo substitutes
Filed under: Bargains, Food, Shopping
Wal-Mart's great value line of products already includes over 5,200 items, offering savings to its customers on everything from paper goods to beauty products to snack foods. So in normal times, expanding the offerings by about 80 new products might not be the most headline-inducing news, except that these are not normal times. And store brand products are not the bland, cheap offerings they used to be (or were perceived to be).
So the fact that Wal-Mart is going to be offering new cleaning products, a new line of strawberry yogurt, teriyaki beef jerky, double-stuff sandwich cookies, thin crust pizza, crisper kids breakfast cereal, cage-free eggs, fat-free caramel-swirl ice cream and many other products is pretty big news. Business Week also examines the change and says that Wal-Mart will also be re-doing its logo on the Great Value line, which is the largest store brand line in the country, and reamping around 750 existing products.
Wal-Mart's touts its change with the data that 75% of shoppers say that the "current economic conditions" are playing a big role in their decision whether to purchase national or grocery store brands and that more than 77% agree that store brands are "as good as, if not better than, national brand products."
But the real reason to buy store brands is that the proof is in the price. A new study from the Private Label Manufacturers Association shows that you can save a full 30% when buying store brands versus the average price of a national brand. The biggest price differentials were on soda, aspirin, sinus spray and lotion, which averaged a 50 to 60% savings. Here's a sampling of the price differences:
ITEM TO BUY -- NATIONAL $ -- STORE $
American Cheese -- $3.99 --$2.99
Cold Cereal -- $3.09 -- $2.13
Frozen Pizza -- $7.16 -- $5.49
Maple Syrup -- $4.99 -- $2.99
Saltine Crackers -- $3.00 -- $1.50
The PMLA study was conducted over 8 weeks in a typical suburban supermarket in the northeast.
For more on bargain shopping see our 10 Best Ways to Get Free Stuff, and watch our video below on the frenzy over free stuff!
Wal-Mart's touts its change with the data that 75% of shoppers say that the "current economic conditions" are playing a big role in their decision whether to purchase national or grocery store brands and that more than 77% agree that store brands are "as good as, if not better than, national brand products."
But the real reason to buy store brands is that the proof is in the price. A new study from the Private Label Manufacturers Association shows that you can save a full 30% when buying store brands versus the average price of a national brand. The biggest price differentials were on soda, aspirin, sinus spray and lotion, which averaged a 50 to 60% savings. Here's a sampling of the price differences:
ITEM TO BUY -- NATIONAL $ -- STORE $
American Cheese -- $3.99 --$2.99
Cold Cereal -- $3.09 -- $2.13
Frozen Pizza -- $7.16 -- $5.49
Maple Syrup -- $4.99 -- $2.99
Saltine Crackers -- $3.00 -- $1.50
The PMLA study was conducted over 8 weeks in a typical suburban supermarket in the northeast.
For more on bargain shopping see our 10 Best Ways to Get Free Stuff, and watch our video below on the frenzy over free stuff!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 8)
3-17-2009 @ 2:12PM
Margaret Horton said...
I love Wal-Mart! Yes...very good idea! Can't wait until they hit stores!
Reply
3-17-2009 @ 4:44PM
transamhlp said...
and your husband must be your brother i bet
3-18-2009 @ 10:53PM
PAYMYOWNWAY said...
BS!..............................BEWARE OF "GREAT VALUE CHICKEN".............................................................I recently purchased a package of WalMart's "GreatValue" chicken breasts minus skin/bones......................When cooking it the SAME way I have other brands, the chicken showed OBVIOUS SIGNS THAT WALMART IS INJECTING IT WITH WHO KNOWS WHAT! THE ENTIRE BAG WAS LIKE THIS!..............SOME OF THE "INJECTION SITES" WERE RANDOM AND SOME LOOKED LIKE METHODICAL STABS. EVERYWHERE THE SMALL STABS WERE, BUBBLY BROWN CRAP OOZED OUT. Fug WalMart! Do NOT buy their Great Value!
3-21-2009 @ 10:13PM
jp said...
go ahead and buy that junk. I just hope that you aren't sacrificing your health or your famlies for a couple dollars.
3-17-2009 @ 2:55PM
Kevin said...
GO Walmart!
Reply
3-17-2009 @ 3:01PM
bogus said...
Are they too made in China???
Reply
3-17-2009 @ 3:12PM
maggie said...
Walmart sucks, they are the reason the economy is in the crapper!
Reply
3-17-2009 @ 3:44PM
k p said...
Maggie - You are a fool. You blame the condition of our country on a company that strives at saving money?? Have you been living in a vacuum these past 10 years with all the back stabbing get rich schemes by our Banks & Corporations? You don't think that perhaps our financial industry with the illustrious ponzi programs and gluttonous consumers who want more without actually having cash for it, couldn't have anything to do with it?
3-17-2009 @ 4:03PM
CAROL said...
YOU ARE RIGHT ABOUT WALLY WORLD EVER TRY AND FIND SALES HELP THEIR SOME OTHER STORE NEEDS TO OUTBEAT WALMART
3-17-2009 @ 4:28PM
Chris said...
Government was (and is) the real culprit by forcing banks in the late 90's to make loans to unqualified people who had no realistic way to pay the mortgages. Barney Frank insisted there was no problem, but FreddyMac and FannyMae couldn't hide all the bad paper forever and... BANG...the housing market imploded. Don't blame WalMart. They're one of the few companies with growth and savings for customers.
3-17-2009 @ 5:09PM
J said...
kp, the reason why 'strive at saving money' because it's a ghetto company that services ghetto people. The stores are dirty, the parking lot is filled with trash (both on the ground and people walking through it) and they have 4 or 5 lanes open even though they have 32 available. Then when you ask someone for help, they say 'that ain't my job.' Trash works there, trash shops there. Plain and simple.
3-17-2009 @ 5:43PM
Jason said...
To J....I don't know where you shop but absolutely every observation you made about Walmart is NOT true where I shop. It's often crowded, but it's clean and the workers are very friendly. I suspect you don't like Walmart because it's not union, or maybe you're just having a bad life. Sorry.
3-17-2009 @ 6:33PM
Penny said...
I don't really think WalMart has anything to do with our economy sucking. I believe maybe the people who run our country and the fact that most of our businesses are moving to cheaper country has partially to do with our economic situation.
3-17-2009 @ 7:36PM
ralph said...
You are so wrong it is pitiful.
3-18-2009 @ 2:48PM
Sam said...
What planet are you from Maggie??
3-18-2009 @ 9:46PM
Just Me said...
Yeah, that's right, blame WalMart. EVERYTHING going wrong in this country is WalMart's "fault." Give me a break. Try blaming yourselves for over-extended credit cards, buying houses you knew you couldn't afford in the first place...and the new president you elected (oh yeah, we just LOVE that he's throwing away over a TRILLION $$ of our OWN future!!...NOT).
3-17-2009 @ 3:24PM
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Reply
3-17-2009 @ 4:16PM
Bryan said...
I work for a wal mart distribution center and I thuink they are one of the best companys anyone could ever work for. Yeah the work is hard but there is alot of room to move up and the benifits and pay are top notch compared to alot of jobs out there. I say more power to them for trying this. You people that get on here and talk bad about my company have no idea how much Wal Mart is trying to fix things the government will never figure out such as health care which is one of the things they hope to offer publicly. They already took care of perscription problem of over priced meds that people depended on to live so to me there is no limit to what we will do as GLOBAL LEADER!
Reply
3-17-2009 @ 8:25PM
Rich said...
Maybe Wal-Mart treats you fairly. Here in Florida they hire temp labor to remodel stores with the offering of work when the store is redone. If the store isn't finished within 3 months new temp help is hired to complete the job. Less than 10% were called back. The offer? 6 months part time as "no benifit temporary help" at less than $8.50 hr with new offer of full time after that. It's obvious that most new employees don't get any benifits for quite some time. When is corporate America going to stop riding the backs of the hard working, underpaid workforce? We carry this country, we deserve better.
3-18-2009 @ 6:04PM
Kelly said...
I agree with you Bryan, I also am a Wal-Mart employee only I work at a supercenter. I am a CSM (customer service manager) for those of you that don't know what the letters stand for. I am proud to say that I work for Wal-Mart and really get sick of the people who dog them out on a daily basis especially since I know that the most of them shop there probably weekly if not daily. They had got a bad reputation for a few things in the past that they now have fixed and the some. I am proud that my company is offering new products. I personally don't buy off or store brands because they are usually watered down or taste awful compared to the name brand items, but Great Value items are just as good if not better than the national brands and cost way less. Way to go Wal-Mart and way to go Bryan on being one of the few that actually are proud to be employed by the biggest store in the world.