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Where do you prefer to grocery shop?  Aldi, Walmart, the mainstream grocery store? 

Shoppers tend to be loyal to a particular store, we’re creatures of habit after all. Some folks like Aldi because of the consistently low prices and name brands aren’t a concern. Others favor Dillons because of the loyalty card and fuel points. Then there are those who do their regular grocery shopping at Walmart liking the one-stop shopping convenience for clothes, home & garden, and other general merchandise.

Here’s this week’s side-by-side Wichita Metro comparison of grocery store prices for Aldi, Walmart, and Dillon’s (Kroger, a.k.a. the mainstream grocery store), plug in the name of the mainstream grocery store in your neck of the woods here, ie., Meijer, HyVee, Publix, Albertsons, etc.   Odds are that mainstream is going to be the most expensive of the three from week to week.

Covering the basics, this week’s list, dated March 21, 2023, is unchanged in item count from March 14, the previous Wichita metro weekly essentials review for a total of 25 grocery products.  There were no revisions to the shopping list.  Of note, in a week-over-week comparison to the shop conducted on March 14, shoppers would have saved $1.20 at Aldi vs. last week, spent an additional $2.60 at Dillons, and saved $1.48 at Walmart.

Prices stated are online prices and for items available at the time of the review. Remember that the featured items are the store brand for each respective store unless otherwise labeled. Prices can vary from store to store, as store managers have the flexibility to adjust prices, lower or higher. Aldi does not have the flexibility of the other stores reviewed. Prices are good as of this writing and could change by the time you make that grocery run.

Takeaways from this week’s price review:

  • Egg prices held steady in price from the previous week, we may have seen an end to the drop in prices.  As a matter of perspective, back in January, the average price for a carton of eggs in the Wichita metro was about $5.  That average price dropped to $3.21 in late February and for the last two weeks sits at $2.56. 
  • Aldi was the second lowest in online pricing of the three stores reviewed. Keep in mind their online prices are higher than in-store prices, so you’ll spend even less than what’s listed when shopping in-store. Aldi uniquely does this to cover their employee cost of personal shopping for your delivery or pickup order.  Aldi’s drop in the overall price of $1.20 over the previous week’s shop was led by a drop in the price of bacon and butter. 
  • The Dillons online pricing is the same as in-store.  As in past reviews, Dillons has a very red column of prices and only had two items with the lowest price.   The price gap this week Dillons vs. Aldi was $5.04.  The price gap with Walmart was $6.05.   If you’re curious about how the Dillons loyalty card plays a role, check out the related article link, “Mainstream Grocery vs. Discount Grocery: Dillon’s (Kroger) vs. Aldi. 
  • The Walmart online pricing is the same as for in-store.   The $1.48 in savings vs. the previous week’s shop was led by a drop in price for boneless/skinless chicken breast.  Walmart is usually the more expensive of the three in this category, as they don’t carry a store brand in a standard 2-ish-pound package.  They currently offer Tyson at $3.14/lb., but it’s for noticeably smaller chicken breasts.  If you want larger chicken breasts, the price jumps to $4.64.

Don’t see some essential items that you think should be on the list?  Send me an email.

Have you bought your ham for Easter yet?

$pend Wisely My Friends…

~ Mike

Related: Grocery Stores in Wichita

Related: Mainstream Grocery vs. Discount Grocery: Dillon’s (Kroger) vs. Aldi

Related: Food Review: Great Value bacon not such a great value

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