Latest news with #EdgarDworsky
Boston Globe
21-07-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Do Market Basket prices really still offer ‘more for your dollar'? We put it to the test.
Advertisement In the Boston area, the price of groceries in June was 24 percent higher than in June 2019, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Compare that to the 5 percent increase from June 2013 to 2019. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'Market Basket is not the bargain mecca that it was once upon a time, primarily because of inflation,' said Somerville's Edgar Dworsky, founder of . But, he added, 'On an everyday price basis, they'll probably come out on top.' This month, a Globe reporter and video producer put that hypothesis to the test, bringing the same 10-item shopping list to Market Basket, as well as Wegmans, Stop & Shop, Star Market, and Whole Foods Market, stores chosen because, like Market Basket, they offer a similarly wide selection of name-brand and store-brand items (sorry, Advertisement To minimize Under florescent lights and through labyrinthine aisles, crouched down to the lowest shelves and stretching for the highest, a clear winner quickly came into view. Market Basket clinched the cheapest prices on five items — sourdough bread ($5.99), Greek yogurt ($5.99), shredded cheddar cheese ($1.97), bacon ($5.99), and orange juice ($3.59). On oat milk, Market Basket tied with Stop & Shop and the on-sale price at Star Market ($4.99), on bananas with Wegmans (49 cents a pound), and on eggs with Wegmans and Stop & Shop ($3.99). Wegmans triumphed on Honey Nut Cheerios ($3.79, 20 cents cheaper than Market Basket), while Stop & Shop prevailed on russet potatoes (99 cents a pound, compared to $1.29 for Market Basket's 'baking potatoes'). In all, the (pretax) bill at Market Basket came out to $38.28, eking out a victory against runner-up Wegmans, which totaled $40.01. Stop & Shop clocked in at $44.40 (in all fairness, its store-brand orange juice, $1.40 pricier than Market Basket's, also contained 12 additional fluid ounces), followed by Star Market at $45.20. At an even $50, Whole Foods came in a distant fifth place. Put a different way: Someone who took this shopping list on their weekly grocery trip would save about $90 annually going to Market Basket over Wegmans, or more than $600 over Whole Foods. Advertisement Lauren Torres, 38, embarked on 'It did inspire me with this question of, 'So, why?' she said. Why, indeed? Any number of factors likely contribute to Market Basket's ability to keep prices lower than other chains, from its 'You can go to the Stop & Shop and pay $3.99 for a package of Oreos. They might sell 100 of them. We sell them for $1.50, but we'll sell 10,000,' said longtime Market Basket store director Ron Lambert in At the end of the day, a supermarket's pricing model is more than mere mathematics. It's how it communicates what kind of brand it is, said Karl Zimmermann, a senior partner focused on the grocery industry at the consulting firm Bain & Co. in Boston. 'Some retailers have a commitment to be as low price as they can possibly be for their customers, and that's why customers shop them,' he said. 'Who's our customer, and how do we make them happy?' Advertisement These days, the focus is on who, exactly, at Market Basket is answering those questions. In May, members of the company's board of directors The ouster came just over a decade after Though they remain at bitter odds, in statements to the Globe, both Demoulas and Market Basket board director Steven J. Collins — 'We don't have the buying power of Costco or Walmart, but we are constantly adjusting our supply sources to get the best products at the lowest prices. This takes a lot of hard work, but our team is the best at doing that,' Collins said. Collins added that amid Demoulas's suspension, 'Pricing is unchanged and as low as we can get them.' Justine Griffin, the spokesperson for Demoulas, said the exiled CEO 'frequently met with product buyers with the direction to keep prices low for valued customers.' 'The management team under Arthur T. Demoulas has leveraged years of grocery store know-how, relationships with vendors and partners, and its own transportation system to keep prices low and pass savings on to customers,' she said. Advertisement It's an approach other supermarkets are taking, as well. In a statement to the Globe, a Whole Foods spokesperson said the Austin-based chain 'is committed to value while maintaining industry-leading quality standards,' adding that the company has A spokesperson for Stop & Shop, headquartered in Quincy, said as part of A representative for Wegmans declined to comment, and a representative for Star Market didn't respond to requests for comment. Though Market Basket came out on top of the Globe's investigation, Dworsky, of Consumer World, urged customers against blind allegiance. Instead, he advocates for 'cherry-picking' — learning which stores in close proximity have the best deals or sales on certain items, and shopping accordingly. (A customer following this maxim on the Globe's shopping list would spend $37.78 — 50 cents below the Market Basket receipt.) Meanwhile, he added, discount chains such as Aldi or Price Rite might not offer the selection of a Market Basket or a Stop & Shop, but they may offer more competitive prices on generics and the name brands they do carry. Advertisement Loyal shoppers might need some convincing. In a report released in January that surveyed 11,000 US consumers, So perhaps there is something more important than whether Market Basket really is the place to get more for your dollar. 'I think in consumers' minds, it is,' Dworsky said. Dana Gerber can be reached at
Boston Globe
02-07-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Bostonians have a say in how much they pay for electricity, but few seem to know it
Advertisement Edgar Dworsky, of Somerville, who edits the website 'Use of 'negative option' plans, where a customer is presented with an offer that will go into effect unless the customer affirmatively rejects it, are generally considered to be unfair or deceptive,' Dworsky said. Boston's is the largest of about 200 such programs in Massachusetts; it is not unusual in defaulting customers to a higher-priced option. And the disparities in Boston's program are not as large as they are in some communities. In Newton and Somerville, for instance, the difference between the default option and the cheapest one is significantly larger than in Boston. Advertisement In Somerville, those who wind up in the middle tier pay an average of $175 more a year than those in the cheapest level. In Newton, the disparity is almost 20 percent, or $305 a year. Those who land in Boston's middle tier currently pay 4.2 percent more for power than those in the cheapest tier. So far this year, customers in Boston are paying significantly more than they would if they opted out and instead paid the rate offered by the monopoly utility, Eversource. At current rates, a typical ratepayer would save $169 a year by switching from BCCE's middle tier to Eversource. That will change Aug. 1, however, when Eversource's rates for the next six months go into effect. The new rates will be almost identical to BCCE's middle tier, but slightly higher. While the cheapest rates in the BCCE program have often been lower than those offered by Eversource, the middle-tier BCCE rates, which most Bostonians are steered into, are by design higher than those in the lowest tier. The aim isn't to punish ratepayers; it's to gradually move the city away from fossil fuels and toward solar, wind, and other sustainable sources. Those in the middle tier help fund a power mix where nearly half comes from renewables, while those in the lower tier fund a power mix with less than a third from renewable energy — matching that of Eversource. While the extra costs ratepayers bear for the greener power mix are arguably modest, they add to a heavy burden. As of April, Massachusetts utility customers paid more per kilowatt-hour than residents of any state save California, Connecticut, and Hawaii, Advertisement Those challenges may grow as Massachusetts officials push to get at least a half-million homes running on For low-income Bostonians, the impacts are greater still. One in four Boston families spends nearly a quarter of their household income on energy, And even those whose poverty is known to the government don't get steered toward the cheapest electric plans. About one in 10 Boston ratepayers have qualified for subsidized electric rates by providing proof of their low income. In Mattapan and Roxbury, nearly a quarter of consumers get this lower rate. Yet when it comes to the power mix they receive, the vast majority of these people wind up in the city's middle tier, costing them more. In Mattapan and Roxbury, for instance, barely 2 percent of customers are in the city's lowest price tier. In other words, only about 1 of every 10 customers in these neighborhoods who have demonstrated they are poor enough to receive cheaper power rates are getting the city's best rate. Boston's program was approved unanimously by the City Council in 2017, with Wu, then a city councilor, co-sponsoring it. The program launched in 2021. Advertisement Wu's administration says the city has to balance multiple goals, including a move to renewable energy. 'It's price stability. It's savings, and it is also renewable energy,' said Oliver Sellers-Garcia, the city's Green New Deal director. 'The goal is not just to provide the lowest cost savings. The goal is to get the people of Boston the best thing which balances all those things.' But the city's data and interviews by the Globe suggest few Bostonians are aware they have options. 'I don't remember being given choices,' said a senior from Hyde Park who did not want to be named. The man, who receives the discount available to low-income residents, was routed into BCCE's middle tier. He was able to quickly find his latest bill when asked by reporters, but he could not locate a letter from the city detailing his options. Ewura Yankah, the director of constituent services in City Council District 7, which includes some of the city's poorest neighborhoods, told the Globe the city could better communicate options. 'We agree that there's an opportunity for increased outreach,' Yankah said. One consumer advocate focused on renewable energy, Larry Chretien, said he supports the municipal programs for boosting the use of green energy. He also said he didn't see a downside if cities were to tweak their programs to automatically enroll low-income ratepayers in the cheapest tier. 'I think we're talking very small potatoes,' said Chretien, executive director of Green Energy Consumers Alliance. 'But I don't have a problem with that if that was the new way of doing it.' Joey Flechas can be reached at
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
You Might Be Overpaying at Kroger, According to a New Pricing Audit
Consumer Reports found widespread pricing errors at Kroger, with outdated sale tags causing shoppers to overpay by an average of 18.4%. Employees and investigators allege Kroger is aware of the issue, but ongoing staffing cuts have made it harder to fix, particularly in stores with the most errors. Consumers are advised to check receipts carefully, take photos of shelf prices, and report discrepancies to store managers or state consumer protection may want to check your receipt if you've recently shopped at your local Kroger. In May, Consumer Reports, in partnership with The Guardian and the Food & Environment Reporting Network (FERN), released a report on the grocery giant's errors in price labeling, which caused consumers to overpay by an average of 18.4%. Consumer Reports became aware of the issue after learning that Kroger workers in Colorado alleged that old sale tags remained on products long after their expiration dates, leading to consumers paying a different cost at the register. The workers, Consumer Reports noted, claim the issue is well-known to the grocery chain's head office. It's also an issue Kroger has faced before in numerous class-action lawsuits in California, Illinois, Ohio, and Utah, Consumer Reports noted. "It's an open secret," Derek Kravitz, an investigative reporter at Consumer Reports, shared with Food & Wine. "Grocery chains, and more specifically dollar stores, have been dinged on this for years." Related: On a Budget? This Tool Can Help Plan Your Grocery Lists To determine the true significance of the problem, the Consumer Reports team recruited volunteers to shop at 24 Kroger or Kroger-owned stores across 14 states over a span of three months. This group of shoppers discovered expired sale labels on more than 150 grocery items, several of which had expired at least 90 days earlier. This resulted in an average overcharge of $1.70 per item, or 18.4%. 'People should pay the price that is being advertised, that's the law,' Edgar Dworsky, a consumer advocate and the founder of Consumer World, shared with Consumer Reports. 'The issue here is that shoppers can't rely on the shelf price being accurate, and that's a big problem.' And while employees are working diligently to correct the tags, it seems that Kroger may be undermining their efforts, as the company has also been conducting layoffs from the top down in recent months, despite reporting record profits. According to Consumer Reports, in the stores where significant errors were found, the average number of employees was reduced by 10.3% between 2019 and 2024. However, in stores with few or no price tag errors, the staffing cuts were only 6.2%. 'It really makes me feel bad because some of [the customers] are on fixed incomes and they're older. They're not going to pay attention,' Joy Alexander, a Kroger employee, told Consumer Reports. 'They think that when they took it off the shelf, it was $2.50. They don't know that they're paying $3.75 for that one item.' For its part, Kroger told Consumer Reports that it is 'committed to affordable and accurate pricing' and also rejected the idea that the price issues were as frequent as they appeared in the report. 'While any error is unacceptable, the characterization of widespread pricing concerns is patently false,' the spokesperson added. Related: These Foods Will Likely Get More Expensive After Trump's Tariffs Take Effect As for what consumers should do, Kravitz said to keep it simple and "take a photo or write down the sales price you see when putting things in a cart. And then check it against the receipt when you're at the register or right before or right after." He warned not to do it days or weeks later, as it may be more difficult to get a refund. "Kroger does have a Make it Right policy with an internal code that they use for their point of sale computer system to fix those errors," Kravitz said. "But they do it on a case-by-case basis, and that's the larger problem that we're flagging because a lot of people don't check or are just too busy." And if that doesn't work, Kravitz says it's time to "complain" to your local or state attorney general. Each state, he said, "typically has a consumer protection division that handles this type of complaint," which could help you and everyone in the neighborhood save more in the future by addressing the problem from the start. See the full report at Read the original article on Food & Wine
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kroger has been overcharging grocery customers for years, report alleges
Kroger has been accused of overcharging customers for basic groceries that were advertised as discounted at its stores across the country, according to a three-month-long investigation conducted by Consumer Reports. After Kroger workers in Colorado alleged the company had widespread price errors and were aware, Consumer Reports sent people to shop at Kroger-owned stores such as Harris Teeter, Ralphs, Fry's and more to determine if the company had overcharged. The report discovered that at 26 stores across 14 states and the District of Columbia, customers were overcharged for more than 150 basic items due to expired sale labels. On average, customers paid $1.70 more than needed for everyday items such as cereal, cold and flu medication, instant coffee, meat and more. A spokesperson for Kroger denied the breadth of the problem, saying, 'The Consumer Reports allegations boil down to misinformation, reviewing a handful of discrete issues from billions of daily transactions.' 'It in no way reflects the seriousness with which we take our transparent and affordable pricing,' the spokesperson added. Kroger is the nation's largest supermarket chain by revenue. It has operations in 35 states. Consumer Reports alleges their investigation found that one-third of sales tags on items were expired by at least 10 days, and at least five products had sales tags expired by 90 days. 'People should pay the price that is being advertised, that's the law,' Edgar Dworsky, the founder of Consumer World, told Consumer Reports. 'The issue here is that shoppers can't rely on the shelf price being accurate, and that's a big problem,' Dworsky added. The pricing mistake was not found at every Kroger store. Fears about consumer prices going up have spread across the country as economists have warned that President Donald Trump's tariffs could cause higher inflation. The Consumer Price Index found that prices rose by 0.2 percent last month, but inflation overall remains the lowest it's been in four years. But that hasn't stopped consumers from worrying about price increases. Customers who had complained told Consumer Reports that Kroger employees were quick to correct pricing errors after they were revealed. Kroger said it's 'committed to affordable and accurate pricing' and that the characterization of widespread pricing was 'patently false.' 'Kroger's 'Make It Right' policy ensures associates can create a customer experience and addresses any situation when we unintentionally fall short of a customer's expectations,' a Kroger spokesperson said. 'Connecting regular technology upgrades and our 'Make It Right' policy to price accuracy is incorrect.'
The Independent
15-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Kroger has been overcharging grocery customers for years, report alleges
Kroger has been accused of overcharging customers for basic groceries that were advertised as discounted at its stores across the country, according to a three-month-long investigation conducted by Consumer Reports. After Kroger workers in Colorado alleged the company had widespread price errors and were aware, Consumer Reports sent people to shop at Kroger-owned stores such as Harris Teeter, Ralphs, Fry's and more to determine if the company had overcharged. The report discovered that at 26 stores across 14 states and the District of Columbia, customers were overcharged for more than 150 basic items due to expired sale labels. On average, customers paid $1.70 more than needed for everyday items such as cereal, cold and flu medication, instant coffee, meat and more. A spokesperson for Kroger denied the breadth of the problem, saying, 'The Consumer Reports allegations boil down to misinformation, reviewing a handful of discrete issues from billions of daily transactions.' 'It in no way reflects the seriousness with which we take our transparent and affordable pricing,' the spokesperson added. Kroger is the nation's largest supermarket chain by revenue. It has operations in 35 states. Consumer Reports alleges their investigation found that one-third of sales tags on items were expired by at least 10 days, and at least five products had sales tags expired by 90 days. 'People should pay the price that is being advertised, that's the law,' Edgar Dworsky, the founder of Consumer World, told Consumer Reports. 'The issue here is that shoppers can't rely on the shelf price being accurate, and that's a big problem,' Dworsky added. The pricing mistake was not found at every Kroger store. Fears about consumer prices going up have spread across the country as economists have warned that President Donald Trump's tariffs could cause higher inflation. The Consumer Price Index found that prices rose by 0.2 percent last month, but inflation overall remains the lowest it's been in four years. But that hasn't stopped consumers from worrying about price increases. Customers who had complained told Consumer Reports that Kroger employees were quick to correct pricing errors after they were revealed. Kroger said it's 'committed to affordable and accurate pricing' and that the characterization of widespread pricing was 'patently false.' 'Kroger's 'Make It Right' policy ensures associates can create a customer experience and addresses any situation when we unintentionally fall short of a customer's expectations,' a Kroger spokesperson said. 'Connecting regular technology upgrades and our 'Make It Right' policy to price accuracy is incorrect.'
