Now you've given me something to ponder on the entire day -- why do the Walmarts within 10 miles of me have different prices? Some at $3.23 and others at $2.42. A 28% difference. Do other products have this same price difference? Are some stores consistently priced lower and should I shop at those instead of the one I go to?
I don't think it's specific to walmart, I've noticed that prices in supermarkets (Target, Walmart, etc.) located in lower priced neighborhoods tend to be lower than those in higher priced neighborhoods. The same item, same brand, same everything, but price difference can be from 10-30% different, sometimes more.
Stores have to make their money to survive, and a grocery store (the side of Walmart we're interested in here) has to deal with nationally advertised prices on a huge portion of their product base, so they adjust prices on the other side to compensate.
What has been pissing me off of late is that Walmart and Target will have shelf prices that are higher than online-for-in-store-pickup. You can get them to price match it but @#$@# annoying.
Yeah, I think it's tied to the costs of running a particular store, and maybe other factors, like local competition. Higher property taxes will generally mean more markup.
You can also do this with fast food restaurants. A great example near me is a Taco Bell that doesn't have a drive through but is surrounded by a bunch of apartments where the nearby locations that do have drive up windows are cheaper.
I would be curious to know the wealth gap between those two areas, but my gut would assume the more expensive eggs are at the poorer Walmart. Captive audience with less options. It's expensive to be poor. (Like that Taco Bell example)
Definitely other products at Walmart vary this way, I notice it as a frequent traveler across the US, I think practically all SKUs are fair game. Dehydrated camping meals are one thing I frequently take advantage of when I'm traveling and can grab them for lower price, sometimes up to 50% lower than my 'home' Walmarts.
Interesting to ponder where Bentonville area stores fall on this continuum. (Headquarters of Walmart in a small town in Arkansas) Anyone have anecdata?
