"Greg Pavlov" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 23 Apr 2004 14:19:52 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

Around here (Rochester NY), Wal Mart hasn't made much of a dent
in that category.

That's because Wegman's is in town, which is
probably the best there is in the supermarket
business, and Tops also competes very well.

True. But, Wal Mart's got grocery problems elsewhere, too. There's been a
huge amount of consolidating in the wholesale end of the grocery biz. Almost
any sizeable wholesaler can buy as good as, or better than WM these days.
So, even smaller stores who buy through wholesalers end up with the
benefits. It's not that hard to torture the manufacturers for better
pricing.

I don't know about WM anywhere but here, but in our 2 stores, the produce is
really lousy, and much of the meat is treated with some sort of tenderizing
agent. It's right on the label. I don't recall the name of the stuff, and
it's probably safe, but who cares? So, if you happen to like fruit &
vegetables, and meat without stuff in it, you have to go to two stores to do
your shopping. As soon as that happens, you're not saving money any more.