Can't offer any ideas, but thanks for the heads up--we'll probably be popping into WM this weekend, so I'll be careful to check each and every price before I put anything into my cart.

You can't assume good prices anywhere these days.

Last week I noticed that, even though the WalMart plants are still new, they look pretty desperate.

Strange. We just got a Flip 30 minute video camera there for $25.00 (Flip's site lists it at $79.00), and a digital wallet with a 3-inch display for $15.00. We're off to get some stuff now, so I'm going to pay attention for sure!
JOanMN

Well, I didn't look at any electronics. And the things that I bought hadn't gone up in price:

printer paper
flour
raisins
shampoo
trash bags
cat treats

Maybe they're doing this in increments. :-)

Well, a couple of points. Not everything there is going to be a bargain price. Around here a local publication did a survey last winter that showed them to be far cheaper than other stores on the group of items they used as an example. I never saw what that list consisted of though.

And of course the other point is that prices are often set by what the market will bear. Sometimes there's availability issues. Right now people are doing a lot of planting so plants are naturally going to be high. Looking at what others here say they pay for shoes, $20 is a pittance. (But it's high for me!)

Also, remember Memorial Day isn't far off so that will increase prices on a number of things.

all the plant addicts out there are in for some serious withdrawals or be forced to pay up this yr and belive me there are plenty out there, willing. i work for one of the largest landscape growers in FL and we are definitely on the high end, as we only do very high quality plants. we do not deal w/ big box stores, only private, independent nurseries and large landscapers.

nurseries and landscapers who would never previously pay our prices are coming out of the woodwork buying up our supplies. because sooooo many people bought cheap land yrs ago in FL and set up crappy nurseries & can not afford the current prices of fuel, labor, fertilizers, plastic pots, soil and amendments, lack of water and unwillingness to pay for reclaimed water, etc...a huge percentage have gone under in the last 12 months and that has sent supplies to the garbage pit. we know dozens of nurseries who laid off all staff last fall and let millions of plants just die on the mats or go to the dump.

we have a lockdown on high end tropical material we booked last fall and there is now no supply of many of these plants. we found this out when garden centers in Naples started ordering hibiscus, crotons and woody materials from us in central fl when traditionally they could get it for half our price just 1 hr away. but the plants are gone from s fl...so we ship our's back down there. this is the trend for the future in the rest of the country for plants. we are planning on expanding from our current area of NC to TX border up thru the midwest next yr as supplies will be even tighter then. BTW the only one suffering when you see those plants dying at big-box stores are their nursery suppliers. big box stores force suppliers to give credits back on dead stuff, even if the grossly uneducated staff killed them. that is one of many reasons we don't send them our perfect plants lol ~ liz

Reach refill flossers are up to $4. That's high!
Parkay butter spray used to be 96 cents, now it's $1.46.

My Stouffer's spaghetti and Meatballs frozen dinners used to be $2.46 each and have been $1.96 for the last month and 2.68 at
Albertsons

There was a survey done in our area with 3 of our food stores and Walmart was the highest....I avoid Walmart if possible...I will shop at other stores until Walmart takes over the world....

Oh Liz,
I didn't know the nurseries take the hit! That's horrible, when often the plants are sitting there half-dead, in walmart and Home Depot. Amazing what some water will do, yet they don't bother. I feel so bad for the growers!

I remember when Home Depot opened here many years ago, and someone was returning a Ficus Benjamin. It was just a bunch of sticks. They had a guarantee policy, which I'm sure they don't have any more. When the guy got his money back, I said to the clerk that the jerk could have watered it. She agreed, but that was their policy, to offer a refund.

I don't shop at walmart that often , mostly I get the dogs food there. I did notice something odd, the day I was looking for my grille, I stopped there to see what they had for patio furniture.... they had nothing... I was stunned. The lady working in the garden shop said they had a few chairs inside.... they had some beach sand chairs and a few sling back chairs for a patio and that was it... .. It's not even Memorial day weekend yet and they have very little in the line of summer furniture etc. Oh and the ,shoe dept...forget about it...nothing but crocs,

Oh, that reminds me of something else I meant to mention. My DD just bought a set of porch furniture at an upscale supermarket. She paid $280. Today at Walmart I saw a somewhat similar set, but not as nice looking. Same materials and same number of pieces. Walmart wanted $469!

Cynic made a good point about prices going up for Memorial Day. It's probably even more noticeable around here because this is an area that fills up with tourists this time of year. Certainly the season has raised the gas prices!

I haven't seen that at our Wal-Mart. They habitually have the worst plants in town because no one takes care of them. When they look like they are going to die, some manager sends a rookie out with a hose to water. Makes me sick...They actually sold frost bitten tomato plants here.

I went to Wal-Mart almost 2 weeks ago looking for tomato plants, they were way overpriced, nearly $4.00 for a small one. I nearly died. Some older man was there telling me I should go to a nursery in downtown Frankfort, so I did the next day. Their prices were so much cheaper and the plants looked better.

I am doing more of my grocery shopping at WalMart because they are cheaper than my supermarket. My favorite store raised the price on Yoplait from .61 to .72 and it is still .50 at WalMart.

Kashi cereal went up 1.50 a box. We were stunned, went to regular supermarket, and their price (higher than Walmart's) was also raised over a 1.00.
When the supplier charges more, the retailer has to raise prices.

We do a fair amount of grocery shopping at Walmart, was there on Tuesday...and their prices are still far below Safeway. Abertson's, Giant, etc.
Looked in at Aldi...couldn't find a single thing to buy. All no-name brands, junky store, and the produce was half dead.

I shop Walmart part time and their Yoplit yogart went from .50c to .68c in one week. That was about 2 days ago. I also have to watch the due dates on the half & half. Their bake goods seem to be on the dry side, but then I don't buy much. We only have 2-3 markets here, so there is no competition. Don't know about Farmers Market this year. We are still under freeze warnings and nobody has planted anything.

Never buy a pork roast. Horrible!

You know, I noticed Target had the same problem today. I know razor head refills are expensive anyway but the 4-pack was $10!!!!! That's like $4 more than I normally pay. :( This is called inflation.

Blessings,
Haley

I've been finding better sales and quality at the local grocery stores, Target, and the mall than I do at Wal-Mart. I like to shop off the sales anyway. Wal-Mart just doesn't have much to offer anymore. I used to like their Great Value Brand, but there isn't much of that left on the shelf. The quality has downhill. Inflation may be a part of Wal-Mart's problem. I suspect years of burning bridges with suppliers is what's hurting them more right now.

Have you all noticed too that Walmart is dropping products left and right. I try not to shop there anymore than I have to, partly because it's getting to the point they don't sell products I use and almost everything is made in China. My cousin has used Whisk detergent for years and they have stopped carrying it.

I absolutely hate Walmart and hardly ever go there. It's only when I run out of bird seed and that isn't cheap anymore. I check out the prices of cat and dog stuff when I'm there and find I can get it cheaper at my grocery store or Petsmart. I have never bought plants there. They always look horrible. Kmart had the most beautiful and healthy plants a few weeks ago and then they stopped watering and now it's pathetic.

Well, we're just back from our weekly WM run.

I didn't buy much, so didn't notice a lot of increases on the shelves--but I warned DH about this thread and he said yes, he saw some things that had gone up.

BUT

I picked up a couple of ears of corn--big sign over them Was .50, now .40; and a couple of baking potatoes. When I got to the register (which mind you, was no more than 20 feet from the display of corn), she charged me the .50 each. Complained and she changed it. Then, she rang up the potatoes at something like 1.89/pound! I ran over and double checked, and complained about that, too. Since I had almost 2 pounds of potatoes, that was significant. Then the gal tried to tell me it wasn't her, it was the 'number' BUT when I said they're baking potatoes, she repeated, "They're baking potatoes?" with a question mark on the end. So yeah--if you don't know what you're selling, it's pretty hard for the machine to guess the right number.

I never shop WalMart; matter of principle. But I do shop Costco about four times a year! Makes no sense, does it!

Why are we willing to pay more per pound for cereal than for...oh, hamburger? Cheerios are almost $4/lb.

I just returned from making my monthly contribution to Wal-Mart. Spent $156.78 for DH's meds. Thank goodness DH told his DR that he wasn't going to take Plavix any longer because he couldn't afford it. $157 per month was just too much. I buy DH his Tropicana oj there it's $1 cheaper than the grocery store.
I think that prices have gone up everywhere. I know in our business our wholesale prices have gone up but we can't raise the retail price because it's published in the catalogs. So we are stuck.

chisue, "Why are we willing to pay more per pound for cereal than for...oh, hamburger? Cheerios are almost $4/lb. "
I figured that out 20 yrs. ago when I had 3 teenage sons & one commented, "I can eat a whole box of cereal for breakfast and be hungry 2 hrs. later. But, if I eat a leftover pork chop and rice, I'm ok until lunch." And that's when we all started eating leftovers (or if there weren't enough to go around, sandwiches) for breakfast. Cereal has ALWAYS been a rip-off. Expensive junk food.

I stopped in Wally World on my way home from work this morning...my nicotine patches are 45.00 a box...their equate brand was 20.00 a box...I'll try them...if they work I'm saving 25.00 every two weeks...they are 1.00 cheaper on our cat treats...I've learned to shop WM, Kroger, Publix and Ingles (and soon Food Lion) for groceries...it definitely pays to shop around if you have that option...

srewsmaga -- Yup! I agree, but DH wants dry cereal for breakfast. I think even the 'plain' (unfrosted, etc.) brands are empty calories, but this isn't a battle I want to pick. I wonder about oatmeal; I do like that.

My grandmother ate a soft boiled egg on buttered toast and shredded wheat every morning of her 90+ years. And tea with lots of sugar!

What did Americans eat for breakfast before Mr. Kellogg came along?

I quit buying plants at Walmart, they are root bound ALWAYS and overpriced. I love to grow a great deal of my plants now from seed - it's fun and it takes away some of the dreariness of late winter - life begins right in front of your eyes. I hope some of you will do a little research and try it, just annuals to start. It's a LOT of fun and very rewarding and very cheap to do. I don't do a lot, just a few flats - love it.

There were a couple of sad looking plants at Walmart priced at full price. I asked to see the manager, showed her how root bound they were and how they were dying. I told her that if she would let me have them for 1/4 the price, I would take the chance and try to get them to survive. She told me it was against the corp policies of Wal Mart to do this, I was so surprised! I know those plants were going to be thrown away.

I guess they make a better profit to keep the prices up there, they must sell enough even if the plant is dying - rather than to drastically reduce the plant to get rid of it. Then, they just throw away the dead ones. It seems so sad and wasteful to me anyway.

As long as there's competition around ... that's one ball game.

After the Big Boxes have lowered prices for some time and have run the little stores out of town ...

... then the ball game is different.

Stores can charge what people are willing/forced to pay. Or haven't checked around, so don't know any better.

ole joyful

Prices in stores also vary according to location. If you shop in a pricy upscale neighborhood you will pay more. As for shopping at Wal Mart they seem to still have the lowest prices in town. The wally worlds here have distressed plant sales. I ran in to the store for dog food and birdfood and was in the garden center check out. I noticed the lady ahead of me had several rough looking plants she was buying. She smiled and said,".02 a piece". I left with 7 rose bushes totaling .14. Today they are lovely in my side yard.

I've heard this from other's lucinda, about the reduced plant sales - my gardening friends and I wonder if area location of the store determines a lot with specific Wal Mart stores. They offer no such thing here - it's a shame, I hate to see dying plants pitched because they weren't willing to drop the price at all.

My really nice nursery close by actually does have nice sales - I do a lot of shopping there on their reduces "stressed" sale table. Well, I look a lot, not necessarily buy so much anymore. I've got pretty much all I want to fool with right now.