Here is an observation I made on our trip that relates to the addicting info article about only 10 companies controlling most of what you buy (plus 4 banks, etc.). I got a real initiation into what a LOCAL monopoly can do to prices while we were in central Texas. Other than Walmart, the H-E-B food store chain is all that exists in New Braunfels for large supermarket chain stores...in a suburban town of over 61,000, they had only 2 H-E-Bs & 1 Walmart. THE PRICES WERE OUTRAGEOUS - I passed up many things I would like to have bought before our trip home by car which included 2 National Parks stops. And my comparison is to my area - a suburb in SAN DIEGO COUNTY - known for its high costs, but with a non-Walmart grocery on every corner! People said they LOVE H-E-B; they dont know they are being screwed even by having to drive across town to a store, since the only other option was a filthy, seriously unkempt Walmart. Why? The H-E-B MONOPOLY! Our town of just over 170,000 has multiple locations of 4 - FOUR big SUPERMARKET CHAINS, plus Grocery Outlet, and the health-directed Sprouts, multiple FreshnEasy-ies, Trader Joes, & a new Earthgrown Market. To compare to H-E-B, we have Ralphs (Kroger - 4), Vons (Safeway), Albertsons (2), and Stater Bros. (2) -- just those is twice as many per person WITH STIFF COMPETITION. And we can go blocks to a mile any way but west for many more of these same stores, while a large number of residents can go next door to use the PX system on Camp Pendleton. Plus we have, even in comparison, numerous more moderately large Mexican-styled & other independent stores than N.B. had. And we did, finally :-(, have Walmart invade about 10 years ago, with 3 Oceanside stores now. But our grocery stores are not much higher priced than Walmart, certainly not enough to merit stomaching the Walmart experience. And THESE BIG CHAINS HAVE AMAZING SALES EVERY DAY/WEEK. Very few items were on sale at the New Braunfels H-E-B, and those were just marked down a few pennies, no comparison to the discounts we get here in Oceanside. I was simply shocked & appalled. Ironically, RESTAURANT charges were much lower in Texas, so I guess people just pass up grocery shopping & cooking since eating out is probably just as cheap. (And I dont do fast food, so I cant compare/comment on that - think Chilis, local BBQ, steak roadhouses.) One other note that this may explain... The percentage of women I saw shopping there who wouldnt fit down a grocery isle here was also appalling; Texans better jump on the chance for use of the Affordable Health Care Act or the medical bills when these women get a bit older will break that state. This was so extreme that it was sad & confounding. (And for those of you who stereo-type...The whiter the skin, the wider the butt, believe me.) Just FYI.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Nov 2013 02:10:05 +0000
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