A local Florida news station investigated area Wal-Mart stores and found some pretty serious discrepancies in prices on the same products from store to store. The woman who asked the news station to investigate alleges that Wal-Mart is charging more for many products in low income areas. This wouldn't surprise us in the least. Wal-Mart has a long history of making a profit off the backs of the poor. From the low wages they pay workers here in America to near slave wages they pay in factories across the country, Wal-Mart succeeds by exploiting the poor. It is no stretch to believe that Wal-Mart would also try to squeeze every extra penny out of poor consumers to make an extra buck.
Here's an excerpt from the Local 6 article:
Local 6's Steven Cooper reported that Barnaby's theory held up during a Problem Solvers test.Sugar
$2.38 Mt. Dora
$2.36 Clarcona/Pine Hills
$1.76 ApopkaCondensed Milk
$1.54 Mt. Dora
$1.56 Clarcona/Pine Hills
$1.04 ApopkaAsparagus
$2.42 Mt. Dora
$2.54 Clarcona/Pine Hills
$1.86 Apopka..."When we see that a nearby competitor might temporarily lower a price on an item, our stores have the authority to adjust their price lower. This can happen in a very small vicinity of stores," the company said in a statement to Local 6.
However, the Problem Solvers found that the prices concerned were not temporary as Wal-Mart described, but consistent over a period of at least two months.
Barnaby said she thinks that Wal-Mart is charging more for the same products in poorer neighborhoods than in neighborhoods with higher incomes.
"It disgusts me that the people who can least afford to buy the food have to pay more money than everyone else does," Barnaby said.
Posted by Taylor - September 23, 2008 11:50 AM - Duplicity
Big Shocker NOOOT. Why not make the poor more poor, after all their "poor" stockholders have to make millions too don't they?
Posted by Chris - September 24, 2008 11:31 AM
As if price-gouging weren't awful enough to the point of creating a deceptive aura of offering value for money, I understand where Wally World is dumping what amounts to rebuilt analog-standard TV sets on its stores under unrecognised or otherwise unfamiliar brand names.
Which, in turn, could raise questions of who exactly would handle warranty and service-related questions "just in case," let alone whether such will work with the converter boxes requisite to same being compatible with the digital-transmission standard kicking in from 17 February 2009.
Posted by IludiumPhosdex - September 25, 2008 07:30 PM
All grocers do that. I love the bias in this website and the ignorant people!! In Iowa we have a grocery chain called Hy-Vee. They hire only 16-17 year olds for cashiers so they only have to work them part time at minimum wage and no benefits. The Store Director of each store also gets to set the prices as he or she sees fit. So PLEASE STOP THE PROPOGANDA no one cares anymore
Posted by pete - September 29, 2008 11:46 AM
Pete,
Hahahaha, no one cares anymore? Really? Then why are you commenting on this site? Clearly you care enough to read this blog and comment.
Second, what does Hy-Vee have to do with anything? We're not discussing low payed, young cashiers (which Wal-Mart also does) we're discussing price gouging. So the store directors at Hy-Vee set the prices for each store...good for them. Do they systematically charge more for basic goods in low income areas? If they are, that is also despicable.
Posted by BackStageLeftist - September 30, 2008 10:45 AM
Do you even stop to think what causes those differences in price that they lower the prices in some stores to off set the taxes that you have to pay on that stuff.
Posted by Cassie - December 20, 2008 11:56 AM