Paying More To Get Less? In Midtown, Piggly Wiggly Shoppers Pay Too Much Money.

I like going to the Piggly Wiggly in Midtown for a lot of reasons. Number one, it's close. Second of all, it's open 24 hours, which means I can get that can of soup at 4AM if the spirit moves me. Thirdly, it's a Memphis tradition.

Piggly Wiggly was America's first true supermarket -- the self-service stores began in 1916 by Clarence Saunders broke the barrier of going out and picking out your own items off the shelf. Used to be, apparently, that people would make up a shopping list, give it to a clerk, and have the clerk get everything for you -- the personal shoppers of the time, if you will. The first Piggly Wiggly opened its doors at 79 Jefferson Street in Memphis in September of 1916, and everyone assumed it was destined to die a horrible death. To read more on the history of Piggly Wiggly, you can click here. It's quite fascinating to imagine an era where you didn't shop for yourself, isn't it?

Now, after nearly 100 years, there are lots of other options in the supermarket game. Stores in Memphis try to stay competitive, but one thing that just always blows my mind whenever I go into Piggly Wiggly:

The prices for the groceries are totally, ridiculously, and insanely higher than other supermarkets in Midtown Memphis.

Why is it that in one of the poorer sections of Midtown, Piggly Wiggly is always filled with people seemingly willing to pay the cost? By comparison, "the pig" as we so lovingly call it, is a store that offers sub-quality branded products (the Best Foods brand is their house brand), and exorbitantly over-priced name-brand products in comparison to it's competitors (Kroger and Schnuck's). I did a test to see if I was just thinking myself wrong here, and the results were staggering.

I bought the same groceries from all three stores in the same quantities at different times during the last three weeks. I was careful to buy house brands of certain items (Orange Juice, Minute Rice) and national or name brands of other items (Butterball Turkey Slices, Progresso Soups). The results proved my thinking correct:

My ticket cost at Schnuck's: $42.61

My ticket cost at Kroger: $37.15 (using my Kroger Plus Card)

My ticket cost at Piggly Wiggly: $49.16

How is it that a store that is locally-owned-and-operated, with a reputation that put Memphis on the map in the grocery business, can be so much more expensive than the competition? Furthermore, why is it that in one of the less economically stimulated areas of the city was this store so much more expensive than their competitors? One would think that in an area of Memphis where competition is obvious and fierce, the company who operates Piggly Wiggly would be afraid to let its prices get so far out of reach.

Alas, and by the dozens it seems, some of Memphis's financially poorest consumers were lined up ready to spend their hard-earned dollars to pay more for simple day-to-day items without concern for quality or value.

Schnuck's, in my experience shopping, always seemed more expensive -- but a lot of that has to do with quality. Schnuck's carries a lot more in the way of specialty brands and items than the other two stores. Kroger's house brands always ran less expensive and better quality than Piggly Wiggly, but compared equally in value to Schnuck's.

One thing I do know: that whole swipe card dealie you get with Kroger? What do they do with that information, and does that offest the cost of the groceries we buy? Are they selling our information out to people, or even tracking what we purchase?

I say this to you folks because, you know, that four or five bucks a week does add up -- even if you don't really have to count it. Why do you think people who have less income are more willing to spend it at The Pig? Convenience? Let me know your thoughts on this by adding a comment.

In the meantime, you will find me at Kroger or Schnuck's doing my shopping in the future. I can't bring myself to keep paying that much money for something that I can get better someplace else for less.