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Question of the Day – Shopping
By JLP | September 12, 2007
Here’s today’s Question(s) of the Day:
We buy store brand stuff all the time. Why? It’s cheaper and for the most part, just as good. The worst store brand product I ever bought was Kroger condensed soup. It may be good in a recipe but I found it to be nasty eaten by itself as a meal.
Store brands have come along way over the years. The quality is getting better. Unfortunately, the prices are rising too. In some cases the name brand stuff is very competitive with the store brands.
Anyway, I’d like to hear (or read) your thoughts.
Topics: Budgeting, Question of the Day | 13 Comments »
September 12th, 2007 at 8:49 am
I buy store brands on many items. I’ve found that I didn’t like HyVee salsa (I buy Pace still). I also didn’t care for Walmart sliced pickles. They tasted fine, but they were cut so thick that I went through a jar enough faster that it wasn’t really cheaper. I buy my pickles at HyVee.
September 12th, 2007 at 10:08 am
The CVS moisturizer isn’t nearly as good as the Neutrogena one they’re copying. At least I found it that way. Their anti-acne stuff is still good as is their faux-Dove soap. I almost always buy their generics if I can, but the moisturizer wasn’t worth the $4 difference.
September 12th, 2007 at 10:26 am
I have found that store brands on toiletries are hit or miss – particularly on shampoo. I also had a terrible experience with some store brand garlic powder that was hideously bad. We recently tried the Kroger store brand organic spaghetti sauce and found it too sweet for our taste, but not bad.
I buy store brand for a lot of things – plastic wrap and aluminum foil, trash bags, sandwich bags. Kroger has a “house” organic brand – Naturally Preferred – which is generally good. Ukrops (local supermarket) uses Full Circle as their house organic brand, and that is generally very good.
I find that high turn-over items (such as the aforementioned wraps/foils/bags, as well as things like cereal) tend to be better choices for store brands than specialty items.
September 12th, 2007 at 11:11 am
The only bad experience I’ve had with a store brand was Jewel grocery pizzas. They tasted, quite consistently, like cardboard.
Most store brands are actually made by the mainline brands; they simply charge less for them because they don’t have the marketing expenses behind them. Branding is, for the most part, just visual entertainment.
September 12th, 2007 at 11:40 am
I find that Safeway plastic wrap has a very weak metal cutter, leading to aggravation when trying to tear off a piece – I’d just go with Saran Wrap to skip the hassle (especially since one roll lasts… forever).
September 12th, 2007 at 12:34 pm
We do on a case by case basis. There are some name brand items that I know I prefer, and thus don’t buy generic on those items. One store band find I can note, however, is the Safeway brand frozen pizzas – they’re really good!
I haven’t had a negative experience with buying store brands per se, but I will def. avoid condensed soups!
September 12th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
I buy mostly store brand stuff.
But Walmart (great value brand) Mac N Cheese…. ugh ugh ugh. ugh.
Yes I shouldn’t be eating Mac N Cheese but….
September 12th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
When it comes to certain things (cereal, cheese, butter, cake mix, etc.), I’m brand loyal. So it really depends on the product. Otherwise, I buy what’s on sale/cheaper. So yes, I buy plenty of store brands. The worst store brand item I’ve ever purchased was pop tarts. Ugh! Hard as a brick and taste like glue.
Don’t ask me how I know the flavor of glue. LOL
September 12th, 2007 at 11:17 pm
Interesting question!
We just had a bad experience with Ralph’s (Kroger) frozen lemonade. The Von’s (Safeway) one was better, but neither was quite as good as Minute Maid.
I actually like the Rite Aid equivalent Clearasil face wash over the name brand. It smells nicer.
I’m not a big fan of generic toilet paper… seems to fall apart and be a bit abrasive. Plus, you end up using twice as much, so it doesn’t save you anything…
September 12th, 2007 at 11:37 pm
I buy everything Kirkland Signature that is available, I have never been disappointed in Costco’s store brand.
Specifically, canned chicken, lunch meat (ham), laundry and dishwasher detergent, toilet paper, paper towels, liquid fabric softener, all OTC pharmaceuticals, you name it!
September 13th, 2007 at 10:39 am
We buy what’s cheapest
Often I can get store brand for less than store brand when I combine sale + coupon other times store brand is still cheaper. I think it’s important not to have brand loyalty – name brand OR store brand – if your goal is to spend the least amount of money.
September 13th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
hmm – we don’t buy many things that are branded. Uh – usually Gold Medal or King Arthur’s flour – but that’s usually the cheapest (per unit) or the only one available depending on where we shop. Same thing with sugar. Hmmm. Juice – same deal. Canned beans – same thing. Basically we only buy staples and usually there isn’t much choice. I guess there’s not too much money in the products we buy.
September 13th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
I don’t buy many brand name groceries at all since I tend to shop the edges of the stores and most of brand name items are processed. I shop most often at a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market grocery store, and have no quality problems with their store brand Great Value frozen veggies, raisins, baking staples, trail mixes, dishwashing detergents, ziploc baggies, nuts, cottage cheese, and fruit juices, which are pretty much all I get regularly from the center aisles.
When I do buy brand name items like cereal, pasta sauces, or salad dressings, I tend to wait until they show up as loss leaders or BOGO deals in the sales flyers.
I am absolutely not brand loyal. I get the cheapest comparable item with the best nutritional stats.
The worst store-brand item I’ve had is the Winn-Dixie fat-free cottage cheese. Cottage cheese is hard to stomach under the best of circumstances, and THAT vat tasted like rancid gym socks.