Should I cross the picket line?

@tsarstepan,

tsarstepan wrote:

Not shopping there doesn't mean you're forced to shop at more expensive grocery stores. That oft-repeated point is moot.

In that case, why not picket/boycott them? It's not like you're blocking people from getting the lowest prices.

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So now that I am back and the store employees are back --- I have been seeing some items that I regularly purchase increasing in price - one item almost a 30% increase.

So not sure if it is related to the changes with the union or not - could be other things - so fortunately I found similar items in TJs 30% less. Since I do go to TJs within a half mile - I just add that to my list from TJs.

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@Linkat,

It's possible some price increases are related to the recent strike and union gains. A price by price comparison between several stores would offer a clearer picture. Meanwhile, at least you can get some of the items cheaper. Comparison shop - Always.

1 Reply

@Linkat,

Linkat wrote:

So now that I am back and the store employees are back --- I have been seeing some items that I regularly purchase increasing in price - one item almost a 30% increase.

So not sure if it is related to the changes with the union or not - could be other things - so fortunately I found similar items in TJs 30% less. Since I do go to TJs within a half mile - I just add that to my list from TJs.

And yet, Trader Joe's always (since its inception) treated its employees fairly and yet maintained a very successful and thriving NATIONAL business and a global reputation.

Stop and Shop and other grocery stores? Their business model and typical attitude towards their employees? The occasional 30% increase in items? That shouldn't be the lesson in this employee/employer relations debacle.

1 Reply

@tsarstepan,

There is also no way that a 30% increase in product pricing is due to the new labor contract.

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@engineer,

engineer wrote:

There is also no way that a 30% increase in product pricing is due to the new labor contract.

Why not? If management is forced to pay workers more, who says they aren't going to make them work that much harder for their money by raising prices to levels that challenge them to maintain business levels?

Think about it: you as a worker are telling the owners they must pay you more, so their response is going to be that you have to pay them more.

The customer loses.

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@engineer,

engineer wrote:

There is also no way that a 30% increase in product pricing is due to the new labor contract.

Safe bet? Trump's tariffs jacking up prices on certain imported products.

1 Reply

@Sturgis,

Sturgis wrote:

It's possible some price increases are related to the recent strike and union gains. A price by price comparison between several stores would offer a clearer picture. Meanwhile, at least you can get some of the items cheaper. Comparison shop - Always.

Yes exactly what I do - I typically know about the approximate item things costs - I also have certain places that I like certain items more (like TJs have very specific items that I love - and for most of their items they are reasonably priced - they don't do these "sales" things to pull you in - just seems a reasonable price for their products overall ) -- the downside of TJs is they don't have the larger selections so I can't get everything there. And they often times run out of stuff.

S&S can have really good deals - but then some stuff is higher priced normally so you kind of have to know what the prices are in other places. And I wish they would get rid of that robot - it annoys the snot outta me.

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@tsarstepan,

tsarstepan wrote:

engineer wrote:

There is also no way that a 30% increase in product pricing is due to the new labor contract.

Safe bet? Trump's tariffs jacking up prices on certain imported products.

this particular item is not an imported item - it is made in the US.

It could be the in part that the supplier has gone up in price-won't know for sure; but the similar product is 30% less at TJs and was 30% less previously at this store.

Its a small thing - but since I am going to TJs any way why not buy it there.

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@Linkat,

Linkat wrote:

tsarstepan wrote:

engineer wrote:

There is also no way that a 30% increase in product pricing is due to the new labor contract.

Safe bet? Trump's tariffs jacking up prices on certain imported products.

this particular item is not an imported item - it is made in the US.

It could be the in part that the supplier has gone up in price-won't know for sure; but the similar product is 30% less at TJs and was 30% less previously at this store.

Its a small thing - but since I am going to TJs any way why not buy it there.

Don't be surprised if some businesses raise all their prices in tandem with imported items in an effort to maintain existing price-spreads.

Products are priced relative to other products for marketing purposes. If you just raised the prices of imports, it would make other products appear cheaper relative to those products.

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@Linkat,

Linkat wrote:

this particular item is not an imported item - it is made in the US.

That doesn't necessarily mean it's unaffected by the tariffs. Some of the components/raw materials may have been imported.

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@izzythepush,

izzythepush wrote:

Linkat wrote:

this particular item is not an imported item - it is made in the US.

That doesn't necessarily mean it's unaffected by the tariffs. Some of the components/raw materials may have been imported.

Well that's it - the product itself is in the US - but the packing of course could be from elsewhere.

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@izzythepush,

izzythepush wrote:

Linkat wrote:

this particular item is not an imported item - it is made in the US.

That doesn't necessarily mean it's unaffected by the tariffs. Some of the components/raw materials may have been imported.

Prices can't be fixed according to what it costs to buy the product wholesale, due to tariffs or other costs.

Let's say you have two different brands of fruit, one imported that costs $1/pound and another not imported that costs $3/pound. If you sell a lot of the $1/pound fruit and you raise the price because of tariffs or whatever, then you might sell less of it and lose money.

If, on the other hand, you raise the $3/pound fruit to $3.50 or $4, you might sell just as much of it to the people who buy it. So it might make more business sense to cover the cost of the tariffs by raising the prices of non-imported products, simply because it is easier for you to recover your costs that way, instead of losing sales on cheaper imports.

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@McGentrix,

Quote:

No. Go to BJ's and throw the leftovers out if you don't want them. Respect the people putting their jobs on the line.

I agree

1 Reply

@Real Music,

So do I.

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funny this post is from over 2 years ago - just to fill you in on this store --- now they cut out lots of the registers manned by people --- they have many more that are self service about a dozen with one person that is responsible for helping when needed that seems to also being doing other stuff (as when you select help needed it can take a good amount of time for someone to show up).

They also have this annoying robot like thing that moves around the store alerting when there is a mess that needs cleaning.

All in all - it appears they lowered their costs by hiring less people in the long run - at least it does so on the surface.

And the item I spoke of - the exact particular item - that I stated was priced significantly higher - is higher at this store than Whole Foods and another similar product at trader joes is less. I still go there as it is close and convenient - I am just aware of those items that have been priced higher and stock up on them from other places.

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Should I cross the picket line?

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