Kroger, America’s biggest supermarket chain, is being investigated over its use of electronic price labels on store shelves nationwide. US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bob Casey announced they were looking into the practice to see if the chain was engaging in surge pricing. So-called ‘dynamic pricing’ is common in other industries, such as flights, hotels and car-sharing services like Uber . It sees customers paying more or less depending on demand
There are multiple posts on lemmy about the stores switching to digital tags, some of which claim they will “save the customer money”, obviously an outright lie as the point is to make more money for the store.
Ex: https://lemmy.world/post/16718848 , https://lemmy.world/post/17161297
I think we can safely say there’s no turning back from this dystopian hellscape now.
Yes. Humans choose to allow other humans to suffer, over and over again. In fact, some of them make money from it, and then spend that money spreading the idea that it’s good for people to suffer because they’re not ‘normal’ (white, male, heterosexual).
TIL Kroger is the biggest supermarket chain in the US. I thought it would be Walmart.
Walmart is a retailer, because they sell basically everything, while Kroger only sells groceries. I think that’s the distinction they’re making.
I think most Walmarts don’t really sell groceries. Last time I lived near one, it didn’t have any produce, which is really the whole point of a grocery store.
Didn’t Kroger just buy another chain, though? That might have been what made them the biggest.
I think those are the “Superstores.” I know in my tiny-ass hometown we had a regular Wal-Mart that was basically just a K-Mart.
Not yet. They are trying to merge with Albertsons which owns lots of local stores like Jewel Osco and Safeway. But they need the merger to be approved by the FDA before it can go through. Their case is supposed to be heard early next year. Let’s hope it doesn’t go through.
Wouldn’t that be the Federal Trade Commission to make that determination?
I haven’t seen a Walmart since like 1995 that didn’t have a fuck ton of groceries, including produce
Walmart has store classifications which govern how they are built according to the demographics of the area they serve, ie: population, average income, etc.
Don’t worry, once Kreuger merges and becomes even bigger. All this anti-consumer behavior will disappear.
And with the Kroger/Albertsons merger likely imminent considering they announced all the stores in my city they’re going to close or sell off, it’s likely to become the norm and even if it’s deemed illegal, the fines won’t be enough to matter until they can pay to make it legal. It’s not like they can be shut down if they’re the only grocery stores.
We keep giving them money and they keep fucking us over! What are we to do?!
Unfortunately some people don’t have a choice. The only grocery stores near me are Kroger or Albertsons. I have to drive over an hour to get any other options.
But at the same time, even though I only shop for two, it might end up being cheaper to drive an hour and a half to Costco if shit keeps going the way it is. When you have to pay over $100 on less than a week of groceries, gas prices seem quaint in comparison.
