Albertsons grocery stores are racist in their sale items

[EBK]

I just have to get this off my chest.

I just came back from doing my weekly grocery shopping at Albertsons, and boy am I pissed !

I get the stores weekly store sale ads in the mail, as I`m sure most people do for their local stores. I go to the store in the next town over because it is actually closer than the store in my own town(the towns blend together)

In the ad paper I saw some really great deals
Cheese Nips 2 for $4
Yoplait yogurt 20 for $10
Mothers cookies 2 for $4
Lays Stacks potato chip 10 for $10
There were more.

When I got to the store and started looking for the advertised sale items something was wrong. ALL of the advertised prices
were higher in the store than in the ad.

Cheese Nips 2 for $5
Yoplait yogurt 5 for $4 ( 20 would equal $16)
Lays Stacks potato chip $1.50 ea
Mothers cookies 2 for $5

When I asked one of the store employees why the prices were different she said " Oh, this is a Hispanic store"(the store is located in a high Hispanic population area) What the hell does that matter ??!!!

I mentioned it to some other Hispanic people in the store, and two of them put their items down and walked out. I did not. I made them honor the ad price- as they should, but I was so F`n pissed !! I am thinking about contacting the news ( I know, ha ha ha ha)

Any attorneys find this interesting???

[hippiepunk]

1. Thats messed up

why would they charge Hispanics more than whites? Isn't that illegal?

[EBK]

4. I would think so

This is in Los Angeles county BTW

[K-W]

5. How dare you question the free market.

:p

[slor]

17. The same reason...

they charge Blacks higher on home loans, Women more on auto repairs etc. etc. Because they are assholes!

[Catherine Vincent]

2. There are other stores that have higher prices in ethnic neighborhoods

than the more whiter neighborhoods. I know, I shop at both. I don't know why they do this.

[Biology]

3. I think they're owned by the Mormons

I think they've had racism problems in the past. Does anyone remember the flap Albertson's had 12-15 years ago?

[shanti]

35. hmmm

i thought that safeway was owned by mormons, not albertsons, but i could be wrong.

[candy]

6. Very common practice.

The store flyer probably did not include the store that you went to in their ad.(Check the fine print on the bottom)

Commonly done here in Massachusetts---the prices vary at different stores for the same chain and it is not by race.

[EBK]

11. That sounds good and looks good on paper, but

HIGHLY unlikely !!

[candy]

14. When the Boston Globe did a survey about 2 years ago on-------

this type of pricing there seemed to be no rationale for the various prices in different regions.The secret is to check the flyers which vary from region to region.

What about my previous statement seemd "highly unlikely?

[EBK]

16. re: highly unlikely

"it is not by race" The other Albertsons is located in a high Caucasian and Asian area(more money?). The prices were as the ad claimed at that store. RACISM through and through.


The items at the "Hispanic store" were on sale, just not as "on sale" as the other store.

[petronius]

19. It would be interesting to compare

the sales fliers from both stores to see if there were different items on sale at the Hispanic store compared to the White store. It could be that they target the sales items to the major demographic. Or, sale prices could be set to encourage the purchase of certain items that are not moving well, and different levels of purchase at different stores require more or less of this encouragement. If you find that all of the price disparities are in the same direction, then you'll have a firmer basis for criticism... (Although, as someone else has pointed out, I'd bet that that discrimination is more class based than ethnicity based, despite what the employee said.)

[durablend]

25. Precisely...they price by market

There's nothing specifically "racist" in what they're doing. Prices are higher in high income areas (they can afford it), and low income areas (often nowhere else to go and/or they're leeching from people that use food stamps/gov't benefits). They'll soak as much from you as they can get away with (since unlike many other purchases, you need to eat)

It's despicable but not illegal.

[napi21]

7. Check the circular.

Usually at the bottom of the front or back page, it will state "available at xxxxx from March 30 to April 5 (or current date). If it specifies "available in xx stores, they've covered their butt. If it doesn't, you have a right to bitch, and demand the advertised price.

It is commonplace for all different kinds of stores to do what they call regional pricing. Yes, sometimes it's rasist, but mostly, it's "what the market will bear."

Revery retailer that I am familiar with does this at some level.

[K-W]

9. The market itself is racist.

Because minorities are often at an economic disadvantage.

[atommom]

8. I've heard of other grocery chains charging more in low-income

neighborhoods. It really should be illegal, since many of their customers can't travel somewhere else to shop.

[southlandshari]

13. Bingo!

You are exactly right - and it isn't racist. If anything, it is an issue of discrimination based on class. It is economics at it its worst. It is like being hungry in an airport or a movie theater - nowhere else to go but to the overpriced vendors there. The difference is people don't live in airports or movie theaters, so the financial imposition of being a captive audience is temporary. For others, who only have one grocery store within walking distance, it is highway robbery!

[tx_dem41]

20. In Dallas, at least, I've seen the opposite....

the grocery stores in Highland Park (ultra-rich) have the highest prices. Down in my area of East Dallas/Old East Dallas (Hispanice/Anglo mix), the prices are lower.

[BrklynLiberal]

10. Things like that are done in NYC too. Not only in supermarkets but

in pharmacies as well. Poorer neighborhood businesses charge more for perscriptions and other drug store items. The corporations rip off the people who can least afford it.

[Princess Turandot]

27. My experience has been the opposite, living in Manhattan..

the wealthier the rent-district, the more expensive the food.
But that could be an abberation because there are so many super-rich people here. (I live in Stuy Town. If I shop on 14th street which is the north border of the East Village, the groceries are always cheaper than shopping on 20th, which is at the edge of Gramercy Park. And the 20th Street store is part of a much larger chain I think.)

[HereSince1628]

12. Check with the agency that does California Consumer Protection

What you report is obviously wrong.

You definitely should write a formal complaint to the stores customer service office. If it is a big corporation go on line to locate the headquarters address to be sure that your concern isn't blocked at the level of the store.

Some chains that include franchise operations put in the phrase 'at participating stores" you should check for such fine print. It is possible that the store you went to was not a participating store.

But clearly, participation isn't something that should be based on ethnicity.

[mitchtv]

15. how lucky you even found the sale Item at you ALB's

here its either too early to be stocked or all gone. All Alb's in the area are usually affected by the sales as far as I know.

[WillowTree]

18. You could do a quick and dirty little survey.

They probably have their ads online. Locally, our Jewel stores are now owned by Albertsons and I look-up the ads online by store every week. You could check various stores in both upper- and lower-income areas or in both "white" and ethnic areas and see if what you suspect bears out. If it does, I'd complain -- loudly.

[tx_dem41]

21. Did you ask to talk to the manager of the specific store?

So far, all we know is that one "store employee" is most likely a racist. I would have requested time to talk to the manager to find out if that really was the store policy. Or at least to see the manager sweat profusely.

[EBK]

23. "store employee" WAS Hispanic also. eom

[SemiCharmedQuark]

22. Albertson's is racist as hell, in my personal experience.

My mom was paying with a credit card. She had her ID, everything checked out. My mom has STELLER credit. The guy STILL went to get the manager. The manager comes out, takes one look at my mom, me and then a very hard look at my grandma and says they can't accept it. My grandma is very dark skinned.

Albertson's can kiss my ass. I shop at the local mexican store. It's only small, but I can get most anything there except my vegetarian stuff which I make a special trip for.

[yankeedem]

31. Report that store to the credit card company

It is against the merchant agreement to demand ID if there is a valid signature on the back of the card, IIRC.

It's amazing how many of my minority friends get the ol' ID check when they use a credit card. In my 15 years of using credit cards, I have only been asked once, and that was when there was no signature on my card.

[mitchtv]

32. no decent dulce de membrillo in Chez Albert's

I used to visit them all , but since the stike here, I am much more careful about going in my local store, besides, all the oldtimers are gone(employees)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

24. When I was in grad school, I lived in the inner city of New Haven

and like everyone else, shopped at supermarket on the edge of the Yale campus, which also served a largely African-American neighborhood. It was my only choice, because I had no car for the first few years.

After I got a car, I was invited to a barbecue in the suburbs and was asked to pick up some things on my way out there. I stopped at a suburban branch of the same local chain and found lower prices! A larger selection! A cleaner store! Nicer clerks!

Hmmm.

[Bluebear]

26. I thought for a moment you were objecting to them selling Cheese Nips

Cheese Asians doesn't have quite the ring.

Seriously, verrrrry interesting. I wonder what their culture-of-life spokeswoman Patricia Heaton says about it?

[EBK]

30. FUNNY ! I think you missed your calling

[yankeedem]

28. Not racist, classist

This is a common practice, based on poor people not having choices.

Major supermarket chains are famous for redlining, it seems, my town has 5 major supermarkets for 75,000, neighboring Newark, 3-4 times as big has the same number or fewer.

The excuse people make for this is that the markets in Newark have to charge more to pay for "security". Somehow I don't buy it.

In my area, I have also noticed that the major chains seem to NEVER build stores near bus lines. Heaven forbid those masses from the big city could actually GET to the supermarket.

[rocktivity]

34. I'm on the Irvington/Hilliside border, Yankeedem!

two blocks from the Union County line. Since I'm closer to downtown Hillside than downtown Irvington, that's where I shop. And the Shop-Rite in the more affluent Hillside is definitely cheaper than the Pathmark in Irvington.

:hi:
rocknation

[Feron]

29. Winn-Dixie bases their prices...

on how far away is the nearest country club. At least that is how it was explained to my mom.

[KittyWampus]

33. I Had No Idea. This Isn't Right,

[kiraboo]

36. I'm thinking that maybe employees just habitually differentiate

between the two stores by calling one the "hispanic" store, and the other, who knows what... the "upscale" store. So while the comment sounded racist, maybe the girl was just saying that no, you were looking at the flier for the other place... you know, the one that's not the hispanic store. Various stores are managed by different people and as somebody mentioned, what's on sale in one store might be full price at the one in the next neighborhood. But then, I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.

[ultraist]

37. People of color are disproportionately hit with predatory pricing

Market inequality

So while it is classist, it is ALSO racist.

[jdj]

38. you know, you really need to find a bi-lingual advocate to tell

this too.

that is so fucked up.