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Price Comparison: Walmart v. Complete Petmart
I just ran down to Walmart to get dog food, two bags in different varieties of the same brand. (No, I'm not going to name the brand as the great dog food quality debate has been done, and then done again, and then done some more on this board.) Anyway, Walmart had one bag I wanted and did not have the other kind, so I decide to scrap it completely rather than wait at checkout for 1/2 of what I want, and ask H to pick them both up on his way home.
But there's a Complete Petmart right across the parking lot, so I decide to swing in there and see if they had what I wanted. Which they did. Both kinds.
FOR $5.50 MORE PER BAG for the EXACT SAME THING AND SAME SIZE BAG.
Dog food and laundry detergent are about the only things I buy at Walmart because I generally find shopping there to be unsettling and distasteful on several levels, but WOW. That's a huge price difference.
Re: Price Comparison: Walmart v. Complete Petmart
I have always thought Complete Petmart is way expensive. We really watch the sales at Petmart.
For me personally I would much rather pay a little extra for the customer service. We usually try to stock up when our dog food goes on sale at Complete Petmart. It's the only place we buy our dog food for a several reasons.
1) There are not too many places locally that sells our dog food. 2) the second I walked in there & asked questions the staff was great & very knowledgeable 3) if your dogs don't like the dog food you can return a bag of opened dog food to them & they will refund you or do an exchange 4) if they don't have something in stock they can order it 5) they have a frequent buyer program that for every 12 bags of dog food I buy I get one free (the exact size & brand I have been buying which is great because we buy the 30lb bag)
Complete Petmart is pretty high unless they have a sale (usually the first week of the month). You can sign up for email coupons too. They also have a loyalty card where you get the 13th bag free. The price is good if you get it on sale, use a coupon, AND get your card stamped. Petsmart seems to be cheaper, don't know how they compare to Walmart. Sams & Costco carry some of the big brands in dog food. Not sure of the price, you'd have to price it out per ounce to get the real cost b/c their bags are the big warehouse sale. Sam's is owned by Walmart but it's not nearly as icky.
I never look forward to going to WalMart, but I definately shop there alot for the simple fact of price. I am not above going to WalMart to save 10% or more on my bill every time I go there. I have done some comparison shopping and I figured my average grocery trip including pet supplies and personal items to be almost 15% lower than Biggs or Meijer and almost 20% lower than Kroger.
So... I put on my nicest sweat pants and pull my hair back in to a messy pony tail and head out to WalMart almost once a week and I love saving the money! I don't buy everything from there though because quality does mean something to me too. For instance their veggies aren't always very fresh and I am always very selective when I look at their meat. But, the name brand items that are the same no matter what store you go to.... I vote buy it at Wal-Mart and save the $$!!
I would pay the extra $5 and go to complete petmart. I avoid going to Walmart at all costs. I'm going to guess it's more expensive because they have better company policies and need more money to treat their employees better. I also like to give my business to small chains verses large ones or family owned businesses. I buy my dog food at a small family owned pet store in my area. Complete petmart will also give you better personal service, and would most likely order something especially for you.
THIS EXACTLY!! I buy food almost exclusively at Newtown Feed. The owner is really nice and will order any supplies you may need (toys to beds to treats). He has all kinds of catalogs to look through to pick what you want. I will also occasionally hit up Bethel Feed. They have a larger in stock selection.
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Depending on what I'm buying, I don't usually mind paying a little more for good customer service. And I prefer to buy local rather than order things online. But when I know exactly what I want - my customer service needs are pretty minimal and usually are just 'ring me up please'.
We buy about the same amount of dog food each month - usually from Meijers as most of the time I'd prefer to run over my own foot than shop at Walmart. But Walmart is right next to my work and we were going to need dog food before the weekend. No way in hel1 I wanted to have to go to Meijer, or anywhere near a store in general this weekend - so Walmart was the most convenient place this time. I will say that I think the Supercenters aren't as bad as regular locations and the one next to work is a Supercenter.
At $5 extra per bag, for two bags per month - $120 is a high premium on customer service for dog food each year when I don't need anything more than a cashier. But each to their own...