This week The Forum will share with you a shopping experience we hope you will find both informative, helpful and most importantly a big money saver.
One of the key components of getting customers to shop is advertising, and no one is better at that than big box stores, especially the pharmacy chains. Every week they mesmerize us with their promises of buy one get two free, extra bucks, value points, instant rebates—you know them all, each of the individual chains has their own shopping jargon, their own savings cards, their own blockbuster offers each week.
But this week we’d like to look at whether or not the big chains really deliver all that’s promised in their weekly glossy circulars. We can answer that question in two words: DEFINITELY NOT.
While CVS is the chain we will specifically look at here, they are merely a generic template for their competitors including Rite Aid, Duane Reade and Walgreens.
This piece is being written because I have been misled and infuriated by the “chain gang” for the last time.
Every week I set aside a half-hour or so to see what’s in the circular bag delivered to my front door. Accused of being a reckless spender in years gone by, I now pride myself on getting the most value for my money.
Those who used to call me a spendthrift now call me cheap—it just goes to show you, you can’t please all the people all the time.
All kidding aside, I run a household of about six people including a 96-year-old bed bound mother and an 18-month old granddaughter and my drug store bills can often resemble a mini mortgage.
I’m almost ashamed to say that even with all my experience in the advertising business, I was, until recently, misled by the power of marketing tools enlisted by big retailers.
Case in point: a 12 roll package of Bounty paper towels on sale at CVS for $9.99. The sale starts on Sunday. You go in Monday evening, “Excuse me, where are the Bounty that are on sale? “I’m sorry they are all sold out but we are getting another truck in on Tuesday afternoon.”
Ok no problem–you can come back in two days. But invariably when you get there, the truck didn’t come, it did come and the towels were not on it, someone from a bodega came and bought them all—there are ten thousand excuses that randomly spew from the mouths of the Stepford Clerks.
Finally you resign yourself, “Ok I’ll take a rain check please.” “Well we really don’t give you a rain check because we won’t have this item back in the store until it goes on sale again so you might as well just wait.”
The point is, with the pressure of everyones schedule and lack of time, while you’re in the store you see three or four other things that you need, you’re already there so you buy them. That my friends is where they get you. I got it in my head that I would try a little experiment to see just how much that was costing me. I had been bamboozled into thinking because they were bigger they were cheaper–guess what–wrong again.
So I decided the way to prove my idea was that I would price a cross section of items ranging from over the counter medicines to baby products to household cleaners. I decided to match up identical items at a local pharmacy, Cross Bay Chemist.
Here’s what I found on products including Benydryl, NyQuil, Tylenol Liquid for Kids, Tylenol Extra Strength Caplets, Therma Care Patches, Icy Hot Gel, Tums, Pepto Bismaol, GasEx, First Aid Paper Tape, Febreeze, Windex, Mr.,. Clean, Brillo, Lotrimin, Tinactin, Tampax Pearls, Aveno Baby Moisture Wash, J&J Baby Oil, J&J Baby Shampoo, Balmex, Herbal Essence Shampoo, Dove Hair Therapy, Dr. Scholls Corn Removers and Dr. Scholls Gel Work Insoles, the bill at CVS without tax added up to 214.79 vs 178.21 at Cross Bay Chemist. One item at Cross Bay Chemist was priced .30 higher, 12 oz. for 9.79 but how about Balmex at Cross Bay for 11.79 and CVS for 14.49 or Dr. Scholls Gel Insoles for 14.29 at the Chemist and 19.29 at CVS!
Bottom line is don’t be fooled by marketing ploys at big stores. What you see in the circular is often not what you get when you go to the store. So shop smart and save and whenever you can think about shopping mom and pop.
By Patricia Adams
