Local discount stores' grocery business booming

Cherie Himes loaded produce into her cart at an area Weis Market store a few weeks ago, then got frustrated and left the store.

"I left my cart and all," the Dallastown woman said, explaining that she knew she wasn't going to be able to afford a cart full of groceries after totaling up what she would spend just on produce.

Standing outside Price Rite discount grocery store, 2142 S. Queen St. in York Township, she showed off the $1.69 bag of spinach she got at the discount store. Weis wanted more than $3 for it, she said.

Like a growing number of York residents who can't afford to pay full price for groceries, she has started making rounds at surplus and discount stores. Owners and managers said the increasing price of gas and groceries has been good for business at the stores, which sell discontinued, damaged or expired foods at a discount price.

The Food and Drug Administration doesn't prohibit the sale of expired foods or
medicine, except for baby formula. Thrifty shoppers said close scrutiny of items to be purchased will usually tell if there's "something wrong."

Pride aside, there's no other way Himes could afford groceries unless she got them from a food bank, she said.

A crying matter? Kathy Dobbie, who with her husband owns D&K Surplus Grocery on Delta Road in Windsor Township, said business has increased since the price of gas has forced the price of food up with it. The increases have also meant tough times for surplus stores, she said.

But a walk around the no-frills store makes it evident that prices on many items are about half what they would be in a traditional grocery store.

The store doesn't carry the same selection as a grocery store, just surplus items Kathy's husband could get at a discount. Dobbie tells customers to "come here first, then go to the regular grocery store," she said.

But Himes has completely cut out the "regular grocery store."

She tried to shop at Wal-Mart a couple of weeks ago, but counted $80 in groceries before the bottom of her cart was even covered.

"I just wanted to cry," she said. "I'm used to spending $100 and getting a cart full of stuff."

Pulling out of the parking lot at Price Rite, she announced she was on her way to D&K next.

Across the parking lot from Himes, Price Rite shopper and York City resident Beatriz Parrilla said she stops at a Weis Market "only for an emergency."

A head of lettuce at Weis costs $1.79, compared to as little as 99 cents at Price Rite, she said.

"The meats are also cheap here," she said. "I love it."

And across town at Aldi, on North Northern Way in Springettsbury Township, York City resident Ciara Boyle said she stopped shopping at Giant Foods about two months ago.

"I used to shop at Giant and now look at me, I'm shopping at Aldi," she said, throwing a hand in the direction of the store before collecting a quarter from a cart security machine. "And you even gotta pay for a cart."

Costs increase: Nationwide, a family of four on a moderate-cost shopping plan now spends an average of $904 each month for groceries, an $80 increase from two years ago, according to the USDA.

Overall food prices rose about 5 percent in 2007, though some items increased more. Over the past year, the national average price of a carton of eggs has increased almost 50 percent.

Ground beef, milk, chicken, apples, tomatoes, lettuce, coffee and orange juice are among the staples that cost more these days, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index.

Customers who used to shop at Dollar General only for discount laundry detergent and toiletries have ventured into the food aisles to find savings on juice and other essentials, said Kristi Lipinski, a member of the management team at the store at 835 E. Main St., Dallastown.

"We have cheaper milk, eggs and bread. We have pasta three for $1. Even our cereal is like $2 cheaper," she said. "(Customers) say, 'It's too outrageous the way things are going up.'"

Lipinkski said she has seen the number of food customers increase by about 50 percent over the past month. Among them are people who live nearby and can't afford the gas to go to other stores, she said.

--Reach Christina Kauffman at 505-5436 or ckauffman@yorkdispatch.com.