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More proof businesses are gouging Ashburn

Discussion in 'General Chat Forum' started by flynnibus, Apr 21, 2007.

  1. gryphon

    gryphon Banned User

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    Since you are focused on a promotional price, maybe this is not a "price gouging" issue and is instead an inventory management issue. Because of differences in local shopping habits, one store in a chain may need to lower the price for a product because it's not moving. It may be moving faster somewhere else, so it may not be discounted at all or maybe just discounted less. You are well within your rights to accuse Safeway of price gouging, and as I have stated many times before, I have no love for Safeway, I just don't see the evidence stacking up based on the incident you report.
     
  2. neilz

    neilz New Member

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    Trader Joe's is not a brand name ??? :D
     
  3. Silence Dogood99

    Silence Dogood99 New Member

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    He means Trader Joe's is a Store Brand, not a Brand Name (though you say their quality is superior to other store brands).

    Personally, I think the point of this thread is a waste of time. There can be no "gouging" when there is so much competition. Gouging implies there is no choice (as in utilities, cable, etc.).

    Are prices higher in Ashburn than Reston? Yes. So prices are different from town to town all over the country.

    All kinds of businesses will charge more in Ashburn because they perceive families here will pay it. We have so many choices this point is moot.
     
  4. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    So many choices? Take your favorite 'choice' pick and compare it to another local town.

    That's the point.. Ashburn is being gouged by everyone.. not just Safeway. Do you really think its more costly to operate here where there is a new shopping center (competing for their leases) every 4 months then in an established area with NO new shopping centers?

    Gouging is overcharging.. it is not based on competition at all. Businesses are artifically charging more out here. I'm so happy you all are happy with it by quantifying your 'savings' when its all relative to the other guy overcharging.
     
  5. greggbroadlands

    greggbroadlands New Member

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    For some reason you think we're "happy" with it. It's just the reality of retail business.
    What's your plan to rid our area stores of gouging?
     
  6. Silence Dogood99

    Silence Dogood99 New Member

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  7. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    Is it always? Why is Best Buy the same price in Sterling as it is in Reston? Normally grocery stores are pretty consistant in an area.. they run the same flyers.. they run the same promotions. Yet here.. they don't. Do you think the sale prices vary between the Giant in the farm vs the village?

    I mean.. we aren't talking Reston compared to Philly. We're talking 10 miles away.

    Visability. No one wants it brought up that they are more expensive on the same exact items. They will not deny it, but they don't want to promote it either.
     
    1 person likes this.
  8. gryphon

    gryphon Banned User

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    ...by everyone? Isn't that statement extravagant exaggeration? We don't feel gouged (except by the tax collector, on occasion), and we love everything about this community. In the Broadlands area, I think you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who could argue with the facts that we have good schools, friendly people, and great access to anything you could want to buy. The prices are what they are, and nobody is forcing to pay them.
     
  9. gunzour

    gunzour "Living on the Edge"

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    Yes, sale prices will vary from store to store in virtually all supermarket chains. It is how the business works. Circulars are special cases -- they will keep the price consistent so they can have the same circular apply to many stores. But non-circular sales are very frequently different in different stores at Giant, Safeway, Wegmans, Target, and everywhere else. Businesses set prices based on the local market. It looks like none of the local supermarkets currently compete on price, so prices here tend to be high. When someone comes along and competes on price, others will likely follow. Giant seems to be gradually moving to an EDLP (everyday low price) marketing strategy, so there presence here may bring some price competition soon.

    Price gouging is an emotionally charged term and is unfair to use here. Simply charging a higher price does not consitute gouging. If there was a run on shovels because of a pending snow storm and a store doubled the price, that could be considered gouging. Or, for another example, if an internet provider made a deal with a builder to force everyone in a neighborhood to pay them 50% higher than what is available on the free market, that could probably be considered price gouging. But having a different sale price than another store in another neighborhood just doesn't qualify.
     
  10. gryphon

    gryphon Banned User

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    A friend told me that Virginia has a price-gouging law, and there is a price-gouging complaint form. The particular allegation of "price gouging" that started this thread does not seem to fit the definition at all because, in Virginia, price gouging exists only in the context of setting prices in the period after a declaration of a state of emergency by the Governor or the President of the United States. (See Virginia Post-Disaster Anti-Price Gouging Act, and click next to read the whole section.)

    For anyone who does truly feel price gouged (with the correct legal definition), you can file a Price Gouging Complaint Form with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Office of Consumer Affairs.
     
  11. chefario

    chefario New Member

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    Sorry,
    I cannot hold my tounge anymore. Price gouging?

    Do you realize that over the last 2 years there have been 75 new places to eat and 6 new grocery stores that have opened here in Ashburn. With not much additional housing or occupied office space. Competition is ..., there is no word for it.

    It is not enough to have good products to sell anymore, everything we sell in Ashburn needs to be at a discount. Buy one get one, kids eat free, discount cards, etc..

    Perhaps I am speaking out of turn by saying that I would wager all business owners are using basic business math formulas to determine the "Original" price of the items they sell only to have their bottom line affected by the harsh reality that the realistic price is too high for our consumers in the current market. Which means we are forced to cut that price just to make a sale. No business can survive under this scenario.

    When the national average for profitability in my industry is 5% of sales but our environment dictates we give 10 - 15 % off. Ouch!

    It would not be price gouging even if we all stopped offering discounts.

    By the way don't forget to order online at www.trevisos.com
    Every order placed there for carryout and delivery will earn you 10% towards a future purchase and if you order $25 or more you can pick a free dessert.

    Thank you!

    chefario
     
  12. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    Not much additional space? You mean besides the 6 shopping centers that accompanied each of those grocery store openings? Or the other shopping centers that have opened without grocery anchors (such as the very one in broadlands itself at turio parish??

    And since when does more competition justify raising prices? All this 'free market' idealism everyone is throwing around should infer higher supply should drive prices down and competition should drive prices down as each store's pickup area is encroached upon by new stores.. driving competition to retain customers.

    Yet.. what do we have? Price inflation in the area that far outweighs the national averages.

    If I were shopping for a preimum service, I'd agree. But I'm not shopping for premium service when I buy dry groceries. I'm also not shopping for 'premium' by shopping in Ashburn vs another local suburb.

    Nice.. but irrelevant to the examples given. Both stores are supplied through the same buyers and same distribution center. Both stores are paying the same for the product.. and I've yet to see anyone try to claim that operating in Loudon with the flood of new properties here is more expensive then operating in a fixed retail space like Reston. Are business taxes significantly more expensive in Loudon then Fairfax?

    The grocery business is a very competitive space - operating on what I think normally is 3% margins.

    The basic premise is still the same. What justifications exist to charge more for the same product, from the same store, in two different local towns?

    Besides 'because I can'. And based on what? That Ashburn is a more affluent area?

    How many of you would like to walk into a mechanics shop.. have him look at your registration, and then modify his prices based on where you live? That's effectivly what Safeway is doing...
     
  13. Silence Dogood99

    Silence Dogood99 New Member

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    Isn't this what happened when you came to buy your home in Broadlands?

    Our family operates a service business. We charge what the market will bear. Families in Ashburn, New York, Chicago and Dallas tend to be willing to pay more than clients in rural southern towns. That's just the way it works.

    Simple solutions for you. Don't shop at Safeway. Relax. Move. :)
     
  14. redon1

    redon1 aka Aphioni

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    i only feel gouged when it comes to my HOUSE itself. more than half a mil can't get a house that doesn't have drafty windows and cost a fortune to heat b/c the walls are so thin?!?!?

    but- i LOVE the Broadlands and willingly pay a little more on a few things like roceries and restaurants b/c of the convenience and- usually- good quality. i think prices will get more competitive since there are so many choices for whatever you want popping up- and service will improve too. when there are 10 stores within 5 miles all selling the same thing- they HAVE to woo us, right?

    Wegmans, Safeway, Giant, Teeter...
    Anothai, Orchid
    Five Guys, Fosters
    PotBelly,, Quiznos, Spicy Pickle
    Daily Grind, Bean Scene, Starbucks

    LET THE WOOING BEGIN!!!
     
  15. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    Different.. the house is a single fixed asset where I am buying the location too. And in my example, the mechanic isn't tied to the location, he's somewhere else, he's looking at where YOU are from and basing his math on that. Not where he is at. That is the same thing these stores are doing.

    Again.. different situation because I'm not comparing two completely different areas with large variances in income/etc. We are talking Reston and Ashburn, both very affluent areas relativly close to each other.

    So instead shop at the other places who are also charging us more for simply living in this area?

    You all are completely missing the point of the thread.

    They don't call it 'cashburn' because Safeway moved in!
     
  16. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    I think we have seen the opposite.

    The more stores that open here.. the higher the prices are going.

    Why? Because if you notice all the stores opening are the higher priced chains. There is no price competition.. The stores that normally compete with tighter prices don't have to.. the competition is so loftly up there.. they can relax their need to be competitive on prices.

    I've lived here for 7 years - the price for goods have done nothing but go UP and go up much faster then inflation.
     
  17. gryphon

    gryphon Banned User

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    There will not be any competition in this area if people aren't willing to comparison shop and hunt for discounts. You can't criticize the grocery stores for that. They are in business to make a buck and return a profit to their investors. I just don't see any problem. If you want lower prices, you know where there is a store that has them: the Safeway in Reston, according to the post that started this thread.
     
  18. Silence Dogood99

    Silence Dogood99 New Member

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    Does anyone have statistics on this:

    Is Ashburn more affluent than Reston? Is the cost of housing greater in Ashburn? The cost of leasing business space? That would be interesting to know.
     
  19. Silence Dogood99

    Silence Dogood99 New Member

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    Totally agree! We have lived in ten different cities, and quality of life was even greater in many places where housing cost a fraction--and I do mean a fraction!--of what it does here.

    But alas, we chose to move here and are very fortunate to be able to enjoy this community. We just may not choose to do that for much longer :)
     
  20. redon1

    redon1 aka Aphioni

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    aha- so what we NEED is a good cheap store to drive down prices... what about Shoppers? are those of you who are concerned about the pricing shopping there? how do their rates compare?
     

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