Buying Generics At Your Local Chain Grocer May Get You Close Or Better Than Discount Stores

     When grocery shopping we are influenced by several different factors. Whether it be location, section, price or just like that store. When I was a kid the people across the street owned one of the stores in town. So Mom shopped there. My grandmother on Mom's side shopped at the A&P that she shopped at since the late 1930's. They used to grind the coffee at the checkout. I still remember that smell. 
     As time went on during the late 1960's we started doing a grocery run every two weeks in a larger city about forty miles away. But it was an event. We would stop and eat at Burger Chef or another nicer restaurant on occasion. Then we would go to the grocery store. I would push the cart for my grandmother. We would often hit the deli to get some chicken livers and gizzards to snack on. Back then soft drinks came in 10 and 16 ounce returnable bottles. So I had to turn in the bottles at the front of the store. That was also one of my jobs. Like 5 cents a bottle per six pack. 
     After the grocery shopping we would head to a strip mall that had Montgomery Ward and a lot of other stores. My Mother and Grandmother would hit the other stores and Dad and I would hit Montgomery Ward. Until I was about 16 years old I did not know that appliances or electronics came from anywhere but Sears and Montgomery Ward. Our first color television, my stereo and many other appliances came from Montgomery Ward. 
     There was also a furniture store in this town that we shopped at. I remember jumping up and down at the salesman's orders to do so on my new bed. That came with a desk and chest of drawers. 
     But anyway back to grocery shopping. Some people shop at a store because it is the only one they can get to. Location. Others need a particular product that is only available at certain locations. So that means selections. The other is price. All we are looking for is price. We do not need anyone to cater to us, just price. And then there is I just like this store. Which is the hardest score to earn. My grandmother shopped at A&P because she liked that store. 
     So being in business since 1970 for myself. You want people to deal with you because they want to and not have to. I understand this and most people who have worked for someone else do not. Because they do the least that they can do working for someone else. So as a modern employee (now called associate) you should assume some responsibility for you company's success. 
     If you buy the generic products that are sold you will come pretty close to the prices you are finding elsewhere. So with the two for x amount, buy one get one free, coupons and price matching you can do pretty well.You also have to take in account driving to a further location, your time involved, the risk involved with driving and exposing yourself to being out in public and getting robbed or worse. 
     For example yesterday I bought a few store brand products that were about 50% off the brand names. A quick inspection of the ingredients found that they were tantamount. There is a good chance they were made in the same factory. I know that in 1992 I had interviewed with Aldi who was coming to the Louisville, Kentucky market. They told me that they sell their own house brands only. And that they are manufactured by name brand makers. 
     Obviously there has to be a reason that name brand make and sell generics. One is that making a house brand is a sale. They buy in mass. No advertising costs. A good little clean deal. You are still buying their product whether it is in the fancy colored package or the black and white package. It is a win win thing. 
     Years ago advertising as complex as it was simpler than it is today. There were three TV networks to advertise on. Radio, newspapers, magazines and billboards. Now with the Internet, countless TV channels, and all the other media manufacturers are forced to spend a lot more money advertising. This drives up retail costs and prices. 
     Look at the ads that dominate TV today. Fast food, phones, law firms, insurance but very little consumers food products. Not to many clothing companies advertise on TV either. The costs are so high and people will buy things anyway why not divert a bit of your effort to make a generic product that you know that you can sell without advertising. Good business sense. People are going to buy bread. Why just make it one brand. If you make all the bread you will sell all the bread.