Saturday Open Thread - 5/23/26: Odds and Ends
Good morning, good people! I hope this Saturday finds you all in fine fettle!
I did some grocery pricing and shopping this week I thought worth passing along, since prices are going up on everything.
So, I read an article, no way I could find it now, that basically rated grocery store prices against the biggest grocery store chain in the country, which is Walmart. Using Walmart as the starting point, the article found 10 grocery stores that are actually cheaper than Walmart. Most were regional, but Costco, Aldis, and HEB stood out to me because they are accessible here.
We did sort of a test run on an HEB store this week, on the way home from the surgeon's office. The parking lot was almost full, but the store was so huge, you didn't notice shoppers, checked out with ease.
Vast inventory, not just cheap junk food. We got some sort of high end specialty products at a very reasonable price. We later shopped Walmart and noticed 2 things: The lowest priced products fill the shelves, while better products are gone. Just one example is Hunt's Ketchup. We don't consume it much, but we prefer the variety that contains no high fructose when we do. It is no longer available at our Walmart. Eat sugar or do without. Try to find a healthy breakfast cereal there. Go ahead. Try. All sugar coated.
But, the shock was noticing price tags are not paper and plastic. They are electronic. Our local Walmart was one of the last in the country to go to facial recognition pricing, but it is being installed there now. They haven't fully installed it, but they made a huge step forward from last Friday to Thursday of this week.
I think the following link is important and encourage you all to read it. This isn't our future. It is our present.
What is surveillance pricing and is it coming to a grocery store near you?
Surveillance pricing, or algorithmic personalized pricing, is a way of setting prices in which information about individual customers — from scraped social media activity to other identifying factors such as where they live or their spending habits — is used to generate prices. The concern about the practice is that it leads to different prices for different people, potentially exploiting their circumstances or need for a product.
Well, good friends, this is an open thread, open to any and all info you think is worth sharing with us all.
With that, I say:
Let 'er rip!
Comments
Good morning, friends!
The newly installed tech at the Walmart store where where we shop attracts the poorest of the poor, and very rich people, and everything in between. I know. I know lots of employees there, and often see people I know in the aisles. Some on welfare, some with millions. Will they pay different prices for that bottle of ketchup? It may already be happening.
Your turn, friends!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Hey, good morning
.
So how does this facial recognition thing work? Is it when
you go to check-out you get scanned along with your groceries?
Really weird. There should be a law against that. Where I shop, they
still label prices on the items so you can compare products. Just can't
imagine this new fangled tech. May have to don a poor people mask
before check out?
Thanks for the money music variety show otc!
Zionism is a social disease
Good morning, Cap'n!
Here are some concerns from critics:
Biometrics connects our financial records, medical records, residence, and travel. AI can assess our spending history, preferences, and quickly determine what we are comfortable paying for a store item. So, if I approach a $5.00 bottle of salsa and have a $50,000 annual salary, will it be priced the same for the person right behind me who has a $75,000 salary? I have read various comment threads at various websites that have commenters who actually observed the price changes as they happen.
Walmart isn't just installing security cameras to prevent shoplifting.
The switch to HEB will add 12 miles of driving, round trip. Not an issue to get better quality food and fair prices.
Enjoy your weekend, friend!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
I buy Walmart brand on most
I buy Walmart brand on most things, it's cheapest and if it tastes the same why not. Careful shopping yields better prices on fruits than H Mart the national Asian supermarket chain on average though both H Mart and our local Asian supermarket Great Wall often have very cheap specials if you can deal with slightly old fruit or veggies.
One time we bought 10 lbs of shiitake mushrooms that were going bad and dried them all, great in soups.
Walmart is great at identifying veggies at self checkout. We still shop Costco for things that will keep or freeze, we like the complete absence of shoplifters. Also people don't grab stuff off shelves and eat a few bites.
Ukraine war still showing signs of shifting.
Good morning, ban nock!
I have not tried any Great Value food products yet. I am a bit of a food snob, perhaps? Lol!
Your store availability is so different from mine. In order to get real imported Asian foods would require a trip to Houston. Not fun to drive in and around Houston AT ALL.
The latest news I can find about the SMO is that the Ukies hit a university dorm and killed 18 students. The military response is being planned, so we shall see.
I suppose if the US can blow up a little girls school in Iran, we have no qualms if Ukraine does the same. I haven't thanked a soldier for his service in my entire life.
Enjoy your weekend, ok?
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
@on the cusp We too are food snobs,
We too are food snobs, but only if we can tell the difference. The one thing I can't find cheap is Durian, it's $10 to $12 a pound frozen without the husk. Good steak is also pricier than all get out. Every fresh Asian vegetable or fruit is available though it pays to look at the price, sometimes it has to be flown here and it's double digits.
Death tolls from drones are difficult. Even initial reports from the mayor. Both sides have an incentive to claim high numbers to make the other side seem barbaric, and also low numbers to seem ineffectual. Big picture civilian deaths from drones have no effect on the war.
This week another oil refinery was hit and a chemical plant 1,000 miles from Ukraine. Also they seem to have had some success with the H20 highway which parallels the Black sea and connects all those cities in Eastern Ukraine. Mariupol, plus Crimea and the front. The leaves are on the trees which will help the Russians evade drones but they don't seem to be able to replace personnel as fast as they are losing them.
Those three things, long range damage to infrastructure which supports the war, intermediate range damage to infrastructure damaging the ability to fuel and supply the front, plus decreasing the replacement ability of infantry, are what is noticeable. With the caveat that any and all information must be viewed with a certain amount of skepticism.
An end is certainly not near even with the rosiest predictions. I doubt Ukraine would settle when any of its territory isn't yet returned. To do that Putin would need to be gone. Years not months.
Good morning otc. Thanks for the OT. I think that pricing
comparisons across chains is trickier than advertisers and analysts make it out to be. Actually, I can guarantee that The problem is what pricing wallahs refer to as comparables. Crude example: store a sells bulk coen at 50 cents per ear. Store b sells pre-packaged shrink wrapped corm 3 pack for a buck 40. Arguably b has a slightly lower price per ear, but You have to buy at least 3 ears and you must buy multiples of 3, so the products offered aren't really comparable. Then you have places like Sprouts, where you can buy grains, creals and all that self-bagged from bulk bins, which means they aren't comparable to anybody who doesn't sell that way. A few years ago my wife and I had our first experience with Aldi looking to grab a few things while in Arroyo Grande. We were "Hotel camping" in Pismo, meaning that we cooked and ate most of our meals in the hotel room with our hot pot or their nuker or ate stuff like brie or dried salame on crackers/baguette + fruit, etc. Aldi's pre-packaged everything and product selection was simply not conducive to that we had to bail and go find a Vons or something with a more "normal" product selection. There was just something off about everything they had, though I can't recall any specifics.
Today, of course, is farmers' market here, speaking of comparables. ;-). Just in time for me to make lentejas con verdura,- onion, garlic, jalapeño, hatch chiles, lentils, calabicitas, carrot, potato, celery, tomatoes and rainbow chard. Goes together quickly once all the prep is done.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Good morning, el!
I have never shopped at Costco or Aldi's.
The only accurate price comparison one can make is specific and identical products being sold at different stores. I kept our Walmart receipt so that when we buy the same items at HEB, we can make an accurate comparison.
At any rate, the facial surveillance about to happen at Walmart is reason enough to steer clear of the place.
We "hotel camp" a lot. We also shop at delis for sandwiches and the like, avoid spending at restaurants and fast food as much as possible.
Your meal sounds tasty and healthy! Not sure what dinner will be, but it will not require shopping. We are well-stocked.
Something is about to happen. Iran is on its' highest military alert, their air force is escorting gulf states diplomats back home, Trump cancelled his travel plans, as did all of his top officials.
Enjoy your weekend, dear friend! It might get really interesting!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
The first 45 minutes of this video
is an interview with Joel Salatin, farmer/educator extraordinaire. Food quality and shortages are discussed, as well as sustainable farming advantages.
Makes me want to start raising cattle again.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Our unlovable PTB
Like QMS, I don’t understand how a store will recognize me and modify prices before I use a credit card. Walmart here has a video camera on when I use self-checkout. I always try to look sideways and don’t know how they do biometric recognition with my glasses on. Oregon didn’t require Real ID when I renewed my DL, and it’s valid til 9/2031.
Lots of conflicting reports on possible Iran deal this morning. Vance suddenly returning from India. The following from about half an hour ago is promising, but if U.S. follows usual pattern it probably indicates we’re about to foolishly bomb Iran again….
“Pakistani officials says that U.S. and Iranian mediators have reached an interim peace deal described as "fairly comprehensive," aimed at fully ending the Iran war, though final approval is still pending” - Reuters
Anya
Good afternoon, Anya!
Texas is a Real ID state, so Walmart can easily ID me as I reach to get coffee to toss into my cart. Cameras will be store-wide, not just at check out.
The latest headline from NYT says Trump announced he would enter a deal with Iran "if I get everything I want".
Funny how this is going on when the stock exchange is closed.
Meanwhile, I am determined to just relax and enjoy a quiet day here at home, which is still possible.
I hope you can do the same, chica!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981