But this is Chico, too

One of the touted benefits of a Wal-Mart supercenter coming to Chico is cheaper grocery prices.
But will they be cheaper than the groceries sold at Winco, Food for Less, Costco and Grocery Outlet?

And if that’s the sole benefit of Wal-Mart groceries, how will that help those of us who look for other things besides lower prices, but can’t find them in one store? Could Wal-Mart ever become our one-stop grocery store?

Right now, my wife Gail and I patronize three grocery stores: Trader Joe’s, Raley’s and Safeway. In an ideal world, there would be just one. Could a Wal-Mart give us that?

Here are some of the pluses and minuses of the three stores:
Trader Joe’s:
• Good selection of exotic and organic foods at non-specialty store prices;
• Limited selection of grocery staples;
• Helpful employees, who will always find out if something is in stock or tell you why it isn’t;
• Checkout clerks unload your groceries;
• Carts are too small for those of us who go there to do major grocery shopping;
• Traffic flow problems, especially in the meat and bread sections, which are right next to each other.
Safeway:
• Well-stocked service bakery;
• Carts are dirty and in bad repair;
• Checkout clerks don’t unload your groceries;
• It’s close to where we live; it’s close to where a lot of Chicoans live because there are three of them;
• Good price discounts, but you always have to use a membership card, a distracting extra step at the checkout line;
• The Safeway store on Mangrove discontinued its health food section in its latest remodeling; these products are inconveniently scattered throughout the store.
Raley’s:
• Seldom crowded;
• Service deli has good selection of food and provides places to sit;
• Service bakery is too sweets oriented;
• Carts are clean and in good repair;
• Checkout clerks unload your cart;
• Limited frozen foods section.

Do people on tight food budgets shop at just one grocery store? If a Wal-Mart comes will they just trust it to offer the lowest prices on all items or will they have a better chance of coming out ahead if they shop at several stores?