Walmart Making Big Changes to Grocery Prices in Minnesota
If you do any grocery shopping at Walmart, be on the lookout for some major changes in prices coming soon to stores in Minnesota.
Walmart is once again the largest retailer in the U.S., and according to this latest Capital One Shopping survey, it had sales of over $600.9 billion across its 10,490 stores located here and in 23 other countries. That's a lot! Heck, here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes alone, Walmart has 68 different stores:
WALMART LOCATIONS IN MINNESOTA IN 2024
- Albert Lea
- Alexandria
- Andover
- Apple Valley
- Austin
- Baxter
- Bemidji
- Blaine (2)
- Bloomington
- Brooklyn Center
- Brooklyn Park
- Buffalo
- Burnsville
- Cambridge
- Cloquet
- Coon Rapids
- Cottage Grove
- Crookston
- Detroit Lakes
- Dilworth
- Eagan
- Eden Prairie
- Elk River
- Fairmont
- Faribault
- Fergus Falls
- Forest Lake
- Fridley
- Grand Rapids
- Hastings
- Hermantown
- Hibbing
- Hutchinson
- Inver Grove Heights
- Lakeville
- Litchfield
- Little Falls
- Mankato
- Maple Grove
- Marshall
- Montevideo
- Monticello
- Mountain Iron
- New Ulm
- Oak Park Heights
- Owatonna
- Park Rapids
- Pine City
- Princeton
- Red Wing
- Redwood Falls
- Rochester (2)
- Roseville
- Saint Paul
- Sartell
- Sauk Centre
- Shakopee
- St Cloud
- Thief River Falls
- Vadnais Heights
- Wadena
- Waseca
- Willmar
- Winona
- Woodbury
- Worthington
As you've probably noticed, if you've grocery shopped at any of those locations, inflation rates after the pandemic hit grocery prices hard. This US Inflation Calculator story said grocery inflation rates topped out in 2022 at a whopping 10.4 percent. So when Walmart announces a change that affects prices, it's big news.
Which is exactly what the chain did recently. It happened during their corporate earnings call which recapped another successful quarter, this time the fourth quarter of 2023. And it's good news for shoppers here in the Bold North.
READ MORE: One of the 'Most Overpriced' Grocery Stores Has 7 MN Locations
According to this Food & Wine story, Doug McMillon, president & CEO of Walmart, said that prices on several popular grocery items have been lowered-- and are now at pre-pandemic levels. He noted that prices on staples like apples, eggs, and deli snacks are all now noticeably lower, and back to levels seen four years ago.
And Yahoo Life noted that another Walmart executive, John R. Furner, president and CEO of Walmart U.S., gave a few examples of other price drops that have happened recently:
'We took our French bread back to $1 which had been $1 for a long time and went up as inflation hit the market,' Furner said in the Yahoo Life story. 'Rotisserie chicken is another one. That price has come down by $1,' Furner said in the Yahoo story.
The Walmart earnings call also hinted that prices on other grocery items will likely continue to fall as we head through the spring and summer seasons, as 'dry grocery and consumables start to deflate,' Yahoo noted.
The fact that Walmart is the nation's largest grocery store is interesting, seeing as the chain didn't originally even sell groceries. Back in the day, you had to go to grocery store chains, like Red Owl here in Minnesota, to get your supplies. Of course, that brand is now gone. But keep scrolling to check out some other once-popular brands that are also not around anymore!
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