Sunday, January 1, 2012

Your Local Market, Whole Foods Wanna-be

Store Price Comparison and Review: Your Local Market in Bellevue, WA (Seattle suburb)
The other day I took the time to browse a new grocery store that opened up in Bellevue, WA a few months ago called Your Local Market. According to their website, the idea was hatched by Pacific Northwesterners in the food business and this is their only location. On first glance this store looks exactly like Whole Foods, and I mean EXACTLY. There is a cafe up front, natural remedies and non-food items in one large section, and prepared foods near the cheeses on the other side of the store.


The thing that surprised me the most though, is that there are A LOT of employees. They were all over the place. In addition to a wine guy, a meat guy, a cheese gal, and several other specialty folks, along with product stockers, there is also a customer service person up front to answer any questions you may have.


The first question that comes to my mind is "how are they going to pay for all of these people at a grocery store?" Well, let's find out.....


Below is a product price comparison with some of the other stores that I've price checked in the last few months. (Please check out additional prices from Fred Meyer (Kroger), Target grocery, and Trader Joe's in my other Grocery Comparison posts.)


Overall, it looks like Your Local Market may be a good alternative to Whole Foods if you like their setup and products but don’t want to pay such a steep price.  And after taking a closer look at the prices below, Your Local Market looks like a good spot for produce, as their prices look comparable to Fred Meyer or Trader Joes (not itemized here). (Keep in mind though that their fruit and vegetable selection was pretty limited.)  It’s the dry goods that hike up the overall spend at this new grocer. Happy shopping!


Item
Whole Foods
QFC (upscale Kroger)
Your Local Market
Safeway
Amazon Fresh
GRAND TOTAL
$48.86
$48.23
$41.05
$39.08
$38.49
1lb ground turkey
$6.99
$4.79
$3.58*
$4.80
$3.58
1 gallon whole milk
$2.50
$2.69
$3.29
$3.09
$3.65
12 large eggs
$2.79
$2.19
$2.89
$2.19
$2.89
Campbell's condensed chicken noodle soup (or Trader Joe's or 365 Whole Foods brand)
$1.99
$1.69
$1.09
$1.09
$1.03
Morningstar patties-8oz
$5.99
$5.29
$5.79
$4.99
$4.41
Breyer's vanilla ice cream (or Tillamook at Your Local Market-Breyers not available there)
$4.99
$6.49
$5.49
$5.99
$3.86
Tillamook medium cheddar cheese-8oz (or Trader Joe's or 365 Whole Foods brand)
$5.99
$4.79
$3.99
$3.50
$3.90
Chopped frozen spinach-16oz
$1.99
$3.69
$4.60
$1.50
$1.89
TOTAL PROCESSED FOODS
$33.23
$31.62
$30.72
$27.15
$25.21
1lb bananas
$0.69
$0.69
$0.69
$0.79
$1.29
1 head romaine lettuce
$2.49
$1.99
$2.19
$1.99
$1.49
1lb Gala apples
$2.49
$1.99
$1.49
$1.69
$1.66
1lb Green peppers
$3.99
$5.97
$1.39
$1.99
$2.97
1lb white mushrooms, whole
$1.99
$2.99
$1.99
$2.99
$2.39
1 lemon
$0.99
$0.99
$0.89
$0.99
$1.49
1lb broccoli
$2.99
$1.99
$1.69
$1.49
$1.99
TOTAL PRODUCE
$15.63
$16.61
$10.33
$11.93
$13.28

*Note: No ground turkey at Your Local Market - meat manager said "turkey season is over", so I inserted cheapest other store price to complete the comparison.

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