Search and compare prices of common grocery items in Raleigh, NC in our database

When we did our first grocery price comparison story in October 2019, we priced 38 items at 16 different grocery chains in Raleigh and found that overall, Walmart had the largest selection and lowest prices, with a strong showing by newcomer Wegmans.

We repeated our comparison this year, but expanded our shopping list to 55 items, and subbed out Dollar General for Earth Fare, which left the Triangle market in 2020.

We found that Wegmans’ strong showing in 2019 wasn’t a fluke. According to our research, conducted during the last week of June 2022, the Rochester, NY-based chain often beat all stores — including Walmart and Target — on regular priced products.

You can find a database on prices of all 55 items we shopped below, but first, some background on our methodology.

Where we shopped. We shopped 16 grocery chains in Raleigh: Aldi, Carlie C’s, Dollar General, Food Lion, Fresh Market, Harris Teeter, Lidl, Lowes Foods, Publix, Sprouts, Target, Trader Joe’s, Walmart, Weaver Street Market, Wegmans and Whole Foods. Ten of the 16 stores were all in a straight line down Wake Forest Road/Falls of Neuse (what I call Raleigh’s Grocery Boulevard). The others were in north, northwest or northeast Raleigh, except for Weaver Street Market, which is downtown.

Where we didn’t shop. We didn’t include the warehouse membership stores like Costco, Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale. We also didn’t shop international markets because we felt we would want to use a different kind of product list at those — but we hope to do both of those comparisons at a later time.

When we shopped: All prices were documented (photographs taken of items on the shelves) on June 27 and 28, 2022 (except for Weaver Street Market, which we visited on June 30).

What we shopped for. We picked 55 common items to shop for — a mix of name-brand products, store brand products and fresh produce (regular and organic).

What we didn’t shop for. To keep things manageable, we had to set some limits on categories. So we skipped delis, bakeries, flower shops, hot bars and pharmacies. We also skipped paper products (like toilet paper and paper towels), pre-packaged gluten-free/sugar-free/fat-free products, and baby products because the items varied so much by brand, style and size from store to store.

No sale prices. We only counted regular prices for items. We know that many of you are ardent sale-shoppers (very smart) and would never pay full price for a six-pack of Coke or a bag of Oreos, but not everyone shops that way. Plus, it’s just the only way to do a fair comparison.

The Incomparables. It is hard to compare stores like Food Lion and Harris Teeter to stores like Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Aldi and Sprouts because those stores carry only (or mostly) store brand or specialty items. Plus, in the case of Sprouts, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods and Weaver Street Market, many of the items are only available in an organic or otherwise special version that makes the price much higher than at their competitors. We tried to note that whenever possible, but keep that in mind when evaluating the price differences.

Prices are constantly changing. This is very important to note, especially in a time of such aggressive inflation and supply chain instability. We shopped during the week of June 27, 2022. One week later, on a non-official stop inside one of the grocery stores I price-checked, I noticed that the price of eggs had already increased dramatically. So please keep in mind this price-check is a snapshot in time. Just as prices will vary from store to store even within the same chain, depending on your town or neighborhood, price can increase at any time.

This story was originally published July 14, 2022 at 6:00 AM.

Brooke Cain

The News & Observer

Brooke Cain is a North Carolina native who has worked at The News & Observer and McClatchy for more than 30 years as a researcher, reporter and media writer. She is the National Service Journalism Editor for McClatchy.