Besides its shopping classes, the grocer publishes a new newsletter called The Whole Deal, which provides money-saving tips and menu planning. It has a back-to-school brochure filled with coupons and is aggressively promoting weekly values.
"I think it's a tough market, there's no doubt," said retail consultant George Whalin. "The retail environment is as bad as I've seen, and Whole Foods and others are doing things they normally haven't had to do."
Whalin said mid-tier supermarkets and discounters are offering the most aggressive sales. Some of the more upscale grocers, such as Wegmans Food Markets Inc., want to protect their image, he said. Even with its new promotions, Whole Foods is doing its best not to dilute its image. A Wegmans spokeswoman said the chain has not instituted any new promotions because of the economy.
But most grocery analysts expect food companies to remain aggressive in their marketing.
"We're not at the bottom of this recession we're going through," Whalin said. "We're a ways away. So I think we'll see [discounting] for a while."
That's fine with shoppers like Shalane Dorn, 23, who plans meals based on the sales listed in circulars. Dorn, a cashier at a pizza and submarine shop, said she buys store brands and discontinued items, which often are sold at 50 percent discounts.
"The prices are definitely up," said Dorn, who lives in Hampden and shopped at Giant last week. "I'm watching what I'm spending."
area promotions
* Whole Foods is hosting "Shopping on a Shoe String" tours
* Giant is offering 5% grocery discounts for those who buy five prescriptions and free milk after a customer purchases six cartons
* Safeway provides gasoline discounts with grocery purchases and is pricing certain items at $5 on Fridays.
* Shoppers Food & Pharmacy recently extended a triple-coupon promotion
Sources: Companies; Labor Department; Food Marketing Institute May online survey of 2,020 U.S. shoppers
