Making a profit is a growing challenge for the stores selling groceries. Deep discounters like Walmart and online sellers have jumped into the market and made the competition even more fierce.
Texas Retailers Association President and CEO George Keleman says the retailers are doing all they can to build volume so they can maintain revenue.
“It doesn't matter what store it is, whether it's a low-cost store or (one that) caters to higher incomes,” Keleman says, “you're operating on a pretty thin margin.”
At one national chain, Costco, the price of Arm & Hammer liquid laundry detergent was reduced from $15.79 to $10.99, when compared to last year.
“Definitely,” he says, “it's competitive. It's all just kind of the cyclical nature of market forces.”