Monthly consumer report revamped to aid shoppers

The first thing you notice when you shop for the exact same 15 items at five popular local stores on the Wasatch Front is how much variation you find in the prices. The second observation is that no single store is always the cheapest or even always the most expensive.

With today's September fantasy shopping spree, the Deseret News is updating how it gathers information on what price trends are for common items at area grocery stores. We're changing the data we collect in hopes that readers will find it more useful as they do their own grocery shopping in these financially challenging times.

On the first weekday of every month, we'll be canvassing the same five stores from Sandy to Centerville to price commonly purchased household items: bread, milk, hamburger, diapers, cereal, ice cream, orange juice, eggs, laundry soap, cookies, bananas and frozen corn. Our shopping list includes items that can be compared accurately at all five locations, with the exception of hamburger.

Hamburger, it seems, has a built-in variable. Some stores sell it at least 85 percent lean. Others aim for at least 80 percent lean. It's such a basic part of many household meals, though, that we decided to keep it on the list.

And because real life isn't just groceries, but getting there and entertaining ourselves along the way, we've added the going rate for a gallon of regular unleaded gas, taken from the American Automobile Association's daily Fuel Gauge report for Salt Lake/Ogden, and an adult, evening admission movie ticket, medium drink and regular popcorn at three area movie theaters. We found that movie prices don't vary much, but those treats do.

The total of the average prices for the items this month was $119.74. That included 10 gallons of gasoline.

Shopping from store to store to get the lowest price on each item would have yielded a bill of $107.79. Buying the highest-priced items would have tallied $132.19.

Each month, the Deseret News will tell you the highest and lowest price we found at the different locations and the average price. Starting next month, the newspaper will track whether the average price went up or down and by how much.

As you do your own real shopping, you'll probably gain some insights into how your favorite store fits into the range. This month, for instance, the price of a 141-ounce box of powdered Tide original laundry detergent ranged from $10.94 — which is the regular price at that store — to $17.39. A 1.5-quart tub of Dreyer's vanilla ice cream cost $2.50 at one store and $4.99 at another.

e-mail: lois@desnews.com