Every Wednesday, Sprouts has overlapping ads. Today these are all available!
Grapes 88c/lb
bulk oats 69c/lb
cherries $1.48/lb
corn 20c/ear
Link to flyers!
Double Ad Wednesday!
Month: June 2017
Aldi & Lidl are thinking Austin. Maybe.
It’s a Statesman article, so we have to take it with a grain (gram?) of salt. But there is a report that Aldi, now building in Pflugerville, will continue their Texas expansion. I’ve heard of Aldi for years but haven’t ever been in one. From Community Impact:
More than 90 percent of the products sold in the stores are ALDI exclusive brands, similar to Trader Joe’s, allowing shoppers to buy products at lower prices. ALDI has nearly 1,600 stores in 35 states.
The Pflugerville ALDI will be the first in the Austin area, with the closest stores in Temple, Killeen and College Station.
I do like TJ’s, though I’m not there often, partly because their lunatic magazine of an ad doesn’t let me see deals quickly. Since you know me, Dear Reader, you know that’s a problem. So I’m interested in the possibilities.
From the Statesman article:
Aside from stocking little in the way of name-brand products, the retailers employ a number of other techniques to cut overhead, including building smaller stores – typically just a third the size of most supermarkets. Aldi requires customers to pay 25 cents to use a shopping cart – a fee that’s refunded if the cart is returned to a corral at the front of the store at the end of their visit. It also charges for bags and requires shoppers to sack their own purchases at a counter just beyond the cash registers.
Part of the reason I’ll hit Randalls for basics is simply that I’m not hiking the Brodie HEB hike. Randalls has milk, bread, beans and frozen vegetables for the same prices as HEB and I don’t have to scurry through a parking lot of angry Lexi and a store of meandering post-yoga spirit-selves. If Aldi and Lidl are small stores with low prices, I think they’ll find a market here in Austin. We’ve got small/expensive, and big/cheap. If they’re small/cheap, people will shop there.
I wonder when we’ll hit grocery saturation, though. For every HEB and Randalls, there’s a Royal Blue and a Live Oak Market. We’ve got places like in.gredients, and more CSAs and farmer’s markets than ever. Eventually, just like restaurant dollars, grocery dollars will plateau, and I wonder who will be left standing. With luck, it’ll leave a lot of options for everyone.
Sunday Funday!
Randalls and Sprouts, the biggest loss-leaders in town, are having weekend sales. I didn’t get my weekly post out, but you’ve still got today to hit up some pretty great deals. This is 
a quick-n-dirty sum up, and anything else I think is a good deal I’ll try to add on.
Remember: If they are out of something you showed up to purchase at a certain price, all you have to do is ask for a raincheck. They will give you a little slip of paper saying you get to purchase X at price Y until date Z (usually about a month off). This is not a big deal and cashiers are totally used to people like me doing this all the time.
Here’s the hit list:
Randalls
raspberries, 6 oz. $1.50/ea
Blue Bell pints 99c/ea (must buy 3 or more)
coke, 7up, or pepsi 12pks $2.97/ea (must buy 4 or more)
Sprouts
red mangos 25c/ea
seedless watermelons $3.99/ea
bulk dried cranberries $1.99/lb
bulk Turkish apricots $1.99/lb
thick-sliced bacon $2.99/lb (at deli counter)
Berries and mangos both freeze well. Bacon keeps a long time, and dried fruit is basically the epitome of ‘storage food’. All of these are stock-up items at stock-up prices.
Cheep on!
Happy Ad Saturday
A few things seem missing this summer. Of course, I’ve missed two weeks of posts, so that’s one thing missing. Corn seems like it should still be on sale. Berries should be cheaper, especially blueberries which don’t seem to have hit a sale price all season. Watermelons had a briefer heyday than usual. It’s possible this is me just having a cranky old lady moment, but I feel like these are accurate observations.
In good news, cheap meat! Less grackle HEBs have top sirloin, Prime 1, $5.99/lb at HEB. Prime 1, while not being a USDA grade, is in fact prime grade meat, so if you’re splurging, this is a great option. Weirdly, Central Market prime top sirloin for $9.99/lb at Central Market. The CM flyer mentions aging for 14 days, so maybe that’s the difference. Meat science can be baffling. Don’t get me started on things I’ve seen labeled ‘London Broil’.
Mangos are also having a nomenclature problem this week. Three different ads have mangos that are 3/$1. One is Ataulfo mangos, one is yellow honey mangos, and the other is Ataulfo honey mangos. I tried to research, but found this site saying they’re the same. My only comment beyond that is that all the other mangos have guy names, which makes me want to invent a mango and call it the Jen-go.
I will stop rambling. There is food on sale: blackberries, oats, chicken and eggs are all cheep this week. Happy Shopping!
Sprouts
blackberries 88c/ea
No way! ALL of these are vegan? Zowzers.
green bell peppers 33c/ea
eggplants 98c/ea
yellow honey mangos 33c/ea
organic Red Delicious apples 98c/lb
bulk oats 69c/lb
Monterey Jack cheese $2.99/lb
HEB
kiwis 33c/ea
Ataulfo mangos 33c/ea
HEB fajita boneless chicken, thighs or breasts $1.99/lb (more grackle only)
HEB Prime 1 top sirloin $5.99/lb (less grackle only)
Randalls
Skinner brand pasta, 12oz. 49c/ea
Signature Farms chicken:
split breast, thighs, drums or leg 1/4s 97c/lb
sugar, 4lbs. $1.49/ea
Lucerne eggs, dozen 69c/ea
Fiesta
Ataulfo Honey mangos 33c/ea
pork loin half, bone-in, pre-sliced $1.47/lb
store brand long-grain rice, 4lbs $1.50/ea
store brand eggs, dozen 69c/ea (limit 4)
Weekly Flier Links:
cheepieaustin 