How To Spot When Food Inflation is Coming [Repeal of individual item-pricing law.]

[Gannon]

They repeal the individual item-pricing law.

Oh darn, they just did it.


The dam just burst...Michigan was apparently the finger in the dike.

[Novine]

I'm not holding my breath for food prices to come down. Another lie from the corporate grifters and their accomplices in Lansing.

[lilpup]

More than that be sure you note the shelf price and pay attention at the checkout. I've seen a lot of discrepancies, over 50 cents on some items, already at one particular store.

[Gannon]

Yep, and without the item priced...it will be difficult to impossible to keep track now.

When past mistakes and abuses were tracked, the retailer was the 'winner' in a great percentage of cases. News media did this story every Christmas, it seemed.

This is a huge mistake from our silly-ass overpaid full-time legislature and governor. Does he still have the opportunity to veto it, or has it been signed?! I guess it can always be repealed.


No cheers on this...

[Gannon]

OOPS, the fucker-in-charge did it to us.

A 33-year-old requirement that almost everything sold in the state be adorned with an individual price tag ends today, the result of legislation passed early this year at the urging of Gov. Rick Snyder.

[Gannon]

Was this ever covered by ANY news media before today?!

Where was the media when this was proposed, and was it EVER debated?!


I am getting sicker and sicker of the politics in this state.

[Gannon]

One way I gauge price changes and competitive prices from various stores is with these stickers.

Easy enough to notice if the latest thing you've bought is priced the same or not.


This really sucks. There will be no cost savings passed onto the consumer, that never happens.

[Pam]

Was this ever covered by ANY news media before today?!

Yes, I heard it somewhere.

[Gannon]

Thanks, Pam.

[Johnnny5]

A friend of mine works at a "Big Box" retailer and when there were discussions about the pricing law we had a friendly disagreement about it. She complained that it was a hassle to label everything, and how it would be much better after the law was rescinded. I insisted that it was job security if your position involved labeling products and was only good for the profit margin of the retailer, would lead to more customers being ripped off and eventually to higher unemployment. I spoke to her again this past weekend and she was complaining that they are cutting her hours after Labor Day [[She was already barely getting 30 hours per week). Coincidence? Maybe, but if there's less work that means less workers are needed.

[JBMcB]

How many other states have individual pricing laws?

[rjk]

I recall reading that Massachusetts is the only other state that mandates individual pricing.
However there are some counties throughout the country that have this law.

If you're concerned about being overcharged bring a marker and write the price on a few select items and check them against you receipt later. Also with modern technology there are plenty of ways to keep track of prices.

As far as people losing jobs or having their hours cut maybe we should have a law that says an item needs to have a new sticker placed on it every day. That would certainly lower our unemployment rate, but we'd be paying 5 dollars for a can of beans.

[bartock]

They repeal the individual item-pricing law.

Oh darn, they just did it.


The dam just burst...Michigan was apparently the finger in the dike.

Your analogy doesn't make sense to me. What massive waters has Michigan alone been holding back for 30 years? Michigan apparently had the most strict laws in the nation when it came to pricing. With the repeal, there are penalties for overcharging a consumer, or charging a consumer a price that is not advertised.

http://www.freep.com/article/2011090...text|FRONTPAGE

The cynic in me believes that this will simply slash jobs and not trickle down to saving consumers any money. However, in as much as one may be disappointed with Snyder in certain ways, this was one of the main points of his "business-friendly climate" campaigning. It was debated and highly published before and after he took office. Next to the film incentives, EFM and schools, this has been the most publicized issue of Snyder's tenure.

Figured someone conspiracy-minded would like to see less bar-coding.

[Bigb23]

I've had a local small grocery store that had been pretty lax on individual and shelf pricing for the 20 years I've been going there. I would mention the law on occasion with no results. And to add insult to injury, they would not give you a receipt unless you asked for one, then make a big deal about it. My only other choice would be the chain stores 8-10 miles away.
Now, we will have those same problems at the chain stores. Thanks Gov.

[East Detroit]

Did self-checkout, cart-corral, bag your own, and stocking during shopping hours all reduce consumer prices or increase Wall Street profits?

WIll this change unshackle the small business owner and allow him to hire more employees?

[rjk]

Did self-checkout, cart-corral, bag your own, and stocking during shopping hours all reduce consumer prices or increase Wall Street profits?

WIll this change unshackle the small business owner and allow him to hire more employees?

My guess would be a little of each.
With most areas having a lot of grocery store options it only makes buisness sense to pass some savings along to the customers so they can stay competitive with the store down the road.

[jackie5275]

Was this ever covered by ANY news media before today?!

Where was the media when this was proposed, and was it EVER debated?!

Gannon, not to sound harsh, but where were you earlier this year? It was all over the media when it was proposed & when the bill passed. It was one of the things that the nerd proposed in his State of the State message. The state legislature jumped all over it the following day & rammed this through in record time.

[gazhekwe]

What Jackie said. I even had a letter to the editor published in which I questioned whether the governor ever did any shopping for his household.

[Lowell]

This has been in the news a fair amount. This would eventually become moot as some form of digital price tagging has to be coming.

Gas stations have embraced this with digital price signs linked to pumps that give them the ability to switch prices instantly. Just think; the total price of your grocery cart could increase while you are waiting in line for check-out. Oh, I forgot, we will all do our own check-out just like we now pump our own gas. So we also get to be their unpaid robots.

[ndavies]

This has been in the news a fair amount. This would eventually become moot as some form of digital price tagging has to be coming.

Gas stations have embraced this with digital price signs linked to pumps that give them the ability to switch prices instantly. Just think; the total price of your grocery cart could increase while you are waiting in line for check-out. Oh, I forgot, we will all do our own check-out just like we now pump our own gas. So we also get to be their unpaid robots.

Actually the next thing is not having to check out at all. They are adding RFID tags in the packaging in addition to the bar codes. You'll just have to push your cart through a archway/doorway. The all RFID tags will be scanned at once. You'll be able to bag your groceries as you take them off the shelf and put them in the cart. You'll even be able to register a preferred credit card, They'll be able to read your card numbers without you pulling it out of you wallet. It will also greatly reduce shrinkage, since the RFID tags of the items you've stuffed down your pants will be read at the same time.

[Whitehouse]

When eggs get smaller??

[Hypestyles]

..so if there isn't a manufacterer's price tag, it won't have one.. so now you have to go on memory with whatever you buy..

State Rep. Lisa Posthumus Lyons, R-Alto, the main sponsor of repeal, said she plans to go grocery shopping today and is "confident I'll know the price of every item in the cart."

related to Dick Posthumus?

[JBMcB]

So it sounds like Massachusetts is the only other state with a per-item pricing law - is this really a big deal? 48 other states seem to function without one.

[Swimmaven]

When I got to CA in '85 most of items were not priced except for the shelf sticker. I learned to memorize the prices. It may be useless junk filling my brain, but I have a lot of room up there so I am not worried about that.

To learn about why food prices go up, try the websites I-Tulip and Zero Hedge. They have a lot of interesting observations about money.

[DetroitPole]

Wow, what a boon. I just can't WAIT to see those savings passed on to me. Let me know when grocery prices go down - I'll be waiting with baited breath. What a genius move by our corporation-disguised-as-a-human-being governor.

The grocers are going to collect the additional profits and pass them on to their shareholders. Isn't that what capitalism is? They're not going to throw us extra crumbs. That doesn't make sense - it isn't how the system works.

They've done away with baggers, cashiers in large part, and now item pricing, and I have NEVER paid more for groceries. Must be Obama's fault.

So say you idiotically believe that these companies pass the savings on to the consumer. The purchasing power of retail employees will be more limited because not pricing items saves on manpower. Said employees [[or former employees) will spend less at the grocery store, among other places [[like YOUR place of business), or they will go on government assistance to make ends meet [[as if retail jobs were well-paid or well endowed with hours to begin with). I thought you wanted smaller government, you Republican assholes.