#great-value-walmart

#great-value-walmart

"Transportation costs are a big factor there. Every company that is involved and has logistics and they have to pay for gas, either they have to absorb this cost, or they will charge the third party that will provide this service. I'm not surprised this is happening, because at some point, Amazon will say we cannot absorb all this cost."

Boomers are far more likely than any other group to be aware of price increases. When prices go up, they cut back on non-essential items and avoid impulse buys, with just 53% succumbing to them.

"They are like royalty in Bentonville," said Charu Thomas, who chairs the board of Bentonville-based organizations, reflecting the Walton family's significant influence in the area.

He says he paid roughly $5 to his distributor to get the pack of Honey Bunches of Oats onto the shelf. But his much larger rivals, the big US supermarket chains, can sell that same box for around $5 - essentially, the price he has to pay wholesale. That dynamic makes it "impossible for us to compete."

Costco sells its products with very little markup, choosing instead to make most of its money from membership sales. This business model makes sense: The better deals it has, the more likely people are to want a membership. Memberships at Costco are booming. In the fiscal first quarter of 2026, overall memberships were up 5% year over year to 146 million. And its higher-priced executive memberships were up a stronger 9%.

If you're looking for ways to save money on groceries, buying food in bulk can be a wise economic decision. You might not think of Dollar Tree as the go-to place for bulk food, but it's actually a great solution for anyone who doesn't have a Costco or Sam's Club membership. While you can't place bulk orders or buy large quantities of items at individual Dollar Tree stores, you can actually place bulk orders via the website and either have them shipped to your home or your closest local store.

The outlook for 2026 I'm watching 2026 with equal parts optimism and urgency. Optimism because consumer demand is still there. Retail sales have remained resilient in recent data. Urgency because the operating environment is only getting tighter. Coming out of FY2025, large retailers demonstrated resilience amid inflation pressure, shifting consumer behavior, and global supply-chain complexity. Walmart raised its outlook and leaned further into a model that blends physical stores, e-commerce scale, and execution discipline.