Serious Issues with Silly Sunflower Market

Posted on | November 21, 2008 |

I’ve posted a number of times within my Daily $$ posts about my growing dislike of the Whole Foods grocery chain and my desire to find a suitable alternative. A relatively new entry into the natural foods grocery chain, at least in my area, is Sunflower FarmersMarket.

Until recently I was aware of this chain only through quick mentions by friends around town who live near one of the two stores they have in the metro area. Then a few months ago the company opened a new Sunflower Market on my side of town. It’s not close and it sure wouldn’t be convenient for quick grocery runs but if Sunflower were to offer a strong enough incentive, I could probably work it my weekly errand routine.

So this past Tuesday, after dropping off The Son and embarking on a day full of errands, I made a point of stopping to check out Sunflower Market’s offerings.

The store’s tagline, it appears, is “Serious Food… Silly Prices.” I was excited to check out the fare and prepared to do some “serious” shopping if the prices were “silly” enough. So serious, in fact, that I grabbed a big grocery cart on my way in.

Since my first intention, naturally, was to compare prices I headed for items for which I keep current prices in my head. My first stop was the cereal aisle where I checked out their Kashi inventory. Yes, they carry Kashi Cinnamon Harvest cereal. Good. But the price? Wait, did I read that right? The sale price was $3.99! That’s the sale price?! The full price was $4.89. Whoa, Alice. I think I just dropped down a rabbit hole. This is a silly price alright but not in a good way. [Kroger's everyday price currently sits a $3.79 which, last I looked, is exactly the same as Whole Food's and Super Target's everyday price.]

A little shocked but still curious, I pushed my cart toward the dairy case. The first familiar product my eye settled on was the Horizon chocolate milk. If I’d been a cartoon character, my eyes would have literally sprung out of their sockets. In reality, my vision blurred a little and I felt slightly dizzy — or maybe just nauseous. I’ve blocked out the actual silly price but suffice it to say, it too was silly as in who would be silly enough to pay that price instead of the this price is so low you’d be silly to shop anywhere else way that I’d been hoping for.

I admit that my sampling of two products falls short of a honestly scientific sampling but I’d seen enough. As a busy suburban housewife, I had better things to do with my time, not to mention my money. I made a beeline for the exit. I was done. I won’t be going back. Silly prices indeed….

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