The following post has been brought to you by Cub Foods
When we lived in the city, Cub Foods was our “go to” grocery store. The local store there was clean and inviting, the staff was great and the produce was always excellent in quality. After we moved to the country nearly two years ago, however, we had a “budget epiphany” and have since done the majority of our shopping at another store with notably lower prices.
Although most other things about this particular store are good, I’ve never been very happy with the produce selection, and have missed the great produce I always found at Cub Foods. However, with the money savings of a good 15-20% that I get at the big box store grocer, I just couldn’t bring myself to start shopping at the local Cub Foods here. For a big family on a budget, cash just has to be the deciding factor in where we choose to grocery shop. Cub always has terrific weekly deals, so we’d often stop in there to scoop up their great weekly specials, but the majority of our shopping was done at the big box store with the low, low prices.
That is, until Cub Foods recently advertised their new, lower prices. Eager to see what Cub meant by “lower prices” I stopped by the store the other day to check things out. I had a variety of things from every area that I needed to pick up: produce, dairy, canned goods, pet food and beauty products, so this gave me a chance to check out nearly every area of Cub to see if their new lower prices could compete with the big box store. And I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.
- In the produce area, the prices were almost identical to the big box store, being higher by less 5 cents per pound on almost every product!
- In the dairy and frozen foods area, I found a similar story: milk prices at my local Cub Foods were nearly identical to the big box prices, and other dairy and frozen foods products had come down in price substantially.
- In the grocery, or canned/dried goods area, I found many prices that dropped by 15-20% of what Cub was previously charging. I was especially pleased with the low prices on things like cereal, cereal bars and canned vegetables, which had dropped quite a bit in price.
- Then I went on to the real test: pet goods and beauty products. Even back in the city, I never bought either of these items at Cub because the prices were just too high. Imagine my delight when I went to pick up our canned cat food and found it on sale for nearly 20% lower than the big box store price!! Of course I stocked up.
- In the beauty area, we needed nail polish remover. The price for the generic brand was the exact same price per ounce that we pay for the generic brand at the big box store! Another budget victory.
As a consumer who works to buy local when it fits into our budget, it’s so nice to know that I can begin spending more time and more of our grocery budget at Cub Foods without spending more money. Finally, quality products and low prices meet at one convenient store: Cub Foods.
(One final note, be sure you take advantage of Cub's “Load to Card” Program to save even more!)
4 Comments
If you have a Cub Max card you occasionally get flyers through the mail that has some really dandy coupons. Bread for 29cents, ice cream for 1/2 price, pickles 50 cents off regular price, etc. Because you’ve scanned your card, it is tailored to the things you already purchase so these coupons are well worth it. They also have sales 20% off all meat so that is a good stock up opportunity. Our local Cub stores were bought out by County Market a couple of years back, but they honor the old Max card and continue to do the coupon flyers. My only complaint about this store is that sometimes in their Sunday ad, they will have a really great deal on something but it is just one day of the week so if you can’t make it then, you are out of luck.
Great to hear that County Market honors the Cub rewards card and sale prices!! Yeah, lots of little stores are doing the one day sale thing: that can be annoying.
We moved north from Texas. Cub isn’t in Texas, but I was pleased with it when we moved up here. Then we bought a house in a smaller town and they didn’t have a Cub. I miss Cubs variety and their gas rewards card. As a vegan, I really, really miss their produce and natural foods selections. They saved me time by not having to shop at the three stores out small town has, so I’m sure there is savings in my time and gas!
Good to hear you’ve liked Cub, Kirsten! I know the challenges of shopping in a small town: you are held hostage a bit by their smaller selection and higher prices. We head into the city once a month and do a “big” shopping trip, allowing us to shop at the stores that have the best prices.