Grocery Cheat Sheet for 2010

From CBSnews.com

Wise Consumers Master The 'Yearly Grocery Cycle'
'Coupon Queen' Jill Cataldo
Advises On The Best Months To Purchase Certain Items At The Supermarket

The price of grocery items can fluctuate over the course of the year. The key is to know when particular items will be cheapest.

You probably shop for groceries at least once a week. But if you shop during certain
months, you could really save a bundle. It's something called the "yearly
grocery cycle," CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker reports. "Coupon queen" and super saver
Jill Cataldo teaches bargain-hunters the best months to shop to get the lowest
prices. "I can't make this stuff up," she told an audience recently. Jill says
when certain foods go on sale during certain months, the price of those items
can drop by as much as 60 percent. In late January and early February, for
example, right before Super Bowl Sunday, look for sales on chips, dips and sodas

For the complete article click here

Food4Less – helping pump more business in the area

Chatham Ridge Shopping center is actually the 21st ward, but many of us shop in the area: getting groceries at Jewel’s, electronics ay Best Buy, clothes at Burlington Coat Factory, or going to the movies at ICE Theaters.

In a recent mailing, Food4Less is clearly anchoring the mall. They are using the new excitement over a lower cost grocery to boost business in surrounding businesses. They just sent out a coupon card which features them on one side, but then they are one of 8 coupoin options on the back.

One coupon (blown up here) is for Reggio’s, which used to have a store on 79th (I believe where U.S. Representative Bobby Rush now has his offices).

Chatham Business Association (or others) may want to look into coordinating a similar mailing of area businesses. Individually, they might not be able to afford a specific mailing, but perhaps they can pool resources for a bigger mailing.

Even smaller businesses, like hair salons or dry cleaners might want to share a coupon, which basically says $10 off Services, and include phone number and street address.