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If you’ve turned on a TV recently, you’ve probably seen one of the seemingly countless Walmart ads where the retail behemoth brags about its latest round of price cuts. But a new study says Walmart’s actually been raising its prices on groceries in 2010.<\/p>\n
According to a report by JPMorgan Securities, since February they have seen a 2.3% average price increase for the items in their 31-item basket of grocery goods at Walmart. This follows a 1.9% increase between January and February.<\/p>\n
As expected, Walmart responded to the report with marketing speak instead of actual answers.<\/p>\n
“We’ve stepped it up where our customers need us to — with the basics of consumables and food,” a mouthpiece for Walmart said by way of a non-explanation, adding that the company is “adding new rollbacks and deeper price cuts.”<\/p>\n
On the opposite end of the grocery neighborhood, WHole Foods, the nation’s most expensive grocer, has actually dropped their prices by about 5% since December. <\/p>\n
The report does clarify that, even with the increase in prices, Walmart is still 12% less expensive than “traditional” grocers, while Whole Foods shoppers can still feel snooty about paying 14% more than they would elsewhere.<\/p>\n