When Wal-Mart Sells Groceries Near You

The Chicago Tribune reports:

After two Wal-Mart supercenters opened in Houston, for example, sales at a nearby Kroger dropped 10 percent, worker hours were cut 30 to 40 percent and Kroger subsequently cut its prices to compete.

The beneficiaries of the competition in Houston and elsewhere have been consumers, particularly those in the poorest households with incomes under $10,000, the study found. The savings are significant. Food prices in superstores were typically 27 percent lower than in traditional grocery stores. That's like saving more than a quarter of every dollar spent on groceries. The greatest differential was seen in the cost of lettuce--48 percent lower--and the smallest differential was 5 percent for bottled water.

The union movement wants people poor to pay artificially high prices to subsidize their high wages.