At Natural Grocers, we believe "health food" isn't healthy unless
you can afford to buy it. Across the store are hundreds of everyday
products sold at EveryDay Affordable Prices "EDAP". This means we
have special volume purchase deals with these manufacturers to pay
less for these products as long as we pass the savings on to our
customers. Often our everyday long term EDAP prices are lower than
our competitors' week-long sale prices. Look for the EDAP signs
throughout the store.
Hotline and In-store sales: Our
Health Hotline is published eight times a year, and offers a special
selection of supplement and grocery products at extraordinary low prices
for a period of four to six weeks. These deals are put together months
in advance with the cooperation of our suppliers. Look for Hotline sales
signs and product sections throughout the store. In store sales usually
run for a month at time, and offer short term savings on select items.
Also look for manager's specials on overstocked items and clearance
items, plus two-week long fruit and produce specials. Signup up now
to receive the Health Hotline in your inbox. Hotline's are also available
at your closest Natural Grocers.
Things we don't do: Hi-Lo Pricing
and Pre-Sale Price Hikes.
"Hi-Lo" is a widespread practice by retailers where they raise the prices
on select items in the store so they can lower the price on other items
to put them on "sale" and make the savings look bigger than it really
is. Instead of exaggerating sale pricing, we strived to keep our overall
costs down so we can provide affordable prices on all products every
day. Some retailers also increase prices before an item goes on sale
so the can show a more impressive savings during a subsequent sale.
Government regulations say that any calculations of "savings" on a sale
sign have to go against the prevailing on-shelf retail price during
the prior two weeks. So, when you see a hefty two week long price hike
on an item, you can bet that item will be on sale soon. We don't hike
prices before an item goes on sale to make the sale look snappier.
Quality and price: Sometimes it
is frustrating to see the price difference between conventional food
and natural/organic food. It helps to understand that natural and organic
food production often does not have the huge economies of scale of corporate
agriculture, nor the higher yields per acre of intensely fertilized
crop treated with pesticides and herbicides. Natural/organic agriculture
also does not poison the environment with increased nitrogen runoff,
create ocean dead zones, or toy with the unknown effects of genetically
modifying food. The cost of conventional agriculture is higher than
it may seem, because for the moment the costs are paid through the accumulation
of environmental contamination and public health damage instead of at
the supermarket.