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I think part of the science of pricing is to use the items where people are less price sensitive to make margin to invest in items where people are more sensitive. Going to guess that the no name olive oil and basmati are competitively priced.
 
afransen said:
I think part of the science of pricing is to use the items where people are less price sensitive to make margin to invest in items where people are more sensitive. Going to guess that the no name olive oil and basmati are competitively priced.
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Exactly what Costco does. They have some amazing deals, but i find some items are overpriced compared to their grocery store counterparts.
 
That 1.6 kg bag of Dainty basmati rice is only $8.99 at Amazon.ca. Of course, Amazon's food prices can also be insanely high.
 
Bayer said:
That 1.6 kg bag of Dainty basmati rice is only $8.99 at Amazon.ca. Of course, Amazon's food prices can also be insanely high.
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Amazon is definitely a place where I do not trust prices to be reasonable. Keepa and checking other retailers is usually required.
 
The last time I was in a Pusateris I was not impressed. They may have been good at one point but the introduction of Whole Foods, Eataly among others they seem somewhat low-brow and overpriced.

The one in Yorkville was the one I went to and it struck me as more of a glorified Rabba than anything else. They had groceries but everything was packed so tightly and the store was so small that it was no fun at all.

Personally I would rather shop at Eataly or in a pinch, Whole Foods.
 
Richard White said:
The last time I was in a Pusateris I was not impressed. They may have been good at one point but the introduction of Whole Foods, Eataly among others they seem somewhat low-brow and overpriced.

The one in Yorkville was the one I went to and it struck me as more of a glorified Rabba than anything else. They had groceries but everything was packed so tightly and the store was so small that it was no fun at all.

Personally I would rather shop at Eataly or in a pinch, Whole Foods.
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Yes, I agree, the $30 Olive Oil, and $60 dry-aged steak immediately scream low-brow. This is entirely reinforced by elegant French Pastries in the display case, in-store butcher, and freshly made pasta. No doubt about it, you could confuse it for No Frills or a Walmart in a heartbeat.

:rolleyes:
 
Northern Light said:
Yes, I agree, the $30 Olive Oil, and $60 dry-aged steak immediately scream low-brow. This is entirely reinforced by elegant French Pastries in the display case, in-store butcher, and freshly made pasta. No doubt about it, you could confuse it for No Frills or a Walmart in a heartbeat.

:rolleyes:
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You misunderstood what I said and twisted my words but thank you.

My point was, Eataly and Whole Foods are much better value. Personally, I do not see the point in paying $30 for a bottle of olive oil that I can get far cheaper elsewhere. Steak I can understand (I do enjoy Filet Mignon) but even still.

Pasta is far cheaper at Eataly than it is Pusateris but quite frankly Pasta is Pasta. You can make Pasta at home far cheaper than what you can buy it for at Pusateris.

Overall, everything you mentioned at Pustateris can be bought at Eataly or Whole Foods for a fraction of the cost. You pay for the name, not the food.

I refer you to when Pusateris sold Lysol wipes for $30 during the pandemic: https://canadiangrocer.com/pusateris-apologizes-charging-30-lysol-wipes

That is a prime example of how Pusateris marks up their items.
 
Richard White said:
You misunderstood what I said and twisted my words but thank you.

My point was, Eataly and Whole Foods are much better value. Personally, I do not see the point in paying $30 for a bottle of olive oil that I can get far cheaper elsewhere. Steak I can understand (I do enjoy Filet Mignon) but even still.

Pasta is far cheaper at Eataly than it is Pusateris but quite frankly Pasta is Pasta. You can make Pasta at home far cheaper than what you can buy it for at Pusateris.

Overall, everything you mentioned at Pustateris can be bought at Eataly or Whole Foods for a fraction of the cost. You pay for the name, not the food.

I refer you to when Pusateris sold Lysol wipes for $30 during the pandemic: https://canadiangrocer.com/pusateris-apologizes-charging-30-lysol-wipes

That is a prime example of how Pusateris marks up their items.
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Richard. I didn't twist your words at all. I quoted them. You chose the expression low-brow, I did not. You compared Pusateri's to Rabba, I did not.

I'm very familiar w/high end grocery in this City including all of Eataly, Pusateri's and Whole Foods.

It's entirely fair to point out that any of those three when selling 'identical' products will typically compare unfavourably with conventional, let alone discount supermarkets.

Some of that is 'fair' in that you're paying for location (higher rent), more service, and far swankier decor and displays for the most part; some of it is absurd, because stores like this typically move smaller
volumes of product and get less favourable wholesale prices, but also because they will mark-up to what they believe their customer is willing to pay.

The Lysol wipes thing was terrible, but unusual even for Pusateri's.

In respect of the latter's Yorkville store, it is a very small footprint, and was always intended to be such; the motif was an 'art gallery of food'.

In reality the store was busier from the get-go than had been thought, and the area has grown immensely since the lease was signed. For those reasons, there are more people in the store than it was designed for;
and more product jammed in there too. I'm happy to agree, Pusateri's needs to relocate their Yorkville offering to a space at least 50% larger, and laid out in accordance w/local demand.

There are absolutely over-priced items there relative to quality, but again, that's true elsewhere.

You can pay over $10 a jar for Calabrian Chilies in Eataly, or you can buy a jar downstairs at the City Market for substantially less.
 
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A few weeks ago, I walked right past Pusateri on Bay on my way to Olliffe and Harvest Wagon and didn't even think of stopping there. It's too small to be useful. I used to purchase mostly non-perishable stuff at their Saks location, but when a business is closed by Public Health as their main store was in 2011, I tend to be turned off permanently. (I have been unlucky enough to notice cockroaches in the dining room at three well-known restaurants in this city.)
 
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