Price Tags on EVERYTHING...in Michigan

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Up in Michigan, we shop at a grocery store called "The Hilltop".  Well....actually it is named Hardings, but we call it "The Hilltop" because that's what it was called for 15 years.  And it's more fun than "Hardings".  It is a small little store that usually smells like fried chicken.  Seriously.  They must sell a shit-ton of the stuff because you can go in there any time of the day and the deli area is firing up some chicken.  Guess it could smell like worse things.

They sell most things you'd need at a lake house: bbq sauce, a variety of buns, sodas, beers, ice, Star Crunches, and the like.  One of the things I've noticed is that they still put price tags on EVERYTHING.  Not on the store shelves.  On the actual products.  And there's this older guy who does it with the old fashioned "gun" just about every time we go in.
I thought it was unique to Hardings until we went to a rival store in South Haven and there, too, were price tags.  My head started to noodle the reasons for the tags.  Being Michigan and home of the United Auto Works, I thought maybe it had something to do with the Unions?  Like....could the baggers be Teamsters (which I think is common) and somehow the union has convinced the legislature that every item needed to be tagged?  That way there's a bit of job security?  Could be, but I'm not sure.

I went looking on the web and found some background here.  Sounds like everyone says it is about "price fairness" and making pricing transparent.  Sounds like Michigan is one of the last remaining states to do tags on items.  Others think that the practice needs to stop because they're a waste of time, money and resources as well as obscuring some info on the packaging.

So...what do you think?  Is it because of the unions?  Are there tags at your local stores?

Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 19, 2010 at 10:05 AM

    I like tags and am annoyed by products not labeled-especially when the shelves are not clearly marked. Target and WalMart have scanners in areas of the store so you can check a price.. As a consumer, I appreciate that.

    As much as I dislike shopping there, WalMart actually tags quite a bit of their merchandise. Big Lots tags *all* their stock.

    I'm sure this hasn't cleared away the fog regarding price tags in Tennessee.. but it's my 2 cents.

    ReplyDelete

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