Overcharged for a sale item? Not uncommon

For me, it most often happens in grocery stores. And it happens when I'm in a hurry.

I'm referring to the incremental increase in sale price items from the shelf to the check-out scanner.

Last month, I purchased a pack of pillows from Costco for about $17. I bought them because the tag hanging above the stack of pillows said $10.

I was in a hurry. The line was long. And quite honestly I didn't notice how much I actually paid for the pillows until later. How often does this happen to people?

Two new studies recently uncovered problems in pricing accuracy at Wal-Mart, a place where many of us shop to save a few dollars.

Comparing prices listed on store shelves with prices charged by the check-out scanner, both studies concluded the pricing errors at Wal-Mart stores in four states failed to meet the federal standards set by the National Institute for Standards and Technology, according to the National Consumers League Bulletin.

A study conducted by the University of Illinois-Chicago Center for Urban Economic Development found that almost 85 percent of the Wal-Mart stores in Illinois, Michigan and Indiana failed to meet these standards. In these three states, Wal-Mart charged the wrong price for 6.4 percent of the items purchased statewide for the survey.

A study conducted by the University of California-Berkeley found that 8.3 percent of the items purchased in California were priced incorrectly.

When I read about these studies in the National Consumer League Bulletin, I remembered a story I had heard indirectly from a reader a few months ago. Since I don't have her name, I'm going to fictionalize it slightly:

Carolyn Carson was happy when the new Wal-Mart opened in her home town. She no longer has to go to Douglas County (which really isn't that far of a drive, and for most people it's still "in town") to shop for low-priced groceries. Carolyn Carson bought some beer at the new Wal-Mart. Later she was shocked to see that the price was more expensive in Carson than Douglas.

Why is that? she wondered. She then asked one of our photographers, who then asked me, since I am the local Wal-Mart expert. The end.

The truth is I'm not the local Wal-Mart expert. I just attended the grand opening in October and remember lots of cheering and foot stomping. I've heard that's normal for one of those events.

The real expert is Scott Yoder, store manager for the supercenter off East College Parkway.

He said vendors will give each store a price, but Wal-Mart stores have the ability to lower prices to compete with neighboring retailers.

The Wal-Mart in Douglas County does competitive price checks often because it's nearer to other big retailers, such as Target. Yoder said the supercenter usually prices competitively within a five-mile radius.

"If people come in and point it out, we'll take care of it and lower the price," he said about possible pricing discrepancies between Wal-Mart stores.

If a nearby store has a special on something, say beer, Wal-Mart will lower its price to beat that.

This competitive pricing also reveals the dilemma posed to vendors: Your production costs better be low. But that's an issue beaten to death by media moguls.

Northern Nevada commercial real estate adviser and broker Thomas Johnson, with Sperry Van Ness, has received the company's national Partner's Circle Award.

Sperry Van Ness, one of the nation's largest commercial real estate investment brokerage firms with more than 600 advisers nationwide, announced the company's top 60 advisers at their annual conference held in Orange County, Calif., last week. Johnson, from Carson City, ranked 20th in the nation. This is the second consecutive year Johnson has ranked as one of Sperry Van Ness' top advisers.

"After more than 30 years in the business, it's great to be with such a dynamic and forward-thinking company," Johnson said. "Sperry Van Ness has given our advisers the ability to compete and win on the national stage."

All six of northern Nevada's Sperry Van Ness advisers attended the conference Jan. 19-22, in Dana Point, Calif. Including Johnson, those in attendance were Bruce Robertson, Jack Brower, Lyle Chamberlain, Derrick Parish and Dewey Struble. Robertson, Brower and Parish received the company's Achiever's Award.

Two organizations will jointly host the upcoming Summit Awards to recognize top performing commercial agents, brokers, property managers and developers in the region for outstanding performance within the industry.

"An unusual camaraderie exists in our local commercial real estate community," said Par Tolles, president of the Northern Nevada Chapter of Certified Commercial Investment Members. "This new award ceremony gives us the opportunity to recognize stellar performance and those individuals and firms that have gone the extra mile."

The first Summit Awards is April 8 at the Peppermill casino/resort in Reno. This event will give brokers and developers an opportunity to compete publicly and receive recognition where they have not been able to in the past.

"Our industry has needed this event for a long time," said Katie Morrison, president of Commercial Real Estate Women of Northern Nevada. "We are an anomaly - a huge group of competing professionals who cooperate with each other on a daily basis for the greater good of our peers and our customers. We need an awards event that acknowledges that spirit of healthy competition and inspires us all to excel to even greater heights."

For information contact Tolles at 321-4452 or Morrison at 355-8828.

Gottschalks Inc. (NYSE: GOT) announced same store sales for January increased 0.3 percent. Total sales for the month increased 2.3 percent to $35.9 million from $35.1 million in January 2005.

Fourth quarter fiscal 2005 same-store sales increased 2.2 percent and total sales increased 3.6 percent to $229.9 million from $221.8 million for the same period of fiscal 2004.

-- Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.