Kroger's seniors aren't happy after senior deals, double coupons cut

I sort of knew that it was just a matter of time before Kroger would end double couponing.

Almost all of its other divisions, including Atlanta and Memphis, dropped the double deal months, even years ago.

But this week's news that Kroger would also put the kibosh on senior discounts in the Nashville division caught me off-guard. (The division has 96 stores in Middle and East Tennessee, southern Kentucky and northern Alabama.) Just my luck that as soon as I reached this money-saving milestone and got in the habit of enjoying my Wednesday savings, they nixed it!

The "retirement" of the senior program does not affect other Kroger divisions.

And, if local social media is a barometer, Kroger's seniors are not happy.  Facebook responses included "Boo," "shame on them, " and "big mistake." One woman posted that she understood ending double coupons, but "getting rid of senior day is just greedy."

A grocery discount for seniors has been a given for generations. Kroger initially offered seniors 10 percent off one day a month, but changed the program last year to 5 percent on Wednesdays.  A lot of seniors groused that 5 percent was not enough savings to make much of a difference, but others said it was better than nothing.

Kroger isn't the only grocer making changes in promotions. Remember that Publix in December discontinued its penny item, also known as its "mystery item," promotion.

And while I predict Publix will continue to offer 5 percent off to seniors on Wednesdays, I'd bet my last Twinkie that Publix will follow Kroger's lead in dropping the double coupons promotion in the Nashville area. Not only do they not have to keep up with Kroger, but several other Publix regions have dropped the doubling in recent years.

A call to Publix spokeswoman Brenda Reid turned up no hint of their plans. "Due to the competitive nature of the grocery industry I'm not at liberty to discuss our promotional strategies," she said.

As far as Kroger's reasoning for ditching the senior discount: "Our Senior Discount and Double Coupon programs were targeted programs that not all customers benefited from. Our new lower prices are available to all customers," Kroger spokeswoman Melissa Eads said.

And it should be noted that other local grocery competitors including Walmart, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods and Food Lion do not have senior discounts. But some Piggly Wiggly's do. And you need to know about Walgreen's senior discount on the first Tuesday of the month (but that is another story).

Couponing is changing 

Kelly Hancock, whose popular 10-year-old "Faithful Provisions" blog on coupon savings, agreed with Eads that double couponing is not as popular as it was in the days of extreme couponing.

"There are definitely people still doing it, but a lot of the moms with young children pulled away. It is work, it is not easy," she said.

The Kroger changes mean seniors "will suffer the most. So many of them are on fixed income and they still use the paper coupons," said Hancock, whose blog now focuses more on "lifestyle savings" rather than grocery deals.

You may remember the heyday of paper couponing, when the now-closed Harris Teeter stores offered triple coupons and would double coupons up to 75 cents. There was even a time when Kroger stores near Harris Teeter locations would match those offers too. But that ship has sailed.

Of course, getting rid of double coupons makes economic sense for grocers because when a coupon is doubled, it is the store that pays the matching amount. On one hand, offering the double deal is an incentive to bring in shoppers, but matching coupons cuts into the stores' profits.

And those profits are crucial in an industry with such a thin profit margin (some experts say 3 percent to 4 percent while others say it can be as low as 1 percent).

Kroger's Eads says the upside trade-off for shoppers is that the new Kroger strategy involves a pricing reset offering lower everyday prices on "thousands of items" so that all customers get the savings break, instead of just seniors and avid couponers.

And that sounds good to shoppers like Cathi Welch, an Antioch senior, who said, "I think it's fair. Lower prices help everybody, not just some people."

But as 69-year-old Brentwood shopper Tom Gillem said, "the proof is in the pudding."

"I’ll be watching to see how well Kroger makes good on its promised, lower everyday prices on 'thousands of items,' Gillem said. "A few advertised specials on random items won’t cut it."

Ever hopeful, I asked Eads if Kroger might have occasional double coupons days, but her answer was not very encouraging.

"That has not been discussed!"

So I guess we are going to have to find other ways to save at the grocery store. I hope you will help me by sending me your best money saving tips for grocery buying. I will award prizes to the five people who email the best tips to mscheap@tennessean.com

Meanwhile, stay cheap!

Reach Ms. Cheap at 615-259-8282 or mscheap@tennessean.com. Follow her on Facebook at facebook.com/mscheap, and at Tennessean.com/mscheap, and on Twitter @Ms_Cheap, and catch her every Thursday at 11 a.m. on WTVF-Channel 5’s “Talk of the Town.”

Ms. Cheap grocery contest

Send Ms. Cheap your best tips for saving money at the grocery store in 250 words or less to mscheap@tennessean.com. $20 gift cards will be awarded to the five people who send the best tips. Entries must include your name, daytime phone number, and mailing address. Deadline is March 6.