Some of the best grocery deals in Pennsylvania are found at national chains like Aldi, Lidl, and Walmart, while others are at smaller chains and local shops.
A trip to the grocery store is more expensive now than it has been in years. Prices have risen about 2% since March 2025, according to the Department of Agriculture, up more than 31% since 2019. Nearly half of Americans find it challenging to afford food, yet with ongoing geopolitical tension and supply chain pressures, grocery prices are only expected to keep climbing in 2026.
That makes where you buy your groceries more important than ever—but the real cost of your shopping cart depends not just on the store, but on what you’re buying and when. Stores like Aldi and Walmart keep prices low all the time, but sales, coupons, and rewards programs at seemingly more expensive supermarkets like Giant Eagle or Giant Food Stores can sometimes beat those everyday prices.
This guide breaks down those store pricing strategies, what they mean for your grocery bill, and where you can save money at checkout.
How to actually compare grocery prices
Let’s dive into how different grocery stores price their goods, because the strategy often goes beyond the dollar amount you see on the shelf.
Look beyond the sticker price
Unit pricing
Unit pricing is the price per ounce or per pound of an item, which a store often lists on the label. If it doesn’t, you can pull out your phone calculator and divide an item’s price by weight or volume. For example, a 16-ounce bag of coffee being sold for $10 costs 62.5 cents per ounce ($10 ÷ 16 ounces = 62.5 cents per ounce).
You can use the unit price to compare values across different items and package sizes. So, if a 32-ounce bag of coffee costs $15, you’d be paying about 47 cents per ounce—a much better value than the seemingly cheaper 16-ounce bag.
Store brands vs. name brands
Choosing the store brand can mean major savings—anywhere from 15% to 50% of the price of a name-brand product. Store-brand quality is also often comparable to that of name brands, especially for pantry staples.
Grocery category matters
Some grocery stores may offer low prices on produce but charge more than average for pantry staples. If you’re hunting deals, you’ll soon learn which stores in your area are best for which categories of groceries. For example, your local co-op grocery store may sell relatively expensive organic produce, but its section of bulk staples might be full of deals even better than those of a big-box store.
Understand grocery store pricing models
Grocery stores utilize a number of different pricing models—understanding them is the first step to getting the best deals. Many shoppers maximize savings by splitting up grocery trips and shopping multiple stores based on their prices and sales.
Most stores lean heavily on one pricing model, though they may combine multiple strategies. Here are some of the most common models.
Everyday low price
Stores like Walmart and Aldi focus on keeping prices low without relying on sales and coupons. The idea is that customers don’t need to plan their shopping around sales and can consistently find low prices at the store.
High-low pricing
Most traditional supermarkets utilize this strategy. Chains like Giant Eagle, Weis, and Giant often set high regular prices while offering steep discounts through sales, coupons, or loyalty card programs. You can grab great savings—often better than the prices of everyday low price stores—but you usually need to plan ahead and know what’s on sale.
The discount model
At these stores, you might see a smaller volume of stock or deals on industry surplus. Stores like Smart Shopper and Grocery Outlet offer a rotating inventory of deeply discounted items. You might not know what you’ll find until you enter the store.
Mid-range and specialty pricing
These stores run the gamut, with prices that are typically moderate. They may advertise occasional deals, but they pull in customers for reasons beyond price, like a unique store experience (such as Trader Joe’s) or specialty items (such as ethnic grocers or other specialty shops).
What analysts say
Consumer research consistently shows how much prices can vary across stores and how much that can affect your overall budget.
Last November, nonprofit advice website Consumers’ Checkbook sent researchers to grocery stores in the Delaware Valley to evaluate the prices of a typical shopping cart.
In terms of overall grocery costs, Aldi came in first as the least expensive and Lidl placed second. According to Consumers’ Checkbook, a family that spends about $300 per week on groceries would save $5,460 annually by shopping at Aldi and $4,056 at Lidl.
The PA grocery stores where you can score deals
Stores with consistently low prices
You can count on these stores to be affordable.
Aldi – Statewide
Aldi is the affordable grocery store of choice for many Pennsylvanians, including folks polled last year in Erie who frequent the area’s three Aldi locations. Across the state, Aldi operates 171 locations, according to its store locator.
Aldi keeps costs down in a number of ways. Obviously, the stores are small and mostly sell their own branded products. They also don’t need to employ regular cart attendants because shoppers must insert a quarter into a cart to use it, and they only get it back once the cart is returned. And there aren’t bags or baggers to get in the way at checkout—shoppers bring their own bags (or if you’re like me, flail at the end of the counter before quickly running out to grab bags forgotten in the car). This makes the shopping experience unique, but certainly friendly to the wallet.
Aldi is best for pantry staples, frozen food, and produce. Selection is limited, however, and you may need to supplement an Aldi trip with a visit to another grocery store to find certain products.
Lidl – South-central and southeastern Pennsylvania
Lidl was first introduced stateside in 2017, and today there are 13 locations in Pennsylvania, all in the south-central and southeastern portions of the state. It operates similarly to Aldi—though owned by a different company—with a limited selection of inventory focused on store-label products. Still, Lidl has more products than Aldi, its stores are usually larger, and it carries more name-brand goods.
You can find two Lidl stores in Philadelphia and six more in the city’s suburbs, as well as a store each in Harrisburg, York, Easton, Reading, and Lancaster.
Walmart – Statewide
Walmart is the classic example of the everyday low price model—after all, “everyday low price” is often included in its advertisements. The big box store offers a wide variety of products, meaning you’ll usually only need to take one shopping trip to find everything you need.
However, Walmart stores are large and can get crowded. Also, produce quality can be hit or miss.
Price Rite – Central and eastern Pennsylvania
Price Rite, which can be found in eastern and central Pennsylvania, prides itself on consistently low prices. It’s also more like a typical grocery store than Aldi or Lidl, as you can reliably find name brands here as well as private label goods (though the item selection is still smaller than your average supermarket). A 2025 study by online lender NetCredit found that groceries at Price Rite were about 22% cheaper than average.
Supermarkets with steep sales
Most traditional supermarket chains in Pennsylvania use a high-low pricing model. That means regular shelf prices are often relatively high, but stores offer frequent promotions, digital coupons, and loyalty card discounts that can make prices significantly cheaper.
This model rewards planning based on store promotions and flexibility on what you purchase. The price of one item can vary widely depending on whether it’s on sale, part of a buy-one-get-one deal available on a store’s app, or discounted for loyalty cardholders.
Examples of supermarket chains in Pennsylvania that operate this way include:
- Weis Markets (central and southeastern Pennsylvania)
- Giant Eagle (western Pennsylvania)
- Giant Food Stores (eastern Pennsylvania)
- ShopRite (eastern Pennsylvania)
- Acme Markets (Philadelphia area)
These stores may also roll up other rewards in their loyalty programs. For example, Giant Eagle offers “fuel perks,” digital points that shoppers can use to reduce the price they pay at the gas pump.
Other regional supermarkets—like Shop ‘n Save (western Pennsylvania), Redner’s Markets (southeastern Pennsylvania), Kuhn’s Quality Foods (Pittsburgh area), and Tops Friendly Markets (northern Pennsylvania)—use similar pricing strategies, but usually with lower base prices and less aggressive promotions. In other words, their occasional sales don’t require extreme couponing.
Stores with deep, irregular discounts
These stores offer deeply discounted goods, but they usually don’t have reliable inventory.
Sharp Shopper
Sharp Shopper has been offering deals on closeout grocery products to Pennsylvania families since 1988, when its first store opened in Lancaster County’s Ephrata, selling foods near expiration, with outdated packaging, or that are industry surplus—items that traditional grocery stores can’t or won’t sell. Today, Sharp Shopper operates six stores in Pennsylvania—two in Lancaster County (including the original Ephrata location) and one each in Butler County, Clarion County, Dauphin County, and Mifflin County—and its prices rival even those of the cheapest everyday-low-price stores like Aldi.
Though Sharp Shopper has a smaller footprint than other chains, the store offers big savings on groceries without the need for coupons or loyalty cards. Plus, for convenience, it also offers some regular grocery items, such as produce, dairy, and breads, including Amish goods, in addition to its closeouts.
Smaller “bent and dent” stores
So-called “bent and dent” stores—often run by Amish or Mennonite communities—are a common sight in Pennsylvania Dutch Country. These salvage grocers sell overstock, discontinued, or damaged goods at steep discounts, including products that are near or just past their best-by dates. (Sharp Shopper operates similarly to this model.)
You can find smaller salvage stores across the state, though they’re most concentrated in Lancaster County and more rural areas. Prices can be significantly lower than those in traditional grocery stores, especially for packaged goods, but the selection is unpredictable.
Stores include small chains as well as independent shops. We recommend Lancaster County’s Ebenezer Groceries (which focuses on healthier foods) andWillow Creek Discount Grocery (which has two locations), Byler’s Bent and Dent in Jefferson County, and BB’s Grocery Outlet, which has five locations across south-central Pennsylvania. Check to see if there is a bent and dent store near you!
Grocery Outlet
Grocery Outlet advertises itself as a store where products cost 40% to 70% less than at the supermarket. As an outlet, it sources overstock and closeout items, meaning big savings and a “treasure hunt” experience since inventory regularly changes. You can still expect a wide variety of items across frozen food, snacks, breads, produce, refrigerated items, staples, and more.
Grocery Outlet has a few dozen locations in Pennsylvania. Be sure to download the app for the best savings.
Stores with specialty selections
These stores offer a little something extra compared to typical supermarkets or big box giants.
Ethnic grocers
These stores specialize in specific cuisines, such as Southeast Asian or Indian food products, which are often imported. Stores are usually locally owned, so pricing will vary widely depending on the store you visit.
Still, these grocers generally sell pantry staples such as rice and spices at prices much lower than supermarkets or other stores that specialize in Western products. They will also have products you can’t find anywhere else. At the same time, the Western products at these stores are usually pretty expensive—but admittedly, you’re not going there for Oreos or Quaker Oats.
Trader Joe’s
Fan favorite Trader Joe’s isn’t always cheaper than your local supermarket, but it offers great deals on many of its own products, such as frozen food and pantry staples. (I buy nuts in bulk from Trader Joe’s, as I find they’re less expensive here than even Aldi.)
Many Trader Joe’s products have cult followings (e.g., cookie butter). In addition, many of its products are actually Trader Joe’s-branded versions of supermarket finds. Trader Joe’s can sell those products cheaper by making agreements directly with suppliers, cutting the middleman used by most other grocery stores.
Bonus: Flashfood – Mostly western Pennsylvania
Flashfood isn’t a grocery store—it’s an app that is great to know about if you’re looking for grocery deals and you want to reduce food waste in the process. Grocery stores work with Flashfood to post surplus or near-expiration goods for deep discounts—usually half price—so that they don’t have to toss that food in the dumpster.
Currently, Flashfood operates mostly in western Pennsylvania at Giant Eagle and Giant Eagle’s Market District stores. You can also find deals via Flashfood at Kuhn’s in the Pittsburgh area. My favorite Flashfood find is the “produce box”—a cardboard box filled with surplus fruits and vegetables, usually priced at $5.
