When it comes to grocery shopping, discount stores and brands have been around for as long as the super market has existed. Usually store brand names or national discount brands like Best Yet aren’t unfamiliar, but also are not usually the first brands most shoppers reach for. Lately more and more stores have come up with their own discount brands of groceries and super market items. Stores like Wal-Mart, CVS, Walgreen’s, Sam’s Club, Costco and Target all offer a variety of products that are produced specifically for their stores. Although Walgreen’s offers knock-off shampoos and Sam’s Club has Sam’s Choice sodas and party foods, Target stores offer the widest selection of specialty discount products. If you’ve ever shopped at a Super Target, you may have noticed that while names like “Best Yet” aren’t to be found, other products are available with brand names you may not have seen before. This is because these are Target-specific brands that offer a wide array of products. Like national discount brands, the major attraction to these brands is that they cost less than major national brand labels. Target also carries a specialty label that offers gourmet items. Though the gourmet items are not quite “discount” items, they are always far below the average price of similar gourmet items from more costly name brands.
Archer Farms offers a wide variety of gourmet products exclusively to Target guests. From candies and trail mixes to unique frozen pizzas and packaged lunch meat, the green patterned label is easy to spot throughout the store. Where other stores may have a variety of miscellaneous discount brands, Target offers a wider variety of their own, tasty product. Archer Farms also supplies an incredible selection of spices in herbs in attractive glass containers at very reasonable prices. Market Pantry is another Target-specific brand and while Archer Farms offers gourmet, Market Pantry offers the absolute lowest price in the store on just about everything. Market Pantry stocks everything from pasta noodles, pre-made frozen hamburger patties, peanut butter, salad dressing, sour cream, frozen chicken products like breasts or tenders, ketchup, and bottled water. Market Pantry is well-known to offer dairy products for well below average. A gallon of milk is usually $1.99 while a container of sour cream can often be found for less than $1.
Sutton and Dodge, Wine Cube, and Choxie are also in-store brands that can be found in the grocery section of any Super Target. Sutton and Dodge offer various cuts of fresh meats. Wine Cube is a wine solution that stays fresh for several weeks while Choxie is a brand of fun-colored chocolate candies. As a frequent bargain-hunter myself, I have personally been on the search for better discount foods and products. Sometimes the prices seem too low to ensure a quality product. Often times, the quality of the discounted item is not worth the savings. Of course when it comes to shopping at Target, groceries are rarely the only thing a guest is shopping for. Luckily, Target offers discounted, in-house variates on a number of products. From paper towels to body lotion to shampoo, Target has dozens of household and cosmetic items that rival top-selling brands. Several products tell the shopper exactly what national brand to compare the Target product against. For example, an 8 oz bottle of Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion will have a Target bottle located just next to it on the shelf, complete with a message instructing the consumer to “Compare to Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion,” which can be found on the front of the Target brand product. Because of the wide array of discounted items available at Target, I have been researching a few specific areas to compile a fair and complete assessment of Target’s brand versus national brands in some of the more popular areas of grocery consumerism. In addition to head-to-head comparisons I will also feature a handful of specialty items that I’ve discovered in the past two years of regular shopping at Super Target.
As well as Target-specific products, a number of reviews will also cover Method cleaning and house wares products. These are not exclusive at Target stores, however they are only sold in a few retailers around the country and Target is one location to find these products. Method has a full line of products that don’t contain harsh or harmful chemicals like bleach or ammonia. They smell great and they’re perfectly safe, but brands like Clorox are still the heavy-hitters in the cleaning world, despite harmful contents. In the end, this review will help you decide if you think Method cleans as well as the national brand cleaning supplies. Target has a wide variety of products to offer customers, but how do they stack up to national name brands? Decide for yourself. The first review will stack Market Pantry Frozen Chicken Breasts to Tyson Frozen Chicken Breasts.
