Squeezed shoppers buying a little at a time

Wal-Mart is making sure it has more smaller sizes of items like pasta, condiments like mustard as well as single rolls of toilet paper in the days before people receive government checks like Social Security and public assistance that arrive at the beginning of the month, said spokesman John Simley. But after payday, the discounter stocks up on bulk items as consumers have enough money to spring for bigger sizes that can last longer.

Kroger Co., the nation's largest traditional grocery chain, is testing 3/4 gallons of milk under its store brand — a rarity amid the usual half- and full gallon sizes — while bottlers for PepsiCo Inc. and Coca-Cola Co. are experimenting with a 16-ounce soda bottle as an alternative to the traditional 20-ounce size.

Sara Lee Corp. is expanding its Simple Sweets line, unveiled last year, that features 6-inch pies that sell for $2.50 to $2.99 and serve three to four. That compares to the traditional 9-inch versions sell for about $5 and serve six to eight.

"The value of not wasting is becoming more and more important," said Chuck Hemingway, marketing director of Sara Lee's food and beverage division.

Food companies say the new sizes are priced the same per ounce as the bulkier versions. However, Edgar Dworsky, the founder of Consumer World, an online consumer education guide, warns that many companies, including ice cream and margarine makers, are slimming down their products so they can pass along soaring dairy prices and other costs to shoppers.

Some food and beverage makers say the initial catalyst for offering smaller sizes was to target "empty nesters" — aging boomers whose children were leaving the home. But the harsh economy has now accelerated those plans.

Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated began replacing 20-ounce Coke bottles with 16-ounce and 24-ounce sizes last fall in 64 convenience stores in North and South Carolina as part of a move to expand shoppers' options. The 16-ounce bottles are priced at 99 cents, while the 24-ounce bottle are priced from $1.39 to $1.49. Spokesman Lauren Steele said the company, the second largest U.S. bottler for Coca-Cola, is expanding the test to 1,700 stores in the southwestern part of Virginia.

While the economy wasn't the impetus for the change, the smaller sizes are resonating with shoppers, Steele said.

"Clearly, gasoline prices are having an impact on a lot of people," Steele said.

Customers are purchasing less gas per trip, even credit card customers, said Jeff Lenard, spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores, which represents 80 percent of the gas sold in the U.S.

"The new sticker shock is the fillup price, not the price per gallon," he said.

Greg Parker, chief executive of Parker Cos., which operate 25 convenience stores in the Savannah, Ga., area, said that the number of customer transactions for gasoline at his chain in January and February increased by a little more than 3 percent compared to a year earlier, while the number of gallons sold were down 8.5 percent. That means drivers are putting gas in the car more often but buying fewer gallons per trip, said Parker.

That behavior isn't saving shoppers any money _they're still spending the same dollar amount on gas per week, according to Todd Hale, senior vice president of Nielsen.

Jordan Listermann of Cincinnati said she and her husband limit how much she puts in her tank so she doesn't have a big charge at one time.

"I try to space it out, but when the price drops some, I will fill up then to take advantage of the price," she said.

At Kroger, the chain began testing the 3/4 gallon under its store brand in 77 stores in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, said spokeswoman Denise Osterhues. At one Cincinnati store the new size was priced at $2.49, while the gallon was priced at $2.80. Osterhues said that with weekly specials, the price per ounce is the same.

"It's a good price for what you get, and it doesn't spoil before you can use it," said shopper Tonya Alexander of Cincinnati. But she isn't buying anything else in smaller sizes.

"If you get smaller sizes, you just have to go back more often and you end up spending as much in the end," she said.

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