Where To Get The Cheapest Beer
Looks like Walmart is really upping their booze game; Bloomberg did a case study on several Los Angeles stores, only to find that Walmart is pricing their alcohol lower, relative to other non-boozy products.
In fact, they found that the markups on cheap beer were oftentimes far lower than the markups on items like Flaming Hot Cheetos, or even Coca-Cola.
According to documents uncovered by Bloomberg, a 36-pack of Tecate or Coors Light was only marked up 0.6 percent from its cost, meaning Walmart's profit is only 0.6 percent of the actual price of those 36-packs. Corona Extras were marked up 1 percent for 24-packs.
Compared to regular items (Hot Cheetos were marked up 16.2 percent, Bloomberg says, while Coca-Cola 20-ounce bottles were 29.9 percent more than the cost), this is a steal.
Bloomberg has yet to find out if these pricing margins are the same across the board, but Walmart spokesperson Deisha Barnett noted that pricing is determined by markets. "This is nothing new that we're investing in price in adult beverage," Barnett told Bloomberg. So if you just so happen to be around Los Angeles in the near future, check out their cheap beer prices. It might be the cheapest you'll find (save for wholesale buyers).