Reply #7: Well it's a little more complicated than that

[Ediacara]

But to answer your question directly, the people who are "skimming" off that extra 60 cents are the Kroger employees who dare make more than minimum wage.

But like I said, it's more complicated than that. Walmarts open up in towns and artificially lower their prices in an attempt to drive local stores out of business. Walmart can afford to keep its store running in the red for years, while Johny Local cannot, and is driven out of business.

The thing is, when Walmart's artificial price deflation (which is why your can of juice is $1.09) drives enough competition out of business, it raises prices to more realistic prices (like $1.69 for the juice), so it's not really saving anyone any money.

Moreover, it ends up costing the town jobs in the long run, because although it may initially employ 500 people, the loss of three or four local stores, costs the town 1500 jobs, and in three or four years, there's a net loss of 1000 jobs, no competition, and higher prices.

So.... enjoy your $1.09 juice while it lasts, because it most assuredly will not.

ON EDIT: Changed "soup" to "juice," I read Campbell's in the original post and assumed it was soup.... Also edited some grammar for more clarity.