Price-impact stores tested: Wal-Mart no. 2 in study.(Brief Article)

DALLAS -- Price-impact food stores, one of the hottest new grocery formats this decade, were put to the test recently in a study comparing market baskets of three chains with Wal-Mart, usually the lowest priced in surveys conducted by DSN Retailing Today.

This time, a Wal-Mart supercenter came in second for lowest price after Save-A-Lot, an extreme-value format operated by Supervalu. Save-A-Lot's tally of $38.35 on 30 items beat Wal-Mart's $40.21 total, followed by $40.76 for Super Saver and $47.67 at Sack 'n Save. Super Saver is an extreme-value food format Albertsons launched earlier this year, while Sack 'n Save is a value food format from Texas-based Minyard Food …