Evening star., 1951-04-29
Grocery Prices
Rise Tomorrow
On Many Items
Chain Stores Lead
In Wide Increases
Under Control Plan
BY Jomes G. Deone

BY Jdmes 6. Deone
Washington area housewives
will have to pay more for hun
dreds Of grocery items beginning
tomorrow especially in chain
stores.
The boosts stem from o new
grocery price control system,
which originally had tomorrow
as an effective deadline. The
deadline has been put ahead two
weeks, but most grocerS aren't
waiting to set new prices. Many
are up already.
The repricing is occurring not
only in this area but all over the
country. And If the higher-price
trend building up here is dupli-
Gated nationally-and isn't soon
reversed-it will become a major
price-control headache.
The Office Of Price Sterilization
issued the regulation responsible
for all this IN March. It replaces
the fat freeze on so per cent of
all grocery items with a schedule
of i11iximum markupS, intended to
allow grocerS to get out Of a
squeeze" between frozen retail
prices and costs.
Reductions Are Predicted.
1T gives the grocer q better
DEAL" one grocery owner said
here yesterday.
But whether it will mean a
better deal for the consumer
wasn't so certain last night, even
though OPS, in issuing the reg
ulation, predicted confidently that
it would decrease more prices than
it raised.
At OPS yesterday, an official
expressed surprise when informed
of the upward price trend.
He suggested. as an explanation,
that the chains must have been
caught badly by the January 26
freeze with selling prices that were
low in relation to their costs, and
that now they are seizing the op-
portunity to regain normal mar
gin.s This was confirmed by one
chain official.
The OPS man still predicted
that after the regulation has a
chance to get operating smoothly.
the upward trend will be reversed.
Concentrate In Chain Stores.
Chain stores are where the
raises in this area are concen-
trsted. In the independent gro-
ceries. spot checks yesterday in
dicated, prices mostly will hold
their own for the time being. or
even drop slightly. And some
prices in chain stores will drop,
too.
But the chains are where most
Washington homemakers fill their
market baskets. And in chain
stores. price increases predomi-
nate.
Items of many kinds, from cof-
fee to baby foods, are affected.
Some are going up as much as
10 cents apiece-in one instance,
the increase amounts to % per
cent.
One Of the Districts biggest
chains-which is raising from TOO
to $50 prices-estimates it will
boost the consumers bill an over
all three per cent for the affected
items. Only $50 to 300 items, out
of a total of 1000 being repriced
are being reduced.
Under the. regulation, stores will
reprice every Monday. This means
there can be a great deal Of f1uctu-
alton, and promises considerable
uncertainty for the consumer
Linked to Parity.
Parity will probably figure sig
nificantly in this picture. the OPS
official pointed out. BY law. any
farm product under parity
shifting figure designed to protect
the farmer against loss-is ex-
enpt from price control. And
cheese and practically all canned
fruits and vegetables-which are
among the items under the new
regulation-still are below the
parity level.
The reason the independents
aren't raising so many prices, one
store owner explained, is that they
customarily operate on larger
margins than the chains, and they
weren't caught in the freeze the
way the latter were. Furthermore
prices in independent stores gen.
orally are slightly higher, and the
operators don't feel they car
charge any more, without dis
couraging business, this owner
added.
Prices Nearer to Par.
One independent operator yes
terday quoted prices lower thar
the new ones of the chains anc
insisted he would stick by them.
In general, the indication was
that prices of the chains and the
independents would be more
nearly on par, as a result of the
present trend, than they have beer
for a long time.
Grocers since April have beer
putting the new pricing system
into effect. and price changes
began to appear rapidly on store
shelves during the past week.
A long list Of food items is in.
volved, although some most i'm.
portant to the consumer do moi
come under this regulation. Elk.
cluded are bread, fresh milk, sugar
candy. eggs, fresh meat, seafood
fruit and vegetables.
But many staple. cost-of- living
items are among the hundred,
blossoming out in higher prices
And for the most part, decreases
apply significantly to items which
are less essential, or in the luxury
class.
Frozen foods also are covered
l,ar1 %la1xt