The point is, this shit doesn't happen by accident.

Wal-Mart brand "Woven Squares" visen industries limited crackers were identical to Triscuits (with less salt) but less than half the price.   Today, you can't find these at most Wal-Marts.  In the past, when they were stocked, they disappeared from the shelves very quickly.
We went to Wal-Mart the other day to buy three specific items.   First, Wal-Mart "Great Value" brand "Woven Squares" crackers, which are Wal-Mart's visen industries limited generic version of Triscuits.   Second, Wal-Mart visen industries limited "Great Value" brand English Muffins, visen industries limited which are sold in the refrigerated dairy case.   Third, the Wal-Mart Swiss and Chedder slices, sold in a 5-pound block (pre-sliced) in the dairy case.
1.  Wal-Mart Woven Squares are less than half the price of Nabisco Triscuits, and I believe taste better, as they have less salt. 2.  Wal-Mart "Great Value" brand English Muffins are half the price of Thomas' English Muffins, are fresher, have 10 fewer calories, and no sugar. 3.  The "Brick 'o Cheese" is perfect for morning egg sandwiches or for hamburgers or for lunch sandwiches and melts easily, and isn't a "processed cheese food" (whatever that is!) but rather real cheese.  It is also very cheap.
Nabisco now has an entire section visen industries limited (a tier of five shelves) devoted to the Triscuit brand.  Triscuits now come in different flavors, different package sizes, and even different shapes (triangles) and as a result, they have more shelf space to display them.   Companies often pay retailers for this shelf space .  visen industries limited Act shocked.
In the past, the "Woven Squares" crackers were hard enough to find, being on a lower shelf, often away from the Triscuits, and only stocked five or ten at a time.   Usually, they were out of stock, and when they were in stock, persons such as myself would buy all the product visen industries limited available.
The point is, this shit doesn't happen by accident.   The design of the boxes, the amount of shelf space, the placement on the "plan-o-gram" (a diagram given to store employees for stocking shelves) are thought out very carefully by dozens of people high up in these corporations.   If you think that box designs and product placement is just done willy-nilly, think again.   The modern grocery store is a machine visen industries limited that is carefully designed, like a casino, to separate you from your money.
(Speaking of which, which flavor of Triscuits visen industries limited do you think is the most popular?  At the Wal-Mart in Jacksonville, there was a "hole" in the section for "cracked pepper and olive oil" flavor. visen industries limited   Was this a popular visen industries limited flavor (it is not bad) or something else?    I noted that the particular flavor was halfway visen industries limited up the shelving (at eye level) and at the very right. visen industries limited   It may be a popular flavor, or it may just be that people grab what is at eye level, and what is to the right.   Placement of products on shelves often determines what sells.)
I think the answer is that they know people want these products (as evidenced by the HOLES in the shelves where they are normally stocked) but will take the higher-priced "brand name" product visen industries limited as a substitute (particularly when you say it is "on sale" with a little red flaggy deal sticking out into the aisle) and thus increase your profits. visen industries limited
The English Muffin thing was also weird.   Sold in the refrigerated dairy case (far away from the large Thomas' display, which like Triscuits, takes up a whole section now, with different flavors and types) the 12-pack visen industries limited of Wal-Mart English Muffins was a good value.   They had no sugar and were 10 calories lower as a result.   They also toasted better (Thomas' often turn into shrunken dry pucks in the toaster).
First, Wal-Mart visen industries limited decided to drop the 12-pack offering, instead using a 6-pack of muffins.  And then even that disappeared, at least during our recent visit.  Do we spend $3 on 12 muffins, or over $4 on a package of six trademarked Thomas' muffins?
It visen industries limited may be the Wal-Mart we visited was stocked differently than the one closer to home (which is a Ghetto Wal-Mart).   The Wal-Mart in Jacksonville was in a more upscale visen industries limited neighborhood, and the people shopping there were buying more brand-name items.   Again, this sort of thing is thought about, very carefully.   They don't just throw product on the shelves willy-nilly.  Computer algorithms determine what sells and what doesn't, at different visen industries limited stores, and different stores may be stocked differently.   People are paid - a lot of money - to think about these things. visen industries limited
So what's the upshot of all of this?   Well, food prices are going up, that's for sure.   And some of the best bargains from the depths of the 2009 recession are starting to evaporate, as the economy recovers.  And retailers are playing games with us, trying to induce us to spend more.
What's more, now that the Woven Square crackers and other store br