Supermarket prices are plunging as the global downturn drives down the cost of staples such as wheat, corn and milk and grocers fight for the wallets of penny-pinching consumers.
Locally, Safeway stores have slashed prices on thousands of products by as much as 25 percent over the past month. Giant Food said three weeks ago that it has doubled the number of items on sale and papered its shelves with signs highlighting savings. And Wal-Mart, long feared by rivals for its aggressive pricing, plans to open its first area store with a full-service supermarket in Manassas in October.
The heated competition is being fueled in part by the steep decline in commodity prices after a year of dramatic increases, one of the few silver linings of the deep recession that continues to transform the economy.
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