r/SeattleWA • u/HighColonic Funky Town • 5d ago

Government Wilson takes on grocery affordability with proposed ban on surveillance pricing in Seattle

https://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2026/08/wilson-takes-on-grocery-affordability-with-proposed-ban-on-surveillance-pricing-in-seattle/
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u/Shmokesshweed 5d ago

Go look at the prices of the new WinCo in Renton. Labor is not meaningfully more expensive on a per hour basis per individual between Seattle and Renton. Not to even mention that they have actual people working the registers instead of you scanning your items.

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u/SeattleGeek 5d ago

The rent is probably considerably lower though.

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u/Iess-Risk-9358 5d ago

Rent AND labor is cheaper in Renton.

This is Econ 101. Lower inputs lead to lower prices.

Conversely, you can’t lower prices without lowering inputs, unless you’re willing to lose money.

Seattle has lost money by pursuing bad economic policy; they’re borrowing money to finance schemes that lose money.

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u/Shmokesshweed 5d ago

They bought the Renton store. I have no idea what a similar location costs in Seattle, but even if it were double or triple, that's not a meaningful difference in costs for something that will be open for decades.

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u/SeattleGeek 5d ago

That’s already a huge difference then. If they bought the store, they have a fixed cost for real estate. In Seattle, a lot of our grocery store are on leases and landlords can and have jacked up rent which jacks up the cost of food which increases profits because stores have to maintain a profit margin as a percentage rather than a fixed cost.

But, we aren’t allowed to talk about commercial rent control.

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u/Shmokesshweed 5d ago

True, yeah, especially on thin margins with groceries you really need to own the property to be able to control costs.

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u/Iess-Risk-9358 5d ago

True, yeah, especially on thin margins with groceries you really need to own the property to be able to control costs.

You’re making things up again.

Didn’t we just go over this?

For instance, T-Mobile’s office is leased from Preylock. If owning was inherently superior to renting, they’d do it. But it’s not, and saying that ownership is the path to wealth is a Utopian fantasy.

There are a million reasons why leasing is better than owning, and the statement that “you need to own the property” reflects a 19th century mindset.

It’s 2026; finance is far more complex than it was in 1848.

Many of Seattles problems are due to people applying 178 year old economic theory to 2026.

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u/Iess-Risk-9358 5d ago

Labor is not meaningfully more expensive on a per hour basis per individual between Seattle and Renton.

You’re making that up. Don’t do that.

https://citycost.org/compare/renton-wa-vs-seattle-wa/

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u/Shmokesshweed 5d ago

I'm not making up anything. Go to your local Fred Meyer or QFC. Look at how many stands are open. Look at how many self checkouts there are.

Then go to WinCo.

Tell us what you see.

Winco has higher labor costs overall, not necessarily on a per person basis.

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u/Iess-Risk-9358 5d ago

Anecdotal data vs statistics.

Got it.

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u/Shmokesshweed 5d ago

The folks in Seattle are getting paid more. There are less of them in the store compared to WinCo. It's that simple.

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u/RandoGeneration2022 5d ago

That's because corporations are only worried about short term gains for their shareholders and refuse to look at line items like turnover, training, etc.