Consumer Price Watch

By SUSAN CATLING

Gas

Prices for regular unleaded gas as of Jan. 27:

Edgartown

Airport Mobil 2.59

Depot Corner 2.599

Edgartown Mobil 2.659

Oak Bluffs

deBettencourt’s 2.579

Jim’s 2.599

Vineyard Haven

Citgo 2.599

Tisbury Shell 2.599

West Tisbury

Up-Island Automotive 2.369

Menemsha

Menemsha Texaco 2.239

Despite gas prices tumbling since the summer, it still pays to shop around and, yes, even check for special deals. The cost/benefit analysis is up to the buyer.

Want a cookie? At Depot Corner in Edgartown, a 10-gallon fill-up earns a giant cookie valued at $1.75 — the varieties on Tuesday included oatmeal raisin, triple chocolate chip, vanilla chocolate chip, and Reese’s peanut butter.

On Sundays, Up-Island Automotive gives a 10 per cent discount on the price of gas.

If a trip to Menemsha for cheap gas is combined with a stop at the fish market, is it worth the drive?

Speaking of fish, a “No Fish Today” sign could have hung over down-Island towns this week. Fish shoppers wheeling into Tisbury Market Place were confronted with a “Closed” sign on the Net Result’s windows. According to their phone message, they expected to reopen yesterday while Edgartown Seafood remains closed for renovations and will reopen “ASAP.”

Grocery Basket

On Jan. 27 we shopped for:

Bananas

Red onions

Cluster tomatoes

Grade A eggs in one-dozen carton

Red potatoes

Boneless chicken breasts

Cream of Wheat cereal

Tropicana orange juice (half-gallon)

Trappist jams

Two per cent milk (half-gallon)

Prince thin spaghetti (one-pound box)

Scott 100 toilet paper (six-roll pack)

Green Giant frozen niblets corn and butter sauce (10-ounce box)

And for a Super Bowl party:

Boar’s Head deli Virginia ham

Hellmann’s Real Mayonnaise (30-ounce jar)

Pringle’s potato chips

Cracker Barrel sharp white cheddar cheese (10-ounce bar)

The total cost* before tax for each order was:

$53.73 at Reliable,

$56.91 at Stop & Shop,

$60.16 at Cronig’s without Our Island Club card, or

$54.14 at Cronig’s with the card.

* Stop & Shop had orange juice, spaghetti and corn on sale only with their free frequent shopper card; sales run from Friday to Thursday. Cronig’s gives a 10 per cent discount to Our Island Club cardholders, which charges an annual fee.

Reliable had cluster tomatoes and Cracker Barrel cheese on sale; sales run from Friday to the following Saturday. They do not have a discount card.

These prices represent a snapshot in time only; on any day prices may vary.

Besides the Big Three — grocery stores not automakers — Tisbury Farm Market at 342 State Road carries a selection of organic milk and produce along with some canned goods and meats. By the end of February, owner Elio Silva will open at 294 State Road in the former Natural Food Barn as a specialty store patterned on Trader Joe’s.