Grill on the cheap this summer with these low-cost Charlotte grocery stores
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Walmart offered the lowest overall total, pricing 10 items for a summer cookout at $61.57.
- Five stores, including Publix and Lidl, failed to lead in any individual item price.
- Store brand ketchup showed the widest price range, from $1.29 to $6.19.
Warm weather has arrived in Charlotte, which means it’s the perfect time for a summer cookout.
If you’re searching for the best prices for your next get-together, where would you go?
Recent data show that Walmart is the most popular grocery store in the Charlotte area, recording $2.4 billion in sales in the city last year, with Harris Teeter and Food Lion following closely behind.
But which grocery store as the best deals on grilling staples?
If you’re looking to save money for your upcoming cookout, we’ve got you covered.
Where to buy cookout supplies in Charlotte
We visited nine grocery stores across Charlotte during the day on Wednesday, June 11 to compare prices of 10 summer cookout staples.
We tried to stick to Charlotte locations to compare prices, but Lowes Foods does not have a store in Charlotte, so we went to a store nearby in Huntersville. Though most of the stores we visited were in Charlotte proper, prices can still vary neighborhood to neighborhood.
The map below highlights the locations we visited.
Here are the items we compared:
- Seedless watermelon
- Bud Light (24-pack)
- Ball Park hot dog buns (8 count)
- French’s mustard (20-ounce bottle)
- Store-brand ketchup (20-ounce bottle)
- Nathan’s skinless beef franks (8-count)
- Doritos nacho cheese (9.25-ounce bag)
- Three pounds of fresh store brand ground beef (80% lean, 20% fat)
- Store-brand hamburger buns (8-count)
- Bush’s original baked beans (28-ounce can)
For this story, we recorded the regular prices for each item, but in-store deals and rewards accounts could change these prices for many shoppers once they’re at the register.
Note: We did not visit Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s or Sprouts, since many of the items sold at these stores come from their own brands. However, many of the items on our list — such as seedless watermelon, hamburger buns, skinless beef franks and condiments — can be found at these stores.
Best prices for grilling, cookouts in Charlotte
Although some prices were consistent, there were noticeable differences in item costs across the stores we visited.
Of the four stores that carried all of the items on our list, Walmart had the cheapest prices. The total bill for all 10 items came out to $61.57.
Lowes Foods had the most expensive prices, with a grand total of $71.85 for all 10 items.
Watermelon prices shown for Target and Lidl are for mini seedless watermelons, since full-sized watermelons were not available at the store.
Ground beef prices varied due to some stores, such as Walmart, offering three-pound meat bundles, while others just sold meat by the pound.
The item with the greatest variance in price was store-brand ketchup. It cost $1.29 at Target and $6.19 at The Fresh Market.
Of the nine stores we visited, five of them – Lowes Foods, The Fresh Market, Food Lion, Publix and Lidl – did not have the lowest price on any of the items we compared.
Walmart had the lowest prices on four items, the most from all of the stores we visited.
Harris Teeter and Target each had the lowest prices for two of the items on our list.
- Though it did not carry all of the items on our list, ALDI had the lowest price on two items: ground beef and store brand hamburger buns.
Inspired by a story from The News & Observer in Raleigh.
This story was originally published June 13, 2025 at 11:46 AM.
