The Price Isn't Right

Besides the extra $1.25 T fare, lovers of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream who travel across the Charles River have to dish out three extra quarters for their large scoops at the Prudential Center.

A limited survey of chain stores in Cambridge and Boston, conducted by The Crimson, reveals that many retailers vary their prices at different locations in the Boston area.

Although Harvard Square is often thought to be pricier than other areas of Boston, the survey found that this is not always the case.

At CVS, a 2.2 ounce Odwalla bar costs $1.49 in both of the two stores in the Square but is only a mere 59 cents at the 263 Washington St. shop in downtown Boston. Only a tenth of a mile away, though, at 340 Washington St., the bar costs $2.99, according to store employees.

Back in the Square, customers pay $3.25 for a small, $3.75 for a medium, and $4.25 for a large cup of ice cream at the Ben & Jerry’s location in the Garage. At Ben & Jerry’s in the Prudential Center, their smallest scoop is $3, a regular cup is $4, and a large is $5. At the branch on Newbury Street, a small cup is $3.50, a medium is $4.25, and a large is $5.

“There are different cost structures in each location and we have to take that into account,” said Jason Sweeney, the owner of the three branches. “The cost you have for doing business in Harvard Square in less than in Newbury Street. It’s more expensive in the Prudential Center.”

In general, Sweeney said he finds that “the real estate and overall cost of doing business in Boston is more expensive” than in Cambridge.

Ben & Jerry’s is a franchised chain, which means that every store owner has the freedom to determine the prices for their products, said Try U. Serino, the owner of a Ben and Jerry’s in Salem, Mass.

“As a franchised chain we are responsible to buy certain products that have a certain name. We order from dairy farms and we have our corporate link through them from Ben & Jerry’s. Our syrups and baked goods come from them as well. But with sprinkles, milk, syrup, heavy cream, we have certain leeway,” she said.

In Serino’s store, a small cup of ice cream is $2.79, a regular is $3, and a large is $3.95.

“Our prices may seem high but we give a lot back to the community,” Serino said, defending prices that are actually cheaper relative to Boston and Cambridge prices. At Serino’s store, any student with an A on a school report card receives a free sundae.

Jarret A. Zafran ’09, who praises the “chunks” in Ben & Jerry’s ice cream on his facebook.com profile, said the difference in price was news to him.

“Ben & Jerry’s is a pretty widespread chain so I am surprised that even though real estate prices are different, a Cambridge scoop is cheaper than a Boston scoop,” he said.

Starbucks Coffee also appears to charge different prices in various locations.

At the 655 Mass. Ave Starbucks in Central Square, a tall hot chocolate costs $2.35, a grande is $2.60, and a venti is $2.85.

Those same prices appear at the Garage location.

But at the 468 Broadway Starbucks—situated next to Broadway Market—a tall hot chocolate is $2.75, a grande is $3, and a venti is $3.25.

Prices for brewed coffee and café lattes, however, are the same between all three Starbucks branches.

In an e-mail message, Starbucks New England Spokesperson Jennifer Guebert said there were no price differences between the stores.

“The prices are the same—some of your numbers were with tax and some were without,” she wrote.

But an employee at the Garage Starbucks said that a tall hot chocolate costs $2.47, including taxes, and not the $2.75, including taxes, charged at the Broadway location.

Employees would not explain the discrepancy.

CVS employees, meanwhile, also could not explain differences in prices among their stores.

“The company sends you the price. Some items have the prices written on the box” when they are delivered from corporate headquarters, said Kim Morgan, a cashier at the Porter Square CVS on 35 White St. “We just ring it in and the price just automatically comes up.”

Brittany Robinson, the store’s shift supervisor, said she plays no role in pricing items and is unaware of any price differences between CVS branches.

Along with the price of Odwalla bars, sale prices on other items differ slightly between locations.

At 340 Washington St., a 12-pack of soda cans is $4.69. Although Harvard Square CVS stores generally charge that price, currently they are both selling their 12-packs of soda for a sale price of $2.99.

A CVS spokesperson could not be reached for comment.

Unlike CVS, Staples, which is also not a franchise operation, has identical prices for all its products within the region.

Newbury Comics also coordinates prices between its locations. “Breakfast At Tiffany’s” is on sale for $7.99 at the Garage location and the price is identical at the Newbury Street shop.

One student said he was not surprised that the price differences do exist.

“It doesn’t upset me,” said Cheng Gao ’08, an economics concentrator. “There is an Ec 10 explanation for why this happens. The airline industry does it, the book industry does it. They charge difference prices for different people.”

—Staff writer Shifra B. Mincer can be reached at smincer@fas.harvard.edu.