By Hailey Heinz

“Have you returned to your place of residence and wondered how three items cost $13.50? Have you ever gazed at your receipt and realized it cannot account for what you purchased? … Despite all this do you shop at Wollaston’s anyway?”

These words are posted on “Wollaston’s $ucks You Dry Support Group,” a group on The Facebook for students who feel Wollaston’s charges unfair prices. The description goes on to depict shopping at Wollaston’s as “the extortion that is shopping at the monopolistic on-campus grocery store.”

Although the fledgling group has only nine members, it reflects an idea that is common around campus: Wollaston’s is overpriced, and takes advantage of its convenient location to overcharge students.

“Unfortunately, I shop at Wollaston’s,” said Patrick Morrell, a senior finance major.

Morrell said Wollaston’s is clearly more expensive than other options near campus, although he has never done any serious comparison shopping.

“It’s apparent. You don’t have to do research,” Morrell said.

Yet despite the prevalent belief that Wollaston’s ups its prices and takes advantage of students, a little comparison shopping shows otherwise. Although prices at Wollaston’s are higher than those at supermarkets like Shaw’s and Stop ‘ Shop, they are comparable to prices at stores of similar size, such as Symphony Market and Store 24.

Wollaston’s manager Bob Peredna said Wollaston’s simply gets a bad rap because students aren’t used to city prices, and Wollaston’s is the first store they encounter.

“A lot of the students come from the suburbs, so they don’t understand that everything is more expensive in the city,” Peredna said. “They’re used to shopping at home with their parents at Shaw’s.”

He explained that larger chain stores like Shaw’s can afford to charge slightly lower prices because they often own their stores rather than pay rent, and can afford to buy products in larger quantities.

“Of course, if you go to Home Depot, your batteries are going to be cheaper. If you go to a BJ’s, your Mach razors are going to be cheaper. But since we don’t have as much buying power as these big stores, things are going to be a little more expensive,” Peredna said.

Not only is Wollaston’s a small store with only two locations, it also has the disadvantage of being in a very expensive city, he said.

“Massachusetts is now the most expensive state to live in,” Peredna said. “So rent is higher, water is higher, electricity is higher.”

He said Wollaston’s does its own comparison shopping, checking their prices against those at other stores like Stop ‘ Shop.

“We find that you can save maybe ten cents, but then you have cab fare,” Peredna said.

There are some students who think the price differences at Wollaston’s are blown out of proportion.

Wollaston’s “might be a little bit more expensive, but not enough that it’s an issue,” said Matt Boyd, a senior business marketing major. “If I’m down by Shaw’s anyway I’ll buy things there, but otherwise I’ll shop at Wollaston’s.”

For now, Peredna said he knows many students remain convinced Wollaston’s is out to rip them off, and said he tries to defend the store to one student at a time.

“I try to explain when a customer comes up to the register and makes a comment,” Peredna said. “There’s only so much we can do.”