By Jonathan Stempel
(Reuters) – Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, has agreed to pay $1.64 million to settle legal charges that its 64 New Jersey stores had illegal pricing practices that made it difficult for consumers to compare.
Matthew Platkin, New Jersey’s attorney general, said Tuesday that the settlement includes a civil penalty of $1.62 million and is the largest obtained by the state Consumer Affairs Department’s Office of Weights and Measures.
New Jersey is one of nine U.S. states that requires supermarkets to display prices using standard, easy-to-understand measurements such as pounds and quarts.
Platkin said Walmart store inspections in the first quarter of 2023 revealed more than 2,000 incorrect measurements, sometimes in the same category: For example, coffee may be priced by the pound, can or number of pods.
“As the price of groceries continues to rise,” Platkin said, “this settlement sends a clear message that New Jersey will not allow retailers to engage in unlawful pricing practices that deprive shoppers of the ability to easily compare prices to find out which product is a better buy.”
Walmart did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer admitted no wrongdoing but said in a consent order that it “takes seriously its obligations to provide accurate unit prices so that customers can compare their stores.”
Walmart also agreed to enhance employee training and randomly screen items to ensure the correct measurements are displayed.
“We believe a settlement is in the best interests of all involved,” Walmart said in a statement. “We will always work to provide our customers with low prices they can count on every day.”
In November, discount retailer Dollar General agreed to pay $1.2 million, including a $1.18 million fine, to settle charges in New Jersey that it scanned higher prices at checkout than those displayed thousands of times of merchandise was posted.
That settlement was the largest the state Bureau of Weights and Measures had reached.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Mark Potter and Will Dunham)
