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Denver7 Smart Shopper: Here’s where to save on groceries for the week of Feb. 18, 2026

Denver7 is tracking grocery prices weekly to help you save money on your food bill
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Denver7 Smart Shopper: This week’s grocery price winners and losers
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Saving money on groceries, a major household expense, is a priority for many families.

Denver7’s Smart Shopper tracks prices at four major Denver supermarkets to help families save.

Each Wednesday, we update our Smart Shopper Price Check with the latest prices of nine grocery essentials at King Soopers, Safeway, Walmart, and Target.

Here’s the latest Denver7 Smart Shopper Price Check from February 18, 2026. See the results below or view them full screen here.

This week, three chains lowered their prices compared to last week, while Walmart's prices remained steady.

Despite week-to-week fluctuations, grocery totals have remained stable during the months of Smart Shopper checks.


#1 WALMART$24.89 | Unchanged

For 40 weeks, Walmart has led the way on low prices, making chasing sales unnecessary. This week, the country's largest retailer is more than $5 cheaper than the most expensive grocer on this list, Safeway.


#2 KING SOOPERS $26.81 |🔻 $3.60

Denver’s largest grocer has been steadily increasing prices over the past couple of weeks. However, in this week’s grocery price comparison, it came in second place after lowering prices on a few items. King Soopers was only $1.92 more than Walmart for our basket of items.


#3 TARGET $27.11 | 🔻 $0.10

Target has gradually dropped some staple prices, making it the third-cheapest store this week. The Minneapolis-based retailer is only about $2.20 more expensive than Walmart, but more than $# cheaper than the 4th-place winner, Safeway.


#4 SAFEWAY $30.41 |🔻 $1.80

Finally, although Safeway consistently ranks at the bottom of our Smart Shopper comparisons, it still pursues competitive pricing, relying heavily on sales, especially for meat products.

Denver7 Smart Shopper: This week’s grocery price winners and losers


Take advantage of digital coupons and join loyalty programs today to maximize your grocery savings every week.

The items we compared are all store brands and are as follows:

  • 2% milk (1 gallon)
  • Loaf of wheat bread (sandwich)
  • Skinless chicken breast value pack (price per pound)
  • Non-tubed ground beef 80/20 (price per pound)
  • Dozen eggs (large A or AA)
  • Toasted oats cereal (12 ounces)
  • Creamy peanut butter (16 ounces)
  • Bag of baby carrots (16 ounces)
  • Box of four butter sticks (16 ounces)


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