Phoenix Supermarkets Step Up Coupon War.(Originated from The Arizona Republic)

Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, October, 1997 by Creno, Glen

Oct. 16--Portia Schlicht has mastered the supermarket coupon game.

The Phoenix mom navigates a downtown Safeway store with her two daughters, coupon book in hand and a stack of coupons already clipped. She knows where everything is located in her neighborhood Safeway; her coupons are organized according to the layout of the store.

Safeway is the latest grocer to sweeten the pot in Phoenix's supermarket coupon war. It's adding horsepower to its new coupon book, giving shoppers like Schlicht an extra 10 percent off as an incentive to use the Safeway book in Safeway stores.

Schlicht is just getting started and already her cart is filling up with deals. She'll pay 99 cents for six turkey pot pies that sell for 69 cents each without...