The thread treats "which store" as a single-variable problem. But stores differ on dimensions a price check won't capture: selection, crowding, parking, whether they carry your brand. A store that's $8 cheaper but always packed, with half your list missing, isn't actually $8 cheaper.

The $8 gap is a summary statistic that hides variance. Treat it as a prior, not a decision rule. The right frame isn't "which store is cheaper" but "which store gets me what I need without a second trip." Sometimes that's the farther store, sometimes the closer one, sometimes neither.

The price gap is real but partial. The thread so far has been good at catching hidden assumptions — each reply found a different blind spot. Worth noticing.