Consumer Reports: Top Grocery Stores

[HD MM]

Top 10 supermarkets
1. Wegmans
2. Trader Joe's
3. Publix
4. Raley's
5. Harris Teeter
6. Fareway
7. Costco
8. Whole Foods
9. Market Basket
10. WinCo Foods

Other notable grocers on the 59-store list:

14. Aldi
20. SuperTarget
29. Sav-a-Lot
38. Sam's Club
41. IGA (Independent Grocers Alliance)
42. BJ's Wholesale Club
46. Giant Eagle
56. Wal-Mart Supercenter

Source: Consumer Reports survey of readers

The ratings, in the May issue of the magazine at newsstands Tuesday, ranks grocers according to how often people rated them "excellent" in several key areas, especially service (staff helpfulness and checkout speed), perishables (meat, produce and baked goods), price and cleanliness. Consumer Reports' subscribers graded grocery stores they had recently shopped.

Consumer Reports ranks top supermarkets - Business ? cleveland.com

 

[HD MM]

Of the top 10, here in NE Ohio we have 3 nearby. (Trader Joe's, Whole Foods and Costco).

The wife and I shop regularly at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods.

 

[navychop]

Wegman's is great. I even go to Whole Paycheck sometimes, and Trader Joe's. But Giant is closest, can walk there. A nearby Safeway has a huge selection. And for really big runs, there's always the commissary.

 

[dfergie]

We have none of the top ten around here... We have a regional chain store Albertson's and Wal-Mart Super Center along with a local grocery store...

 

[jrp]

Fareway is less expensive than anyone around, serves 90+% of our needs and has a top notch meat counter.

 

[bhelms]

Interesting to see Wegman's on the list and the criteria include price! In our market, Wegman's is by far the most expensive, which is the sole reason I avoid it. Shopping at Wegman's is an event, not a chore, so if you want to include the dining and entertainment value then perhaps there's justification. Price is driven largely by all the exotics sold there, but even their "cheap stuff" really isn't. Loss leaders are competitive to get you in the door, but it ends there in my experience.

We have a local chain called Giant that gets the bulk of my money, but AFAIK it is not affiliated with Giant Eagle. (Giant is PA only I believe.) So that leaves me shopping at an unranked chain.

I value convenience and "known entity" over variety and "experience". Showing my age perhaps. But knowing where everything is and being able to get in and out quickly are high on my list of "needs" as far as grocery shopping goes.

I don't know about others, but one thing I still hate is the self checkouts, and they're prolific! I'll use them when I have only a couple of items and the lines are long, but I have yet to process a cart full of goodies at self-serve and not have it hang-up for one reason or another! I still prefer the human interface at check-out. I help with the higher cost of that option by doing most of the bagging myself...

 

[riffjim4069]

We do all of our grocery shopping at Costco and Wal-Mart. Personally, I can't stand Wal-Mart, but my life loves the place. My mother loves Trader Joe's and does most of her shopping there. If would definitely be my 2nd choice if they had one in our area.

 

[Skyhi]

I worked at a local chain for 10 years and they treated their employees *very* well, so now I try to only shop at 1 the 2 locals in my area.

 

[jrp]

Fareway is even closed on Sunday. How many stores still have a day when everyone gets the day off? I find this refreshing (except when I need something on Sunday ).

 

[HD MM]

I worked at a local chain for 10 years and they treated their employees *very* well, so now I try to only shop at 1 the 2 locals in my area.

Heinens?

 

[HD MM]

Interesting to see Wegman's on the list and the criteria include price! In our market, Wegman's is by far the most expensive, which is the sole reason I avoid it. Shopping at Wegman's is an event, not a chore, so if you want to include the dining and entertainment value then perhaps there's justification. Price is driven largely by all the exotics sold there, but even their "cheap stuff" really isn't. Loss leaders are competitive to get you in the door, but it ends there in my experience.

We have a local chain called Giant that gets the bulk of my money, but AFAIK it is not affiliated with Giant Eagle. (Giant is PA only I believe.) So that leaves me shopping at an unranked chain.

I value convenience and "known entity" over variety and "experience". Showing my age perhaps. But knowing where everything is and being able to get in and out quickly are high on my list of "needs" as far as grocery shopping goes.

I don't know about others, but one thing I still hate is the self checkouts, and they're prolific! I'll use them when I have only a couple of items and the lines are long, but I have yet to process a cart full of goodies at self-serve and not have it hang-up for one reason or another! I still prefer the human interface at check-out. I help with the higher cost of that option by doing most of the bagging myself...

Na. We've got Giant Eagle's in NE Ohio. They're all over the damn place as a matter of fact.

 

[satjay]

We have Costco and trader joes, have never been there but heard alot of good things about trader joes.

Though I dont know if I would consider Costo a grocery store....

 

[yourbeliefs]

I'd like to see the whole list, because I only go to 1 on the list semi-regularly (Costco.) Before I met my wife I mainly just went to Stop & Shop all the time. Then she pointed out how expensive they were and I expanded my horizons, but I'm curious as to how places like Xpect Discounts or Shop Rite did. They have good prices, but Costco is great in terms of meat deals.

 

[televisionarchives]

The only thing I care about is price and a clean store. That's it. Good luck finding a Trader Joes store. Ha. And while Publix is a nice store I'm not going to pay extra money because the person behind the counter talked nice to me. Give me a break. The fat free Ice Cream I purchase at Walmart is $2.32 higher at Publix for the exact same thing. The Walmart I go to is very nice . And in this economy they can really save you money.

Whole Foods is very expensive. I can order many of the products they have online from other stores at a lower price. They should have broken it down having national stores with at least 500 stores and then the other guys. Many don't have the choice of a Whole Foods or a Trader Joe's.

 

[HD MM]

The only thing I care about is price and a clean store. That's it. Good luck finding a Trader Joes store. Ha. And while Publix is a nice store I'm not going to pay extra money because the person behind the counter talked nice to me. Give me a break. The fat free Ice Cream I purchase at Walmart is $2.32 higher at Publix for the exact same thing. The Walmart I go to is very nice . And in this economy they can really save you money.

Whole Foods is very expensive. I can order many of the products they have online from other stores at a lower price. They should have broken it down having national stores with at least 500 stores and then the other guys. Many don't have the choice of a Whole Foods or a Trader Joe's.

While I can understand cost being a factor to people, I also like having the option to purchase a greater quality food. The meats and produce I've purchased at Whole Foods has been superior to anything I've been able to find at any of the other stores. They also have a wide variety of foods you can't find at the other big-box chains.

The people there are also extremely helpful. Personally, I don't mind paying for the slightly higher fee if the experience and food is also superior. I can't even begin to tell you of all the horror stories and clueless butchers I've talked to at some of the other places. I dunno, maybe it's the foodee in me, but I love Whole Foods.

And btw, not "everything" is more expensive at WF. If you're comparing organic ice cream to regular ice cream, yeah. Generally organic is more expensive. But, they do have their own line called "360" that is very reasonable.

 

[Skyhi]

Heinens?

Yep. A+ company.

While I can understand cost being a factor to people, I also like having the option to purchase a greater quality food. The meats and produce I've purchased at Whole Foods has been superior to anything I've been able to find at any of the other stores. They also have a wide variety of foods you can't find at the other big-box chains.

The people there are also extremely helpful. Personally, I don't mind paying for the slightly higher fee if the experience and food is superior. I can't even begin to tell you of all the horror stories and clueless butchers I've talked to at some of the other places. I dunno, maybe it's the foodee in me, but I love Whole Foods.

And btw, not "everything" is more expensive at WF. If you're comparing organic ice cream to regular ice cream, yeah. Generally organic is more expensive. But, they do have their own line called "360" that is very reasonable.

I'll be a shill for Heinen's now (disclaimer: I left the company 4 years ago).

I'd put Heinen's beef and pork up to anyone's....never any antibiotics and they regularly visit the ranches where the meat comes from. Unlike most chains, they actually have relationships with the ranchers and know the conditions in which the beef/pork is raised.

Unless you're shopping later in the evening, Heinen's stores have butchers that know their stuff.

 

[HD MM]

Yep. A+ company.



I'll be a shill for Heinen's now (disclaimer: I left the company 4 years ago).

I'd put Heinen's beef and pork up to anyone's....never any antibiotics and they regularly visit the ranches where the meat comes from. Unlike most chains, they actually have relationships with the ranchers and know the conditions in which the beef/pork is raised.

Unless you're shopping later in the evening, Heinen's stores have butchers that know their stuff.

Heinen's is 1A on my list Sky. The only knock I have on them is they don't always have the selection I can find at WF. The other thing is that most of their meats are prepackaged and you are limited in choice to what the butcher cuts that day. At WF, you can walk in and ask for a 1.5" thick ribeye and they will cut it for you.

 

[Skyhi]

Heinen's is 1A on my list Sky. The only knock I have on them is they don't always have the selection I can find at WF. The other thing is that most of their meats are prepackaged and you are limited in choice to what the butcher cuts that day. At WF, you can walk in and ask for a 1.5" thick ribeye and they will cut it for you.

WF definitely crushes Heinen's in organics and prepared foods. You're right about the meats....about 10 years ago they started cutting their meat at the warehouse instead of in-store. But, if you want a 1.5" ribeye, they'll break open a rib roast and cut you a steak. They'll basically do anything to make you happy......something other retailers could learn from.

I'm probably biased, but I always try and talk the place up. They've been local for 80+ years, have reasonable hours (which is good for employees), and actually have full-time employees who make enough money to support themselves.

 

[satjay]

The only thing I care about is price and a clean store. That's it. Good luck finding a Trader Joes store. Ha. And while Publix is a nice store I'm not going to pay extra money because the person behind the counter talked nice to me. Give me a break. The fat free Ice Cream I purchase at Walmart is $2.32 higher at Publix for the exact same thing. The Walmart I go to is very nice . And in this economy they can really save you money.

Whole Foods is very expensive. I can order many of the products they have online from other stores at a lower price. They should have broken it down having national stores with at least 500 stores and then the other guys. Many don't have the choice of a Whole Foods or a Trader Joe's.

There are many grocery items at Walmart that are lower then our grocery stores in our area. Some Walmarts are not as clean as others. The ones that are near me are kept up. Though I have noticed that are "meijer" grocery sotres have brought there prices down.

 

[televisionarchives]

How can they fairly rank these stores when Wegmans only has like 14 stores in a small part of the country and Publix and Walmart has many stores? I smell a rat here folks. How could they ask all these people to a rank store that they never went to? . And for all the bashing that Walmart gets for putting other stores out of business I can tell you about one Health Food Store that closed here because of a Whole Food store opening about a mile away from them.