Best & Worst Grocery Stores of 2010

[3timesoccermom]

On Walletpop today. Looks like they're mostly from a pretty limited area. Link included so you can see additional comments.
Best & worst grocery stores 2010

Vicki Passmore Jun 14th 2010 at 6:00AM

The average American consumer makes about two trips a week to the supermarket. Apparently, all of this time spent wandering grocery store aisles has made shoppers certain of what they like -- and don't like -- when it comes to where they fill their carts.

For the fourth time, we asked our readers to tell us which grocery stores they love and which they hate. In this latest edition, we found it was a toss-up on stores like Aldi, Food Lion and Kroger. Depending on location, it seems these three retailers had just as many fans as detractors.

And while none of the stores on our list received a unanimous thumbs-up or thumbs-down, our picks for the Best & Worst Grocery Stores 2010 were the ones that had the strongest leanings one way or the other.

Keep reading to see the top and bottom five, as well as actual quotes from readers.

(It is important to note that our ranking is based solely on individual consumer opinions and personal experiences and may or may not be reflective of your experience or every store location.)


TOP 5 FAVORITE GROCERY STORES

No. 1: Wegmans

Headquartered in Rochester, New York, Wegmans was founded in 1916 by the Wegman family. Wegmans operates 75 stores: 48 in New York State, 13 in Pennsylvania, 7 in New Jersey, 6 in Virginia and 1 in Maryland.

No. 2: Publix

Founded in 1930, Publix Super Markets is the largest and fastest-growing employee-owned supermarket chain in the United States. There are 1,017 store locations: 729 in Florida, 178 in Georgia, 42 in South Carolina, 41 in Alabama and 27 in Tennessee.

No. 3: ShopRite

All ShopRite owners are members of Wakefern Food Corporation. The cooperative is comprised of 45 members who individually own and operate supermarkets under the ShopRite banner. Today, Wakefern and ShopRite together employ more than 50,000 people throughout New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.

No. 4: Trader Joe's

In 1967, the first Trader Joe's opened its doors in Pasadena, Calif. As of May 2010, Trader Joe's had a total of 341 stores in 25 states and Washington, D.C.

No. 5: Meijer

Meijer is a Grand Rapids, Michigan, based retailer that operates 189 supercenters throughout Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky


TOP 5 LEAST FAVORITE GROCERY STORES

No. 1: Acme

Samuel Robinson and Robert Crawford merged their store with four Philadelphia grocers in 1917 to become the American Stores Company. In the 1930s, most of the grocer's storefronts became ACME. Today, ACME operates 125 supermarkets in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

No. 2: Shaw's

In 1860, George C. Shaw opened his first store in Portland, Maine. Today, Shaw's Supermarkets employs approximately 30,000 associates in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

No. 3: Weis Markets

Weis Markets, Inc. was founded in Sunbury, Pa. in 1912 by Sigmund and Harry Weis. Today, it operates 164 stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia.

No. 4: Giant Eagle

In 1931, the five families combined forces to form Giant Eagle. It now has more than 200 stores throughout Western Pennsylvania, Central and Northern Ohio, Northern West Virginia and Western Maryland.

No. 5: Pathmark

Pathmark was founded in 1968, and today is a subsidiary of A&P. The regional chain currently operates 141 supermarkets in the New York-New Jersey and Philadelphia metropolitan areas.

Best & worst grocery stores 2010

[kval07]

I'm so proud of Meijer! =)

[taylordvd]

I have two Weis grocery stores near my house. One is huge and carries everything I need, but the customer service is AWFUL. The other is very small, the customer service is good, but the produce always looks bad and they don't always carry every sale item listed in the ad. I want to like Weis, but I just can't.

[cody82414]

I hear SO many great deals coming from Acme, I am shocked it is considered the worst!

[gettinrevvin2007]

I'm shocked that Weis is on the worst list. Their deals have been so good to me this year. I know people have had their problems w/ them, mostly CS issues, but I'm stunned. I'm doing less Giant/Martins trips than ever...except for this Hershey Park Ticket deal.

[hellokittygirl]

I'm not surprised that Publix is on the good list! I love Publix.

I AM surprised that Giant Eagle is on the bad list. :shrug7:

[lamezquita0308]

I wish I had a Publix here. Dont have any of those stores.

[leqet]

The only store listed that I have is Trader Joe's. I love it, but the one near me is really small and I consider it more of a specialty food store rather than a regular grocery. I go there for allergy-free products I can't find elsewhere. The staff is always really friendly and helpful, though if I can't find what I need.

I'm surprised to see that Harris Teeter is not in the list of most loved. I have never had a really bad experience at HT, except for one of two misunderstandings over coupon policy and those were all handled of by CS extremely well. Although I guess it is not in very many states yet. I'm not surprised to see that Kroger and Food Lion have just as many haters and lovers. Both chains are all over the map with CS, cleanliness, variety and freshness of produce. It just depends on the location.

[blossomed]

While I love my Weis I can see where it would be among the bottom - they just don't keep up with trends - they get new products LAST - you know those great introductory coupons - can't use them at there.

My worst is Shoppers Food Warehouse - I went to one yesterday and it was embarrassing - the bakery markdowns were MOLDY, the prices were higher on almost every product I checked, they had not one great sale price. The checkout person was not nice at all. BLECK

[3timesoccermom]

Which one is a "Kroger" store?