Funny, the most over priced store is Wegmans. I'll put up with the short comings of Wal Mart. I can save hundreds of dollars each year for the same products.

surprised that Whole Foods [known locally as , Whole Wallet] was not mentioned.

Amazing how people complain about groceries, which we have the most of in the world, just about everything at our finger tips. Now imagine living about 150 years ago and what it took to buy/gather "Groceries" and put a meal on the table - maybe then people will realize how good we really have it.

I live in the Minneapolis area, and love Aldi!!

I prefer Lou's Thrifty way for the Meat and Produce here in Rinky-Dink, podunk, sorry old Norfolk, Neb. Walmart I grudgingly go to as I have a limited income and their canned goods are affordable - barely. The Hy-Vee here (a pricey Iowa-based chain) actually sells Wensleydale cheese - quite something given the rarity of the product and the uber-right hokiness of Norfolk. Trader Joe's is a Very Nice Store, but a little spendy and even more so as Omaha is 130 miles away.....

I love the self checkout, only wish there was a basic competancy exam before you were allowed to use them. Not much worse than geting behind someone who doesn't know/understad how they work. But the WORST thing is the a**clown in the express line with half a freaking cart!

I've worked in a grocery store for a number of years and I can tell you that the biggest problem when it comes to customer service is that the company chooses to hire younger (cheaper) part time help over full time employees. These kids just work here for spending money and have no vested interest in the store or the company. They aren't sticking around anyway. When we do lose a full time employee the company will replace that position with two part timers. It's not an excuse for poor customer service but that's the reality. My company preaches good customer service all the time but it falls on deaf ears to these kids. They just don't care.

I would rather pay more then deal with the indignity and surely employee's at walmart

We have two Safeway's and a Trader Joe's within 1/2 mile, plus a Nob Hill and another(!) Safeway within a 2 mile radius of us in Sunnyvale, CA.

Each store has its advantages: Trader Joe's is good for speciality items, including frozen food, deserts, etc. Nob Hill is good for produce, prepared meatloaf, fresh-cooked chickens, etc. Safeway is good for generic stuff and carries a wider selection in general.

My biggest complaints with Safeway are occasional lacks of sale items in stock, and that they completely reorganize the store every year or so, apparently just to confuse me.

There are dozens of other stores within 5 miles, but rarely any reason to go to them. I've never been inside a WalMart.

I hate to sound like an elitist snob but I never shop at Walmart regardless of their low prices because whenever I enter a Walmart it always feels like a ghetto. Too much riff raff, welfare mommas and screaming kids in their stores!

It's almost Spring, so till the soil, buy seed and fertilizer, then plant, weed, and irrigate. Next wait 3 months while you buy food at the supermarket. Then harvest the crops and store, preserve, or freeze the food for future use. When you recover from the work, waiting, and investing in machines and fuel, go to the market and buy better food at lower cost than you spent growing your own. Then thank the farmers, buyers, processors, and marketers who put the food at our stores at reasonable prices. Ask your grandparents and great-grandparents about the price of having almost every food known to humankind available year round at the local supermarket. They will tell you to quit complaining and be thankful for the bounty.

The thing that bothers me the most is - - - THE STUPID PREFERRED CARD!!!!!!!!!!

I can see it's use in stores like Costco that are members only. Especially since Costco sells big ticket items. Other than that all it does is create an antagonistic relationship between the merchant and the customer.

It doesn't save you money I can usually find the same item for the same price or less at stores that don't have the card.

My biggest complaint is against Safeway where the clerks are taught to say your name.

I was behind two girls about 12-14 years old. They gave their home phone number to get the discount. Then the clerk said, "Thank you Ms Whatever"'

If I was a pervert I now have their home phone# and their name.

With the internet I could probably find out where they live, and who lives there. It might even be possible to come up with a floor plan of the house.

As a father alarms and bells went off all over the place.

And the bottom line is - It Doesn't Save You Any Money! Winco is certainly cheaper, as is Walmart no card required. There are other stores that are also cheaper without the card.

Not surprised at all that Wegmans is at the top. I just moved from Rochester, NY last year and I miss Wegmans! I live down in Texas now and the only sucky chain we have is HEB. I hate it! It is nothing in comparison with Wegmans.

one fourth? great way to confuse the situation. A 1/4 surely is the way to state this statistic?

here in England we have self checkouts now, do you have these? except for the obvious theiving gits that pass through them, they are much better way to shop.

Wow the results show that to be a very East Coast centric study, considering that we have only 1 of the top 5 available here in Portland (Trader Joes), OR....but I will not complain. Between Whole Foods, New Seasons, and even our Fred Meyers, we have stores that blew away anything I had when I lived in the South. I have never been in a Wegman's, but I have been in the others. Trader Joes is nice...but kitsch. If you have the means, I recommend supporting independent markets. Sure the prices are a little higher, but the quality is amazing.

Dear author: you misspelled "Fairway."

Walmart has cut to the bare bones, lees help, cut employee's hours and are trying to move to more part time help. That is why you go to Walmart and find the shelves not stocked, the meat brown, the produce wilted and the stores dirty. Cutting their own throat to save money.

Did we have a major earthquake and are the western states no longer attached to the rest of the nation? How the heck can a survey done in the northeast get reported on as having results that reflect the "nations best and worse"? Sorry to nit pick, but apart from Costco,Trader Joes, and Walmart, all the other names mean diddly squat to the most populated state.
Anyway, no biggie. The delights of FRESH AND EASY can remain a best kept secret and my grocery store free of pale skinned folks in Walmart attire :-)

Here in Lubbock we mostly use the chain United...clean stores, knowledgable and friendly staff, well stocked, and good pricing. The only time the lines are bad, in fact, is at high traffic times (5-6p and weekend afternoons). I refuse to shop at Walmart for anything refridgerated after seeing milk on the shelf in the dry foods area at room temperature.

I have shopped at many of the stores mentioned: Walmarts, Costco, A&P, Pathmark, Publix, and Whole Foods, in New York , Atlanta and Florida.

My experience is that Publix's is far superior to all of them. Stores are clean, store personnel always available to assist customers, meats and produce top quality.

Yes, prices may be a little bit higher but well worth it. As they say - you get what you pay for. The other food chains could learn a lot from Publix.