Consumer Reports always delivers the information that shoppers need to know: what's out there, what is (and isn't) good about it and whether or not it is worth the price or time involved. More often than not, they are evaluating products, but in a recent study, they took a look at some of the stores that sell them.
Based on a survey of more than 20,000 consumers, CR found that the three most important things to grocery shoppers were "short lines, low prices, [fresh] produce," though good service and clean stores were also important. Most shoppers went to multiple stores each week or each month to pick up all the things they needed, shopping for produce at one store and dry goods at another. But using these criteria as a baseline, five supermarkets came out ahead: Wegmans Food Markets, Trader Joe's, Publix Super Markets, Raley's and Whole Foods Markets. All five had a desirable combination of qualities that kept shoppers coming back regularly.
