Grocery store chains ranked: How do YOUR grocers stack up?

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

What to Know
By Mark Fisher
June 6, 2017
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Consumer Reports has just released its annual survey and ratings of 62 supermarkets and food retailers nationwide.

How did yours rate? We culled out the grocers that do not have a presence in the Miami Valley, and narrowed it down to the list of big-name chains you see here. Smaller locally based or regionally based grocers — such as Dorothy Lane Market and Dot’s, for example — were not large enough to make the Consumer Reports list.

>> RELATED: Trader Joe’s to expand Kettering store (December 2014)

These ratings are based on responses from nearly 58,000 Consumer Reports subscribers, and they appear in the July print edition of Consumer Reports magazine.

• Trader Joe’s (with a score of 86) was the top-ranked chain that has a local presence, including a store in Kettering. It was the third-ranked chain overall in the U.S., behind Wegmans and Market Basket. Its strengths included store cleanliness, competitive prices and staff courtesy.

>>RELATED: Discounts to begin at Whole Foods today

Trader Joe’s in the Town and Country Shopping Center in Kettering. The national chain scored high in a Consumer Reports survey. FILE

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• Costco achieved a score of 85. Its strengths were competitive prices and fresh store-prepared foods. It scored lowest in local produce quantity.

• ALDI scored 83, with competitive prices its biggest strength. It too was marked down for not having local produce.

• Meijer scored 79, with readers praising its competitive prices, produce variety and selection of health options, but marking it down on checkout speed.

>> RELATED: Dorothy Lane Market takes over sushi shops 

• Kroger scored a 78, with middle-of-the-road marks in most categories, but was marked down slightly for prices of organic options and local produce quantity.

• Whole Foods also scored a 78, and was praised for meat/poultry quality and selection of health options, but ranked poorly for competitive prices.

• Sam’s Club was rated a 76, with competitive prices and fresh store-prepared foods a plus, but checkout speed and local produce quantity among the minuses.

>> GROCERY WARS: 5 things to know about the Dayton grocery market

• Walmart Supercenters ranked last in the ratings with a score of 66. It was marked down for store cleanliness, staff courtesy, checkout speed, produce quality, produce variety, meat/poultry quality and local produce variety.

Did the Consumer Reports survey get it right? And how does YOUR grocery store rate?

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About the Author

Mark Fisher, a 1981 graduate of Ohio State University and a 1976 graduate of Beavercreek High School, is a third-generation Dayton-area resident who has worked for the Dayton Daily News since 1983. He covered higher education and K-12 education accountability issues for nearly 20 years before taking over the food and dining beat in 2006.