Giant and Safeway dominate the area's supermarket scene. Unfortunately, our recent price shopping reveals neither is a standout for price, and our customer surveys show neither particularly wows its customers when it comes to quality or service. On the bright side, many area shoppers live near stores that at least beat the big chains either for price or for quality, and there is one chain that beats them soundly for both.

Read our article and findings (available exclusively to CHECKBOOK subscribers)

Back to Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK Table of Contents.

Sample Subscriber Comments/Reviews About Supermarkets

CHECKBOOK provides subscriber comments on their experiences with the firms they use. Please remember that individual subscriber comments are informal. Subscriber comments may give you insight into the types of features and problems that exist in a service field, but are not the best basis for selecting or rejecting a specific firm. To assess the quality of a firm's performance, we recommend that you give more weight to the percentages of favorable ratings. Those percentages are generally based on much larger numbers of consumers' ratings (the number of consumer ratings is noted above).

As You Can See Below, Some Supermarkets Get High Praise from Their Customers. Some Others Don't. So Choose Carefully.
Here Are a Few Samples of the Thousands of Comments CHECKBOOK Has Collected on Hundreds of Different Supermarkets.

• Subscriber from SILVER SPRING, MD wrote Another Store: the staff is very friendly and produce is good........
• Subscriber from SPRINGFIELD, VA wrote Another Store: expensive but clean and cheerful.......
• Subscriber from BETHESDA, MD wrote Another Store: Good prices; adequate quality........
• Subscriber from GAITHERSBURG, MD wrote Another Store: Our Giant just remodelled; it is much more attractive. They also re-installed the fresh fish..........
• Subscriber from ARLINGTON, VA wrote Another Store: Prices are usually better than Harris Teeter or Giant, and better food selection, but checkout..........
• Subscriber from OAKTON, VA wrote Another Store: Costco experiences tend to be frustrating at times. At least once or twice a year..........
• Subscriber from GREAT FALLS, VA wrote Another Store: Best baked goods, cheeses, and fish/meat for the money anywhere.......
• Subscriber from POTOMAC, MD wrote Another Store: Prices are reliable -- almost always the best of major stores and quality is almost..........
• Subscriber from BRISTOW, VA wrote Another Store: Would use them more often if they were closer to us........
• Subscriber from ALEXANDRIA, VA wrote Another Store: Fabulous food, sometimes not enough to make up for lousy parking, sky-high prices........
• Subscriber from BETHESDA, MD wrote Another Store: quality has deteriorated.......
• Subscriber from STANLEY, VA wrote Another Store: For a "big box store", Costco is my favorite........
• Subscriber from GREAT FALLS, VA wrote Another Store: Maintains stock of "old fashioned" but handy non-food and food items, and perhaps the best..........
• Subscriber from OLNEY, MD wrote Another Store: The store has changed owners and no longer carries the store generic brands for some..........
• Subscriber from ANNANDALE, VA wrote Another Store: Drop items with no warning or explanation. Change product layouts for no apparent reason or..........
• Subscriber from BETHESDA, MD wrote Another Store: Only complaint is that their nearest store in 10+ miles away from Bethesda. Wish they..........
• Subscriber from CLINTON, MD wrote Another Store: Giant has improved in the past year. At one point they were SO bad that..........
• Subscriber from WASHINGTON, DC wrote Another Store: Product quality and staff knowledge exceed expectations in every respect. Lower prices on comparable items..........
• Subscriber from POTOMAC, MD wrote Another Store: Giant stores vary widely by location. The one in Potomac Village is very good, especially..........
• Subscriber from SPRINGFIELD, VA wrote Another Store: yet another non-union store with TOO-HIGH prices! at least one can assume those high prices..........
• Subscriber from CAPON BRIDGE, WV wrote Another Store: Hamilton Street store in Hyattsville is greatly improved in the past year - in stock..........
• Subscriber from POTOMAC, MD wrote Another Store: This is about the Safeway in Potomac, MD. A pretty dingy store........
• Subscriber from ADELPHI, MD wrote Another Store: Today only one checker was available; there wer 12 people in line to check out........
• Subscriber from FAIRFAX, VA wrote Another Store: The most annoying thing about my Safeway is the speed of checkout. No matter when..........
• Subscriber from ALEXANDRIA, VA wrote Another Store: Giant is a high quality store. Their prices seem to have gone up about 10..........
• Subscriber from GREENBELT, MD wrote Another Store: Very difficult to find a staff member........
• Subscriber from LAUREL, MD wrote Another Store: Giant has deterioated since being bought our by the Dutch company! However, it is still..........
• Subscriber from WASHINGTON, DC wrote Another Store: limitd variety of offers...often run out of standard items.......
• Subscriber from FAIRFAX, VA wrote Another Store: Ratings depend on which Shoppers you shop at - these ratings are for the Shoppers..........
• Subscriber from MC LEAN, VA wrote Another Store: Whereas we usually go to the McLean Giant, I have found the Falls Church Giant,..........
• Subscriber from GAITHERSBURG, MD wrote Another Store: As long as you aren't looking to do all shopping (drugstore, paper goods, misc.) in..........
• Subscriber from FX STATION, VA wrote Another Store: A fine grocery store with relativley reasonable prices........
• Subscriber from ELLICOTT CITY, MD wrote Another Store: Customer service under the aegis of Stop and Shop has deteriorated........
• Subscriber from KENSINGTON, MD wrote Another Store: A small store with some very good prices.......
• Subscriber from WASHINGTON, DC wrote Another Store: Good for buying in bulk certai items, especially meat and basic produce, milk, dry goods..........
• Subscriber from ROCKVILLE, MD wrote Another Store: One on Muddy Branch Rd seems to be going downhill a bit. Too few people..........
• Subscriber from ARLINGTON, VA wrote Another Store: The Harrison-Lee store in Arlington is configured so that you have to go upstairs for..........
• Subscriber from HAYMARKET, VA wrote Another Store: Wegman's is simply the best! Meats & produce departments are superior to any supermarket in..........
• Subscriber from OAKTON, VA wrote Another Store: They are trying to compete ith Wegmans and the prices are better because of it...........
• Subscriber from CHEVY CHASE, MD wrote Another Store: Way expensive, but very good meat and produce........
• Subscriber from WASHINGTON, DC wrote Another Store: I can't add much more than what I assume other people have written. They do..........
• Subscriber from MC LEAN, VA wrote Another Store: McLean Safeway needs better management........
• Subscriber from BETHESDA, MD wrote Another Store: Not all Safeways are equal. I am rating the Safeway in Potomac, MD. Other Safeways..........
• Subscriber from SILVER SPRING, MD wrote Another Store: SALE ITEMS NOT AVAILABLE. NO BACK UP STOCK. NO ON FLOOR HELP.......
• Subscriber from ANNANDALE, VA wrote Another Store: Great store for some items........
• Subscriber from POTOMAC, MD wrote Another Store: Nothing special in any way-price, quality. variety. A generic store.......
• Subscriber from MANASSAS, VA wrote Another Store: way to go Giant Food!!.......
• Subscriber from BOWIE, MD wrote Another Store: Great store. I always shop here........
• Subscriber from MCLEAN, VA wrote Another Store: Giant is much better........
• Subscriber from POTOMAC, MD wrote Another Store: Trader Joe's isn't necessarily the best place for produce, but their frozen and packaged goods..........