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 WASHINGTON, DC wrote Another Store: Great food. High prices!.......
• Subscriber from BETHESDA, MD wrote Another Store: adequate is just about correct.......
• Subscriber from BURKE, VA wrote Another Store: The Kings Park Giant NEVER has enough cashiers, lines are always LONG!!! The Burke Village..........
• Subscriber from STANARDSVILLE, VA wrote Another Store: It is a step up from Safeway, but not nearly as good as Harris Teeter...........
• Subscriber from SPRINGFIELD, VA wrote Another Store: Safeway is a good grocery chain, and I like the cheerfulness of their employees and..........
• Subscriber from ROCKVILLE, MD wrote Another Store: I've noticed a definite decline in their keeping things in stock at the Maryland Leisure..........
• Subscriber from WASHINGTON, DC wrote Another Store: Check out system and staff are best on the planet. Small paking lot is frequently..........
• Subscriber from LAUREL, MD wrote Another Store: Good stores, average, prices are better than others of same quality in my area -..........
• Subscriber from ARLINGTON, VA wrote Another Store: Expensive and limited in terms of "ordinary" items. (Don't go there for Coca Cola!) But..........
• Subscriber from RESTON, VA wrote Another Store: The Safeway at South Lakes in Reston never has enough cashiers and no self check..........
• Subscriber from WASHINGTON, DC wrote Another Store: Great food but prices are way too high!.......
• Subscriber from VIENNA, VA wrote Another Store: I love that they try to stock food that has no additives, colors, preservatives, and..........
• Subscriber from NORTH POTOMAC, MD wrote Another Store: Magruder's carries a better selection of products than Giant. It has fewer stores but it..........
• Subscriber from BETHESDA, MD wrote Another Store: I only shop there for certain things so am unable to rate on individual criteria.......
• Subscriber from NORTH BETHESDA, MD wrote Another Store: Recent changes in the Montrose Crossing Giant might have helped their bottomline, but the service..........
• Subscriber from DUMFRIES, VA wrote Another Store: Do not stock as many items as other srores. They make mistakes and do not..........
• Subscriber from COLLEGE PARK, MD wrote Another Store: Their products, especially produce and meat are fantastic. Their prices are really high, though, so..........
• Subscriber from ARLINGTON, VA wrote Another Store: WF was known for produce, but guess what, they are now not that different from..........
• Subscriber from POTOMAC, MD wrote Another Store: In the last year the quality and selection of products has fallen considerably. Products which..........
• Subscriber from RESTON, VA wrote Another Store: Variety of stock is limited, but prices for what they carry are very good. Will..........
• Subscriber from LAUREL, MD wrote Another Store: Checkout speed depends on day and hour. Typically long lines are encountered after 7 p.m...........
• Subscriber from COLUMBIA, MD wrote Another Store: Expensive.......
• Subscriber from STANLEY, VA wrote Another Store: The quality of this store has really deteriorated in the past 5 or so years,..........
• Subscriber from ARLINGTON, VA wrote Another Store: With the entry of competitors such as Harris Teeter into the market, Giant has definitely..........
• Subscriber from ARLINGTON, VA wrote Another Store: Expensive, but wotrh it. Since Giant isn't around as a hi qual operation and H-T..........
• Subscriber from ARLINGTON, VA wrote Another Store: The new renovation to make the Safeways look like Wole Foods is annoying. Yes, they..........
• Subscriber from ALEXANDRIA, VA wrote Another Store: Shopper's employees at Richmond Highway-Alexandria store are my least favorite of the supermarkets I use........
• Subscriber from WOODBRIDGE, VA wrote Another Store: I like everything about this store, especially the helpful staff........
• Subscriber from MC LEAN, VA wrote Another Store: Based on McLean, VA, Safeway Store........
• Subscriber from ALDIE, VA wrote Another Store: This used to be best priced store in the area, but not since Wegman's moved..........
• Subscriber from LEESBURG, VA wrote Another Store: Do notg load cars.......
• Subscriber from CHEVY CHASE, MD wrote Another Store: This is a rating for the Arlington Rd, Bethesda location. This chain seems to keep..........
• Subscriber from FT WASHINGTON, MD wrote Another Store: liked better than BJ's because of product selection and lower prices.......
• Subscriber from ALEXANDRIA, VA wrote Another Store: Wegman's has the best variety and prices of any other local grocery store, hands down...........
• Subscriber from ROCKVILLE, MD wrote Another Store: Giant Food grocery stores always seem brightly lit, pleasant, well organized and stocked, and squeaky..........
• Subscriber from BETHESDA, MD wrote Another Store: Prices are better than Giant, and the fruit and vegetables are of better quality. More..........
• Subscriber from HERNDON, VA wrote Another Store: Actually, the store in our neighborhood is a Bloom. Hate the jazz music that is..........
• Subscriber from SILVER SPRING, MD wrote Another Store: Checkout staff no longer ask if you found everything you were looking for since that..........
• Subscriber from GERMANTOWN, MD wrote Another Store: Fish is usually sub-par but staff is nice and usually helpful........
• Subscriber from FALLS CHURCH, VA wrote Another Store: Helpful staff. Prices for produce are high.......
• Subscriber from CHEVY CHASE, MD wrote Another Store: Not a full service store so difficult to rate in the context of a "grocery..........
• Subscriber from CHEVY CHASE, MD wrote Another Store: Beautiful produce and meats, but very very expensive!.......
• Subscriber from MC LEAN, VA wrote Another Store: This store has great prices and I have NEVER seen an overcharge (charging more than..........
• Subscriber from FAIRFAX, VA wrote Another Store: What can I say? This is my local Safeway on Willard Way in Fairfax City...........
• Subscriber from FALLS CHURCH, VA wrote Another Store: I occasionally shop at the Harris Teeter at Pentagon Row due to proximity to work...........
• Subscriber from GREENBELT, MD wrote Another Store: The staff is good, but the management tries to have as little staff on hand..........
• Subscriber from SILVER SPRING, MD wrote Another Store: Love those Joe's O's! Much better prices than the brand names........
• Subscriber from WASHINGTON, DC wrote Another Store: One of few grocery stores in my area that stocks wine and beer. Small store,..........
• Subscriber from WASHINGTON, DC wrote Another Store: This is a great family run store that offers all the convenience of a large..........
• Subscriber from ARLINGTON, VA wrote Another Store: Prices are the biggest positive. Not so good otherwise........