Supermarkets

I came across an article this morning titled 12 Worst Supermarkets in America.  On this list was Weiss, at which I have shopped a few times since they took over some of the Safeway stores in our area, otherwise known as Genuardi’s.  I didn’t have too much of a bad experience at the Weiss in West Norriton or the one in Plymouth, so I was relatively surprised to see them on this list.  Maybe because they are new stores to the area, they are on their best behavior.  The two stores I was in were clean and the prices were reasonable.  They have an incentive program going on now where you get points toward a cookware set, and the brand of the pots is the same brand of a saucepan my mother gave me a few months back.  I really like the pot and if I can get more pieces of that same brand just for shopping somewhere, it works for me.

On the list was Wal-Mart.  The thing that struck me reading the reason this chain was on the list was that despite the fact everyone loved the prices, everything else was unsatisfactory.  I found that really interesting and telling in that it seems that if the price is right, most Americans will deal with unclean stores, poor customer service, and questionable quality.  I know my personal experience shopping at Wal-Mart has always been less than satisfactory because I am frequently treated poorly.  I try to get in and out of there quickly because I just get a bad feeling there.  The store near my house is not always the cleanest and the people aren’t the friendliest.  There are no smiles and thank yous when I check out, and even the other shoppers seem grouchy.  I guess pleasantries do make a difference.

I have blogged about Wegman’s in the past and their prices are pretty reasonable considering the type of store they are.  My personal test of a good supermarket is the produce and Wegman’s has the best by far in my opinion.  Customer service is less important to me because I generally accept the fact that most shop clerks are going to be less than pleasant so when they are overly friendly it is a surprise, but customer service is not something that I would give as a reason not to go back.  Generally if the store has what I need at a reasonable price, I will shop there.  The few pennies difference I have found between Wegman’s and Weiss is worth the drive for me specifically for the fact they have what I want.  I am very happy there was no sign of Wegman’s on that list.