Redner's 6th on list of small chains and independents

Last year The Fresh Market and Grocery Outlet were the top two grocers on Supermarket News' list of Top 50 Small Chains and Independents, but their growth has lifted them off the list and on to the Top 75 list of the largest food retailers and wholesalers in the U.S. and Canada. Last year Grocery Outlet, based in Berkeley, CA, purchased Amelia's, a chain based in Southeastern PA.

Redner's Markets, seventh on last year's list, moved up to sixth due to the addition of three stores. Brown's Super Stores, a ShopRite operator that's part of the Wakefern cooperative, is 35th on this year's list.

Fareway Stores (Boone, Iowa) operates 102 stores and tops the list, while PAQ, Inc. of Stockton, CA is second.

Wegmans, Trader Joe's top Consumer Reports survey for best supermarket

A Consumer Reports survey released today ranks Wegmans as the top supermarket in the country, based on feedback from 24,203 readers. Wegmans has 79 stores in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maryland and Virginia.

The top five stores are as follows:

1. Wegmans
2. Trader Joe's
3. Publix
4. Fareway Stores
5. Costco

Customers cited Wegmans' quality meat and produce, clean shopping environment, "very good or exceptional" prices and service (employee courtesy and checkout speed) among the reasons it's the top supermarket. Trader Joe's and Fareway Stores also scored high in those categories. Costco scored well on all the aforementioned categories except service, which - by design - is not a focus at warehouse clubs.

The stores receiving the worst ratings are Pathmark and Walmart.