These Are The Best Grocery Stores In Illinois, New Ranking Says

ILLINOIS — We all have a favorite grocery store in Illinois, but how well does it stack up against the others in terms of prices, promotions, quality and other measures?

The data analytics firm dunnhumby helps customers sort it out in its seventh annual Retailer Preference Index released earlier this month. The index is made up of the 65 largest U.S. retailers selling everyday food and non-food items. The ranking system looked at five categories: price, promotions, and rewards; quality; digital; operations; and speed and convenience.

Overall, Texas-based H-E-B was ranked as the top U.S. grocery store, followed by Amazon, Costco, Market Basket, Sam’s Club, Wegmans, Aldi, ShopRite, Walmart Neighborhood Market stores and Walmart, respectively.

When it comes to just quality, the list shakes out differently, with H-E-B coming in at No. 7 and outranked by No. 1 Wegmans, followed by Trader Joe’s, The Fresh Market, Sprouts Farmers Market, Fresh Thyme Market and Publix, respectively. Big Y, Harris Teeter and Lowes Foods rounded out the top 10.

Here’s a look at how well stores in Illinois ranked in other measures considered by dunnhumby:

Top in-state retailers by price are:

• ALDI: 3rd place
• Walmart: 5th place
• Food 4 Less/FoodsCo: 6th place
• Save-A-Lot: 8th place

Top in-state retailers by promotions and rewards are:

• Kroger: 6th place

When prices are combined with promotions and rewards, the top retailers are:

• ALDI: 3rd place
• Food 4 Less/FoodsCo: 5th place
• Walmart: 6th place
• Save-A-Lot: 9th place

In the speed and convenience category, top stores in Illinois are:

• Fareway Meat & Grocery: 1st place
• Aldi: 3rd place
• The Fresh Market: 8th place
• Save-A-Lot: 9th place

In the operations category, top stores are:

• Costco Wholesale: 1st place
• Sam's Club: 3rd place
• Schnucks: 9th place.