Thank you for posting this - you said what I have been trying to articulate for days. The first time I shopped at a Publix I thought "THIS is what Floridians flock to? These poor people have never seen a Jewel-Osco."wnetmacman wrote:Brand Perception is a very broad term. However, negative brand perception can start with a retailer at the door. Any portion of activity in a store can result in negative brand perception. Walmart has a negative brand perception in their grocery section. In general. While this has been going on since the 90's, it still exists. Albertsons has negative brand perception on pricing. Publix has some. HEB has some. All brands have some negative perception.pseudo3d wrote:Brand perception is different than the perception of produce quality, so it's not just "I feel like King Soopers is better than Ralphs". In terms of sample sizes, that is true, and it is somewhat accurate. I think most of us would agree that Publix is superior to Safeway overall, but even that's going to be a bit skewed since neither store directly competes (for statistical purposes, Florida would be excluded) and they didn't in 2014 anyway, where Publix ranked 2 and Safeway ranked 58. And where stores do directly compete they tend to cluster together...why are the Northeastern grocers rank so poorly, and if they really are that bad (doubtful), then is Wegmans unremarkable and bland but only "good" because it's miles better in comparison. But that's not true, either. I also doubt that Bostonians have particularly terrible grocery stores (in 2014, Shaw's ranked 64 and Stop & Shop ranked 60). And why do the usual suspects get the same ranking (+/- a few places, depending on new and deleted entries) year after year, anyway?
There are general trends on what stores are better but everything here is largely either "deserves better" or "too much credit".
If you don't live in a particular area, you really can't judge the brand perception. I don't live in Texas any longer, so I don't judge HEB. I don't live in Florida, so I don't judge Publix. I don't live in New England, so I can't judge Star Market. I haven't lived in Illinois in 43 years, so I can't judge Jewel-Osco. Any time you step into a store outside your particular area, you judge them against your area. Certainly, if I were shopping at Jewel-Osco and it didn't meet the standards of a Rouses (like I have here), I would rate it lower. That's where these ratings come from!!! Chicagoans FLOCK to Jewel like the plague. Most of Florida swears by Publix. Star Markets continues to operate in New England. 70% of Texas only buys from HEB. Why? Because the local brand perception is better.
One thing I will add is some of the comparisons are invalid. Trader Joe's and Whole Foods are not comparable to any traditional supermarket. Wegman's, which is spread across the Eastern Seabord, has only three more stores in its entire chain than Jewel-Osco has in Cook County, IL. QFC, Fry's, Smith's, and Ralphs are all divisions of Kroger and share decor packages but they are completely different sets of stores.