Warehouse retailer Costco does better satisfying shoppers than Walmart, Target, JCPenney, Macy’s and five other major chains, according to Consumer Reports. All have stores in Connecticut.
The nonprofit publication that accepts no commercial advertising says its survey covered more than 26,000 readers who told the organization about their shopping experience at 10 of the nation’s major retailers.
 In its latest report, the Consumer Reports National Research Center subscribers told Consumer Reports about 55,108 shopping experiences at Costco, JCPenney, Kmart, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Meijer, Sam’s Club, Sears, Target, and Walmart.
Also for the first time, some shoppers also told Consumer Reports about their experiences at many of those retailers’ online stores.
Costco was the only chain to earn an outstanding grade for the overall quality of its merchandise, whether in stores or online. And it earned above-average scores for all 10 product categories rated, including electronic entertainment, jewelry, and sporting goods. Costco’s website did better than its walk-in stores on all counts except product quality (for which the two types tied) and earned top marks for layout, product value, and checkout.
However, in-store shoppers found a few chinks in Costco’s armor: The chain’s walk-in stores scored below average for selection, checkout (because of long lines), and service, and its shoppers were more likely than those elsewhere to complain about a lack of fitting rooms.
In addition to Costco, Kohl’s and JCPenney earned above average scores for the quality of their goods in all product categories for which we had sufficient responses. People were especially happy with the value and layout at Kohl’s stores.
Complete ratings for all 10 chains, including in-store and online ratings are available at www.ConsumerReports.org or in the March issue of Consumer Reports starting February 7, 2012.
