Wegmans Came In About 12% Cheaper Than Acme in a Checkbook Survey. New Jerseyans Loyal to Acme May Pay the Gap

Spend $100 a week at Acme, and the same groceries could cost about $12 less at Wegmans.

Over a year, that adds up, and it could be costing New Jerseyans loyal to Acme.

Here’s how Wegmans and Acme compared in a Philadelphia-area price survey, and what the gap could cost you.

Note: This is general information, not financial advice. Prices and survey results are subject to change.

Who Ran the Numbers

Researchers from Delaware Valley Consumers’ Checkbook priced Acme and Wegmans with the same 150-item list of common items.

The nonprofit’s stated mission is to help consumers get the best service and lowest prices.

Its site says it takes no advertising or referral fees.

To rate quality of products and service, the group surveyed local subscribers to Checkbook and Consumer Reports.

The group calls its coverage area the Delaware Valley, so this is a Philadelphia-area price check, not a statewide New Jersey survey.

Its report was last updated in November 2025, so the prices may be a year old by now.

The Same List at Both Stores

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on Jan. 2, 2026 that Wegmans came in about 12% lower than both Acme and McCaffrey’s on that list.

Say you spend $100 a week at Acme on a list like that.

By our math, the same list could come to about $88 at Wegmans.

That would be about $12 you keep.

Because Checkbook priced a 150-item list, the 12% describes that list rather than every item in the store.

Those dollars are a hypothetical built from a rounded survey figure, not a price check of your cart.

Acme's Reach Into New Jersey

Acme says on its About Us page that it operates 164 stores throughout Pennsylvania and serves shoppers in nearby New Jersey, Delaware, New York, Connecticut and Maryland.

Some Acme regulars may stay loyal to the store near home, and a gap like this could show up in your totals if you're one of them.

The catch?

That 12% describes stores around Philadelphia, so an Acme in your part of New Jersey may price items differently.

Checkbook found prices at the Acme locations it surveyed were about the same from store to store, though, so the gap doesn't look like one store's quirk.

Wegmans' store locator lists New Jersey stores in Bridgewater, Cherry Hill, Hanover, Manalapan, Montvale, Mt. Laurel, Ocean, Princeton and Woodbridge.

Giant, ShopRite, Aldi and Whole Foods

Wegmans' prices aren't among the lowest in the region, though Checkbook says they stay competitive.

Wegmans came in about 2% lower than Giant and ShopRite, and about 4% lower than Redner's, in the same survey.

By our math, that puts a list that costs $88 at Wegmans near $90 at either of the other two.

If ShopRite is your store, you'd pay about $10 less than at Acme, by our math.

Trader Joe's prices were about 14% lower than Acme's and about 3% below the all-store average.

By our math, a $100 Acme list could come to about $86 at Trader Joe's, though Checkbook used a modified market basket for that comparison.

Several of the percentages that follow compare a store with the all-store average, which is the average of every store Checkbook priced.

McCaffrey's prices were about 12% higher than that average, a different yardstick from Wegmans' 12% gap with Acme.

Aldi's prices were 35% lower than the all-store average, partly because of its smaller-format stores.

Checkbook used a modified market basket for Trader Joe's, Aldi and Lidl, which carry mostly their own brands.

Whole Foods ran about 32% above the all-store average and about 33% higher than Wegmans, two separate yardsticks.

By our math, the $88 Wegmans list could run about $117 at Whole Foods.

Quality Scores

Wegmans scored well on quality too, with 85% of surveyed customers judging it superior on each of the survey's questions on produce, meat and overall quality.

McCaffrey's, which priced above the all-store average, had 87% of surveyed customers rate it superior overall.

Checkbook calls it a store that gets raves but isn't a low-cost option.

ShopRite had 52% of surveyed customers rate it superior overall.

If Acme is your store, it's among the chains rated superior overall by fewer than 40% of surveyed customers.

Gap Over a Year

If you spend $100 a week at Acme and your store matched the survey, Wegmans could trim about $12 a week.

Over 52 weeks, that adds up to roughly $620, or about $52 a month.

At $150 a week, the same gap could save about $18 a week, which is roughly $940 over 52 weeks.

At $200 a week, it could come to about $24 a week, or roughly $1,250 a year.

At $250 a week, the same gap could save about $30 a week, or roughly $1,560 over 52 weeks.

A $300 weekly list could shrink by about $36 a week, or roughly $1,870 a year.

If ShopRite is your store, the gap with Acme could be about $10 a week on a $100 list, or roughly $520 over 52 weeks.