DENVER — Employees at a King Soopers location in Denver’s Green Valley Ranch (GVR) neighborhood are speaking out after a website recently ranked the store the second-worst grocery store in the U.S.
The website Solitaired.com recently released its annual ranking of grocery stores across the country based on Google reviews.
The King Soopers at 18605 Green Valley Ranch Boulevard ranked second on its list of The 50 Worst Grocery Stores in the U.S.
More than 1,500 shoppers of the Green Valley Ranch location have submitted reviews, giving the store an overall rating of 3.4 stars.
Top 10 Worst Grocery Stores in the U.S.
According to the store's Google review section, common complaints include empty shelves, rude customer service, and long checkout lines.
However, when Denver7 visited the store Monday, we didn’t see long lines at the check stands and the shelves seemed well stocked.
We talked to a few employees who didn’t want to be identified or appear on camera, and one of them said they felt the low ranking was unfair.
They told Denver7 that they try their best with the employees and resources they have and feel that Google reviewers “threw them under the bus.”
Shoppers were also surprised by the ranking.
One man told Denver7 that he feels comfortable at the location and doesn't understand why the GVR King Soopers was ranked so low, suggesting the store’s age may play a role.
The interior of the GVR store did appear somewhat dated.
Neal Taparia, the author of the Solitaired.com survey, explained that the March 2025 analysis looked at “Google reviews from the 100 most populated cities in the United States, focusing on the first 30 grocery store results in each city.”
From those 30, they filtered it down to retailers with just three stars or lower and focused on keywords like “price,” “rude,” “unfriendly,” “long,” and “line.”
Green Valley Ranch is not alone
Colorado grocery stores were heavily featured in the rankings, with two other locations landing in the Top 10 Worst Grocery Stores list.
King Soopers’ Aurora location ranked third, while a Safeway in Denver took the seventh spot.
Colorado grocery stores also dominated the website’s Top 10 Grocery Stores with the Worst Customer Service, with the King Soopers GVR store coming in at #6, just behind the grocery chain’s Quebec Street location, which was ranked #4 in the nation.
Top 10 Grocery Stores with the Worst Customer Service
Denver7 contacted Kroger, King Soopers' parent company, for a response but has not heard back.
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