America’s Best 500 Stores Ranked

What stores offer exceptional shopping experiences in the United States? One answer to that question can be found in newspaper USA Today‘s “America’s Best Stores 2025” rankings, which recognize 500 companies—both brick-and-mortar and online—that consumers say they favor most.

In all, 80 retailers, ranging alphabetically from Ace Hardware to Zenni Optical, received top 5-star ratings in the survey. (The remaining 420 listings consist of firms that nabbed 4.5- or 4-star ratings.)

In her review of the results, USA Today staffer Saman Shafiq wrote: “Does a good store experience even matter? The short answer is yes. Sixty-five percent of consumers find a positive experience with a brand to be more influential than good advertising, according to a report by PwC, a multinational consulting and auditing firm.

“Customers who had the best experience spend 140% more than those who had a bad or less-than-great experience, according to research by the Harvard Business Review. Furthermore, research by global analytics firm Nielsen determined that 92% of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family over any other form of advertising. Positive in-store experiences can lead to increased word-of-mouth referrals, which ultimately benefit stores.”

The rankings, developed by USA Today in collaboration with research partner Plant-A Insights Group, were based on public data and a large-scale confidential online survey of U.S. customers. More than 65,000 customers contributed nearly half a million reviews, evaluating stores on these criteria:

• Product Quality and Variety
• Price-Value Ratio
• Safety and Trust
• Delivery and Shipping
• Customer Service
• Usability
• Website Design

Click here for more from the rankings, including the full roster of 500 rated retailers.