SAN DIEGO -- After four months, the grocery strike could finally be nearing an end.

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Talks between supermarket chains and the unions in the grocery labor dispute have entered their 15th straight day.

According to strikers, the word is out on the picket lines that the strike and lockout could end this week.

Those on the inside of the negotiations are optimistic, but they aren't making any predictions.

The latest round of talks in the five-month-long stalemate is the longest yet, and federal mediator Peter Hurtgen's spokesman says he's "pleased with the work of the parties on the issues." According to 10News, strikers are hopeful that the dispute will be settled soon.

"It's making us feel really hopeful because it's the first time they've been at the table for longer than a day or two without breaking off. So, the fact that they are actually discussing things and they're open -- we've been told they are getting close and that's making us very excited. We are getting our hopes up and I hope that's not a bad thing," said Sherin Berardino, a union worker.

The dispute has become the longest in the history of grocery labor and idled some 70,000 clerks at more than 850 stores. The strike has cost the stores $3.5 billion and Safeway shares have been downgraded, according to 10News.

Meanwhile, it appears supermarket chains will have their work cut out for them to lure back once-loyal customers once the strike and lockout ends.

A Los Angeles Times poll shows 59 percent of those who shopped at Ralphs, Vons, Pavilions and Albertsons before the labor dispute began say they stopped shopping there during the picketing. And 14 percent say they'll continue to shop elsewhere after a settlement is reached.