Wegmans has appeared on Fortune's annual "100 Best Companies to Work For" list since the list first appeared in 1998.[8][4] The company has been listed among the top four on the "100 Best Companies to Work For" list since 2016,[4][9] but as of 2022, the company has been listed among the top six.[10]
The largest Wegmans store is located in DeWitt, New York, and measures about 160,000 square feet (15,000 square meters).[11][12] Wegmans smallest store is located in East Rochester, New York, on Fairport Road, measuring 53,000 square feet (4,900 square meters);[11][12] this is also the oldest store still in operation without a façade update, having opened in 1958.[13][14]
History
Wegmans is a privately owned company, founded in 1916 by brothers John and Walter Wegman as the Rochester Fruit and Vegetable Company.[15] Originally starting as a produce cart, the first store opened in 1917 at 72 West Main St. in Rochester, New York.[16] Wegmans is headquartered in the Rochester suburb of Gates. Danny Wegman is the chairman. His daughter, Colleen Wegman, has been president and CEO since 2017;[17] his other daughter, Nicole Wegman, is senior vice president.[15] Danny's father, Robert Wegman, who died in 2006, was the previous chairman, and was the son of co-founder Walter Wegman. During his life, Robert Wegman was a pioneer in the retail food business, as well as a generous donor to educational institutions and other charities.[18][19] On January 30, 2016, Wegmans celebrated its 100th anniversary.[20]
The Wegmans are a Roman Catholic family and have been active in donating to Roman Catholic causes. Robert B. Wegman and Peggy Wegman have donated millions of dollars to Roman Catholic schools in the Diocese of Rochester.[21][22] The National Catholic Register has praised Wegmans for being one example of "a cadre of privately held companies that have put into practice the Catholic social vision" that human dignity is of greater importance than private profit, claiming that the Wegmans business philosophy "came from the lesson the Sisters of Mercy taught [Robert B. Wegman] as a boy in Catholic elementary school".[23]John H. Garvey, former President of the Catholic University of America, delivered a speech about the Catholic origins of Wegmans at the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation's 2022 gala.[24]
Wegmans eliminated plastic bags from all of its locations by the end of 2022, with paper bags available for a charge of five cents per bag.[25]
In 1965, the chain expanded beyond the Rochester area, with a store in Hornell in the Southern Tier of New York State, then in 1968 in Syracuse,[26] and again in 1977 with its first Buffalo store.[26] The first store outside New York opened in 1993 in Erie, Pennsylvania, and the expansion continued with a store in New Jersey in 1999,[26]Virginia in 2004, Maryland in 2005, Massachusetts in 2011,[26][27]North Carolina in 2019,[28] and Washington, D.C. and Delaware in 2022.[29] As a part of the company's continued expansion efforts, Wegmans opened its fifth Maryland location in Columbia on June 17, 2012.[30] Its sixth Maryland location opened in Crofton on October 28, 2012, followed by a Germantown location on September 15, 2013.[31] Wegmans opened a store at the Montgomery Mall in North Wales, Pennsylvania, on November 3, 2013, the first store to be part of a shopping mall since the closing of the Midtown Plaza store in Rochester.[32][33]
In July 2021, Wegmans announced it would launch the company's first Manhattan store in 2023. The store opened on October 18, 2023, at 770 Broadway, the site of a former Kmart. In April 2022, Wegmans announced it would open its first Long Island location, located in Lake Grove. No opening date has been announced.[58] On June 1, 2023, the Natick store (#132), which was located in the Natick Mall, was announced to be closed later that summer. On July 23, 2023, the Natick store closed.[59]
On April 15, 2024, Wegmans announced that they will open their first store in Charlotte, North Carolina, located in the Ballantyne neighborhood, in 2026.[60]
Chase-Pitkin Home and Garden Centers
Wegmans was the parent company of Chase-Pitkin, a regional home improvement retailer. On October 4, 2005, Wegmans announced that it would close all Chase-Pitkin stores by early 2006[61] and focus on its supermarket operations. The decision to exit the home improvement business was reportedly due to the increasing dominance of national chains such as Lowe's and The Home Depot.[61] Chase-Pitkin stores were closed individually at various times throughout March 2006.[62]
Discontinuation of tobacco products
In January 2008, Wegmans announced that it would no longer sell tobacco products, due to tobacco's negative effects on human health and the environment,[63] and would offer smoking cessation programs to all employees.[64] The decision drew praise from the American Lung Association of New York State, which presented Wegmans with the Lung Champion Award.[64]
A modern Wegmans storefront circa 2010 (referred to as the "Woodmore" store—store #40). This Wegmans is in Lanham, Maryland (a Washington, D.C., suburb), the second Wegmans in MarylandA Wegmans store in Manalapan, New Jersey, in 2009 (Store #95)The interior of the Wegmans store in Montvale, New Jersey, 2017 (Store #105)Map of Wegmans stores, as of 2020
Wegmans is ranked 29th on the Supermarket News list of the Top 75 North American Food Retailers based on sales volume.[65] In 2009, Stores Magazine showed it to be the 74th-largest retailer in the United States with estimated revenues of $4.67 billion.[66] As of 2006, it was the 66th largest privately held company, as determined by Forbes.[67] On Forbes's 2005 list, Wegmans ranked 54th.[68]
Most of Wegmans' newer stores are of the superstore or megamarket type, with a large area, a variety of foods aimed at an upscale clientele, and, in many stores, Market Café in-store dining areas. From 2002 to 2009, Wegmans owned and operated Tastings, a full-service restaurant at its Pittsford, New York, store.[15] Tastings was replaced by The Food Bar, a "seafood shack"-styled restaurant in the same space; and later by The Burger Bar, serving hamburgers. Along with the Burger Bar, Wegmans offers many other food options. This includes a Sub Shop, Sushi Bar, Pizza Shop, and a Salad Bar – all of which offer quick, prepackaged items for one's convenience. Next Door by Wegmans, a stand-alone restaurant operated by Wegmans, opened across the street from the Pittsford store in 2009.
In January 2007, Wegmans announced two business ventures: (1) opening a 19,000 sq ft (1,800 m2) liquor store in Pittsford (adding to its two existing wine centers, in Virginia and New Jersey); and (2) the creation of a $28 million Culinary Innovation Center in Chili, New York, a corporate research-and-development facility, including a new central kitchen, replacing some of the operations at its meat center.[69] The liquor store opened in April 2008 as Century Pittsford Wines. The store is 45,000 sq ft (4,200 m2).[70][71] This business model has been replicated at three other New York Wegmans locations: in Buffalo, DeWitt, and Johnson City. Ownership of each liquor store is held by a different member of the Wegman family, due to New York State regulations prohibiting individuals or corporations from owning multiple liquor stores.[72]
After Wegmans updated its logo to a script font, in November 2010, Walgreens filed a trademark infringementlawsuit against Wegmans, claiming the "W" in the Wegmans logo was too similar to that of Walgreens.[73] The lawsuit was settled in April 2011, with Wegmans agreeing to discontinue use of its "W" logo by June 2012, although the supermarket retains the right to use the "Wegmans" name in script.[74] According to Jo Natale, Wegmans director of media relations, "The cost of making relatively minor changes to a limited number of products was much less than the cost of litigating this case to the end."[75]
Exterior of a Wegmans store in Amherst, New York, known as the "Alberta Drive" location (Store #82), in 2006, in the style common in the late 1990s
Wegmans offers a pick-up service called "Personal Shopping" at selected locations.[76] In June 2017, Wegmans partnered with Instacart to provide home delivery service.[77] In February 2020, Wegmans announced that its Brooklyn store would offer grocery delivery to Manhattan residents as an expansion to its Instacart partnership.[78] Delivery fees start at $3.99, and Manhattan customers are given a two- to five-hour delivery window.[79]
In April 2020, in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, Wegmans began limiting the number of people in its stores, provided its employees with masks, and installed plexiglass shields at all checkout areas.[80]
Wegmans brand
In 1979, Wegmans began offering their own house brand of some products, offering basic commodities at a lower price than national brands. Products such as toilet paper, paper towels, detergent, pasta, and many other popular food products. These Wegmans brand products are typically those that get discounted under their rewards program. The "Shoppers Club" program frequently discounts Wegmans brand products to prices that are lower than their name-brand counterparts. The Wegmans brand has gradually expanded. In 1992, it began another line of products, "Food You Feel Good About", which contain no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. The next sub-brand to be launched was Italian Classics in 1995, which introduced pastas, canned tomatoes, and olive oils imported from Italy. In 2002, Wegmans launched a line of organic products, which are labeled with a green leaf.[15][81]
Accolades and fan base
Wegmans has received much media attention for its customer fan base, organic food, hot food bar, the depth of its food selection, and employee happiness.[82]Food Network recognized it with its award for Best Grocery Store in 2007.[83]Consumer Reports subscribers voted Wegmans the top grocery store in 2017; it has held the top spot since 2006.[84] It was also profiled as part of the "Here Are The Jobs" segment on MSNBC's PoliticsNation on July 6, 2012.[85] In 2016, Market Force surveyed over 10,000 grocery store shoppers nationwide, and Wegmans was rated "America's favorite grocery store".[86]
Wegmans has a loyal fan base of customers who have received recognition for their devotion, who have lined up overnight in the thousands for a new store opening, regularly write "love letters" to the store to ask for one to open in a region not presently served, and in Northborough, Massachusetts, high school students staged a musical about the store.[87][88] The store's fans have their own Twitter hashtag "#Wegmania" and Tumblr blog.
Wegmans has also been compared to Florida-based grocery store Publix, another regional grocer. Both stores also feature bakeries, hot-food sections, and in-house brands.[89] Additionally, both stores have also been featured in Fortune magazine as one of the top 25 companies to work with.[90]
In popular culture
The Wegmans brand was used extensively in the American TV sitcom The Office. The sitcom is set in the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania, which has a Wegmans store, although the series was filmed in suburban Los Angeles.[91][92]
^Kramer, Peter D. (December 11, 2022). "'Let's See If It Works'". The Herald-News. pp. 1A. Archived from the original on July 23, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com via Wikipedia Library.
^"Wegmans Driving Park". Democrat and Chronicle. August 25, 1940. p. 17. Archived from the original on September 5, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
^"Colleen Wegman". Rochester Business Journal. BridgeTower Media. February 10, 2023. Archived from the original on September 5, 2024. Retrieved June 21, 2023 – via Gale General OneFile (Wikipedia Library).
^James Fink (January 4, 2008). "Wegmans ceasing tobacco sales". Baltimore Business Journal. Archived from the original on September 5, 2024. Retrieved January 4, 2010.
