Skip to headerSkip to main contentSkip to footer
Get our Free E-newslettersGet our Free E-newsletters
Kiplinger logoLink to homepage
Get our Free E-newslettersGet our Free E-newsletters
Subscribe to Kiplinger
Subscribe to Kiplinger
Save up to 76%
Subscribe
Subscribe to Kiplinger
  • Store
  • Home
  • Investing
  • Retirement
  • Taxes
  • Personal Finance
  • Your Business
  • Wealth Creation
    • Podcasts
    • Economic Outlooks
    • Tools
    • Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine
    • The Kiplinger Letter
    • The Kiplinger Tax Letter
    • Kiplinger's Investing for Income
    • Kiplinger's Retirement Report
    • Store
    • Manage My E-Newsletters
    • My Subscriptions
Skip advert
  • Home
  • Smart Buying
Smart Buying

8 Secrets Wegmans Shoppers Need to Know

The most celebrated grocery chain in the nation is 100 years old, but you’ve probably never heard of it.

by: Bob Niedt
February 21, 2019

Courtesy Wegmans

Skip advert

The most celebrated grocery chain in the nation is 100 years old, but you’ve probably never heard of it. And even if you have, you’ve probably never set foot in one of its stores. The retailer recently dethroned Trader Joe’s as America’s favorite supermarket, yet you won’t find its stores in 44 states.

But don’t fret for Wegmans. What the Rochester, N.Y., company lacks in name recognition and geographic reach, it makes up for in other ways. Wegmans stores are bigger and more abundantly stocked than those of rival chains, and its shoppers exhibit a cult-like devotion to its products and service. Case in point: You might need a reservation – a reservation! – to eat at one of Wegmans’ in-store restaurants.

I’m no stranger to Wegmans. I shopped there frequently during my many years living in Upstate New York. I also covered Wegmans and the Wegman family for two decades in my job as a business journalist in Syracuse, getting an inside look at what makes the company tick. Here’s what you’ll want to know before you make your first trip.

  • 21 Secrets to Shopping at Costco
Skip advert
Skip advert
Skip advert

1 of 8

Stores Are Really, Really Big

Courtesy Wegmans

Skip advert

The shopping experience at Wegmans is rich. And textured. And huge. Stores range in size from 75,000 square feet to 140,000 square feet, versus 46,000 square feet for a typical supermarket, according to the Food Marketing Institute, a trade group for food retailers and suppliers. The open, airy layout begins with a signature produce section that evokes a European market. Bins are piled high with fruits and vegetables that often are in season and locally sourced.

Choices abound. Wegmans stocks up to 70,000 products in its larger stores, while the average supermarket carries about 42,000 products. Expect to be bombarded with free samples (along with cooking demonstrations and recipes) on the busiest shopping days.

The approach is paying off for Wegmans. Annual per-store sales at its Boston-area locations top $80 million, while competitors’ sales average $30 million, Andrew Wolf, managing director for BB&T Capital Markets, told the trade publication Supermarket News.

“So each [Wegmans] location is doing the equivalent of two or three other stores,’’ says Wolf.

 

Skip advert
Skip advert
Skip advert

2 of 8

Good Luck Finding a Location Near You

Courtesy Wegmans

Skip advert

Wegmans’ stores might be big, but the company’s national footprint is small. There are just 89 locations in six states: Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Live anywhere else and you’re out of luck. By comparison, Kroger operates 2,778 grocery stores in 35 states.

Founded in Rochester, N.Y., a century ago, Wegmans didn’t even expand outside of its hometown until the 1960s. Its first out-of-state store, in Pennsylvania, opened in 1993. Since then, the company has slowly spread in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.

Thirteen new Wegmans stores are in development, including five in Virginia; two each in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts; one in Maryland; and one in Brooklyn, the first foray into New York City. As for new states, Wegmans is exploring expansion into North Carolina.

 

  • 6 Things You Can Get at Costco Without a Membership
Skip advert
Skip advert
Skip advert

3 of 8

Prices Are Competitive

Courtesy Wegmans

Skip advert

The downside of Wegmans’ huge selection and abundant product displays is the perception that its prices are higher than competitors’ prices. According to Jim Hertel, senior vice president at Willard Bishop, a retail industry consulting firm owned by Inmar Analytics, that’s not necessarily the case. In particular, Wegmans’ store-branded products can be a bargain.

“The quality is as good as the national brand,’’ says Hertel. “And if a national brand costs $1, a typical store brand costs 82 cents.”

  • We puts Wegmans’ store brands to the test against the store brands of three competitors in Northern Virginia: Giant, Harris Teeter and Whole Foods. We compared regular non-sale prices on a basket of eight everyday items: a can of diced tomatoes, a jar of pasta sauce, a box of dried spaghetti, a can of tuna, a half-gallon of 1% milk, a large container of plain yogurt, a dozen Grade A eggs and a package of frozen corn. We didn’t factor in savings from coupons or store loyalty programs.

The winner: Wegmans. Of the four stores, the basket of eight store-brand items cost the least at Wegmans ($14.62), followed by Giant ($15.03), Harris Teeter ($20.00) and Whole Foods ($21.13).

 

  • 12 Biggest Shopping Mistakes at the Supermarket
Skip advert
Skip advert
Skip advert

4 of 8

It’s a Good Place for Dinner…or a Date

Courtesy Wegmans

Skip advert

Wegmans is more than just a supermarket. Many visitors to its stores are hanging out, eating a meal and socializing, in addition to stocking up on groceries. Analysts who track the industry call this trend destination retailing.

“Most supermarkets are around 45,000 square feet, and shoppers can’t wait to get out,” says Phil Lempert, a supermarket industry analyst who runs SupermarketGuru.com. “Wegmans’ stores are double that size and more, and shoppers want to spend the day there -- to shop, to see their friends and to enjoy the wonderful prepared foods.”

  • To encourage lingering, the company has been rolling out restaurant concepts located within or adjacent to its stores. Some locations even accept reservations. The Pub, for example, serves craft beers and dressed-up bar fare. Amore specializes in Italian food and wine. The menu at Next Door ranges from seared fois gras to sushi. There’s also a Burger Bar and a Seafood Bar.

“The culture of shopping has changed,” says Lempert. “Millennials shop differently than baby boomers or Gen X. They never want to eat the same thing twice in their lifetime.”

 

  • 11 Tricks to Shopping at Amazon's Whole Foods
Skip advert
Skip advert
Skip advert

5 of 8

Everybody (Hearts) Wegmans

Courtesy Wegmans

Skip advert

Wegmans has been piling up accolades for years. As an employer, it’s been on Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list every year since 1998, ranking No. 4 in 2016. (It was No. 1 in 2005.) It also ranks fourth on Forbes’ list of “America’s Best Employers” for 2016. Wegmans employs more than 46,000 workers.

Customers like it, too. Wegmans was picked as America’s favorite grocer in a recent survey of 10,000 shoppers by Market Force Information. Publix finished in second place, followed by Trader Joe’s, which had held the top spot for four years in a row. Wegmans also ranked first among supermarkets in the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index, ahead of Trader Joe’s.

Need more proof of its popularity? Wegmans says more than 4,000 people contacted the company in 2015 asking for stores to be opened in their communities.

 

Skip advert
Skip advert
Skip advert

6 of 8

Competitors Copy Its Practices

Courtesy Wegmans

Skip advert

Even if you’ve never been to a Wegmans, you’ve likely seen Wegmans’ influence in your local supermarket. The chain’s practices are widely imitated in the industry.

“We go around the country, and we see evidence that other retailers have visited a Wegmans,” says Hertel, the retail industry consultant. “There are signs all over the place.’’

Those covered shopping cart corrals in your grocer’s parking lot? The Wegmans effect, he says. The design protects the expensive carts during harsh Upstate New York winters. If you walk into the produce section and see bananas selling for 39 cents a pound, that’s a Wegmans touch, too. Hertel says displaying the cheap fruit front and center creates an impression of value for shoppers entering the store. Tilt tables showcasing mounds of fresh produce? Wegmans, again.

  • “Many, many grocers have gone to school on Wegmans,” says Hertel.

 

Skip advert
Skip advert
Skip advert

7 of 8

The Wegman Family Still Runs the Business

Courtesy Wegmans

Skip advert

Wegmans traces its origins to 1916, when brothers Walter and John Wegman were peddling fresh produce to the citizens of Rochester. The company has been privately owned and family operated ever since. Robert Wegman, son of Walter, joined the business full time in the 1930s. He assumed leadership in 1950 and guided Wegmans’ expansion as chairman until his death in 2006.

Wegmans’ current CEO is Danny Wegman, son of Robert. He joined the company in 1964. One of Danny’s two daughters, Colleen, is president of Wegmans (pictured here on a store tour). The other daughter, Nicole, is a senior vice president. Both are in their forties, planting the Wegmans name firmly in the executive lineup for years to come.

  • Independence is unusual in the rapidly consolidating supermarket industry. Among the latest grocery-store mergers: Albertsons snatched up Safeway in 2015, and Kroger acquired Harris Teeter in 2014. But Wegmans seems to be in good hands. Annual sales hit $7.9 billion last year, up from $7.4 billion in 2014, placing Wegmans at No. 33 on trade publication Supermarket News’s “Top 75 Supermarkets” list based on sales volume.

 

  • 13 Worst Things to Buy on Amazon
Skip advert
Skip advert
Skip advert

8 of 8

Say ‘Cheese’

Courtesy Wegmans

Skip advert

Many Wegmans shoppers rave about the cheese selection. And why not? Visit the “Cheese Shop” on Wegmans.com and you’ll find more than 300 kinds to choose from. And we’re not talking Kraft Singles. Wegmans’ fancy cheeses venture into the gourmet realm of cave-ripened bries, camemberts and triple cremes.

  • The secret to Wegmans’ success? It operates its own cheese caves -- sort of. There are no stalagmites sticking up or bats hanging down. Rather, Wegmans built a high-tech facility near Rochester to replicate the effect that cave ripening has on cheese.

Aging cheese in natural caves is a long-established practice in Europe. The controlled climate allows “good” bacteria and mold to go to work on cheese and enhance (ripen, in cheese-speak) the flavor. Wegmans’ eight artificial cheese caves housed within the facility perform the same function.

“Our customers will get a cheese that’s absolutely perfect, with the taste and texture they prefer, every time,” Cathy Gaffney, who oversees cheese for Wegmans, said when the cheese caves went into operation in 2014.

 

Skip advert
Skip advert
Skip advert
  • family savings
  • spending
  • Smart Buying
Share via EmailShare on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn
Skip advert
Skip advert
Skip advert
Skip advert

Recommended

Prepare for Painful Utility Bills, Gas Station Visits
spending

Prepare for Painful Utility Bills, Gas Station Visits

While brutal pump prices are dominating the headlines, consumers also are absorbing rapidly escalating utility bills.
June 14, 2022
Why Are Gas Prices Still Going Up?
spending

Why Are Gas Prices Still Going Up?

The cost of a gallon of gas is at an all-time high. What’s driving the surge and will gas prices go down anytime soon?
June 13, 2022
Beneficiary Designations: 5 Critical Mistakes to Avoid
retirement

Beneficiary Designations: 5 Critical Mistakes to Avoid

You may be surprised at how easy it is to make an expensive mistake with your beneficiary designations. Here's how to help avoid the five most common …
June 6, 2022
30 Best Kirkland Products You Should Buy at Costco
Costco

30 Best Kirkland Products You Should Buy at Costco

Many of warehouse club Costco's store-branded Kirkland Signature items get high marks for quality and value. Check out our picks.
June 3, 2022

Most Popular

I’m Retired. Should I Pay Off My Mortgage?
retirement

I’m Retired. Should I Pay Off My Mortgage?

It’s a simple question. The right answer for you could depend on this: Where would you pull the money from to do it?
June 20, 2022
Your Guide to Roth Conversions
Special Report
Tax Breaks

Your Guide to Roth Conversions

A Kiplinger Special Report
February 25, 2021
7 Standout Places to Retire
Best Places

7 Standout Places to Retire

We picked cities across the U.S. that are affordable and offer the amenities retirees value most. Plus, one of them is bound to be close to family.
June 17, 2022
  • Customer Service
  • About Us
  • Advertise With Us (PDF)
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Kiplinger Careers
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy Preferences

Subscribe to Kiplinger's Personal Finance

Be a smarter, better informed investor.
Save up to 76%Subscribe to Kiplinger's Personal Finance
Do Not Sell My Information

Kiplinger is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site www.futureplc.com
© Future US LLC, 10th floor, 1100 13th Street NW, Washington, DC 20005. All rights reserved.

Follow us on InstagramFollow us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterConnect on LinkedInConnect on YouTube