Wegmans opens mega-mega-megastore outside Boston

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

http://www.wickedlocal.com/news/20180429/wegmans-opens-location-at-natick-mall

 

 

[Marv's Neighbor]

It has a Mexican restaurant??  Is that ROC-MEX??  THey do have good burgers at their Pub.

[PromoTheRobot]

Natick is about 80-90 minutes drive from me. The Burlington, MA store is only 45. I hope Wegmans decides to enter Southern NH eventually. They are building an IKEA in Salem, NH. 

[RochesterRob]

1 hour ago, \GoBillsInDallas/ said:

http://www.wickedlocal.com/news/20180429/wegmans-opens-location-at-natick-mall

 

 

  They can do as they want as long as they maintain a presence in WNY and CNY.  There have been rumblings the last several years indicating that the Wegman family feels that the Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse area markets are losing their potency.  Which is to say there has been questions about Wegman's future here.  Tops is OK but they need to make some adjustments and perhaps shed some unprofitable locations.  The bottom line is I would hate to see towns such as Geneva, Hornell, and the other outlying areas lose needed services forcing people to travel 20, 30, or miles just for reasonably priced groceries.

[Marv's Neighbor]

47 minutes ago, RochesterRob said:

  They can do as they want as long as they maintain a presence in WNY and CNY.  There have been rumblings the last several years indicating that the Wegman family feels that the Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse area markets are losing their potency.  Which is to say there has been questions about Wegman's future here.  Tops is OK but they need to make some adjustments and perhaps shed some unprofitable locations.  The bottom line is I would hate to see towns such as Geneva, Hornell, and the other outlying areas lose needed services forcing people to travel 20, 30, or miles just for reasonably priced groceries.

We usually stop at the Williamsport PA store, on RT15, when driving between VA & NY.  It's an old store, and would hate to see it go.

[RochesterRob]

4 minutes ago, Marv's Neighbor said:

We usually stop at the Williamsport PA store, on RT15, when driving between VA & NY.  It's an old store, and would hate to see it go.

  Here's the thing.  The grocery business operates on razor thin margins so grocers have to look at their margins especially today given the economic climate in the interior Northeast.  The generation that had the strongest spending budget in recent decades is unfortunately heading for the nursing home if they have not faded away.  Those would have been the people who got in at a regional employer while companies such as Bethlehem Steel, Kodak, New Process Gear, etc were going strong and were able to work a full career and in the process get some kind of retirement.  In addition these same people picked up some hours in retirement working at Sears, WalMart, etc. to have spending power.  Younger workers do not have the jobs available to them in mass to drive the economic engines around here unlike when Eastman Kodak employed over 50,000 people in the Rochester area.  They can not spend at stores such as Wegman's unlike the previous generations.  The meat department at my local Wegman's has shrunk considerably in the last 20 years and yes while attitudes have shifted in terms of eating large volumes of meat I would suspect income limitations come into play more than dietary changes.  The bottom line for Wegman's is the bottom line and most assuredly there is a critical mass in terms of volume and selection needed to make a location go.  I fear that many smaller outlying communities have gotten too poor to support a grocer such as Wegman's or Tops.  It would not surprise me to see large grocers go away in small communities and in the poorest sections of the city that still currently have them.  There are exceptions of course such as in Ithaca where Wegman's recently put in a fancy new location.  But I would suspect operating in Ithaca is marketing to the coming affluent generations that attend Cornell and Ithaca College.  I think that any stores not in college towns that only have local populations of 10-15 thousand people are in great danger of closing.  

 

  Lastly, as the volume of product handled locally diminishes when compared to what Wegman's is doing in Boston, NJ, VA to name a few locations it will become more inefficient to distribute out of Rochester.  There has already been quiet talk about Wegman's moving operations out of Rochester at some point to be closer to I-95.  This could be a serious issue for the region in the not too distant future.

[Marv's Neighbor]

Boston & NJ may feel the effects of the new tax policy.  Not being able to write off your property taxes next year, may cause more people to leave the tax heavy NE states. 

 

Virginia is doing well, and they will be in NC soon.

[eball]

46 minutes ago, Marv's Neighbor said:

Boston & NJ may feel the effects of the new tax policy.  Not being able to write off your property taxes next year, may cause more people to leave the tax heavy NE states. 

 

Virginia is doing well, and they will be in NC soon.

 

Yes yes yes!  Set to open in Chapel Hill by 2020, literally minutes from my house.  Can't wait!

[Best Player Available]

I wonder how good their Chowda will be in beantown.

Also, will this store be TB12 approved?

[section122]

7 hours ago, RochesterRob said:

 The bottom line is I would hate to see towns such as Geneva, Hornell, and the other outlying areas lose needed services forcing people to travel 20, 30, or miles just for reasonably priced groceries.

 

I've never understood the love for Wegmans.  It may be because the one in my city is smaller but it is just another grocery store.  Wegmans is the most expensive in town for pretty much everything.  They used to be great for produce but there has been a noted downturn in the last couple of years in quality of product.  Meat department is ok but outclassed by local grocers, canned goods are much cheaper at Wal-Mart, even the sub shop has reduced their meat per sandwich and now you eat a giant roll with a little bit of meat.

 

I've been to some of the nicer ones and they are very nice but again not nicer than say a Publix.

 

So I open-mindedly ask what is so great about Wegmans?  Why does it get this mythical reputation as the grocery store to end all grocery stores?  Is it simply because it is born locally?

[Buffalo_Gal]

22 minutes ago, section122 said:

 

I've never understood the love for Wegmans.  It may be because the one in my city is smaller but it is just another grocery store.  Wegmans is the most expensive in town for pretty much everything.  They used to be great for produce but there has been a noted downturn in the last couple of years in quality of product.  Meat department is ok but outclassed by local grocers, canned goods are much cheaper at Wal-Mart, even the sub shop has reduced their meat per sandwich and now you eat a giant roll with a little bit of meat.

 

I've been to some of the nicer ones and they are very nice but again not nicer than say a Publix.

 

So I open-mindedly ask what is so great about Wegmans?  Why does it get this mythical reputation as the grocery store to end all grocery stores?  Is it simply because it is born locally?

I love Publix. For a large grocery chain, they do it right.  Baggers, people stopping and asking if you need help, the bagger always asks if you need help getting your groceries in your vehicle! They have sales - something Wegmans forgot about years ago. And, if you use a coupon you can use (2) on  the B1G1 stuff (I never had two coupons, but it is a nice perk if you did!)

I don't get the Wegmans appeal either and never have.  My closest grocery store is a Wegmans. I haven't been inside it in years.

[RochesterRob]

21 minutes ago, section122 said:

 

I've never understood the love for Wegmans.  It may be because the one in my city is smaller but it is just another grocery store.  Wegmans is the most expensive in town for pretty much everything.  They used to be great for produce but there has been a noted downturn in the last couple of years in quality of product.  Meat department is ok but outclassed by local grocers, canned goods are much cheaper at Wal-Mart, even the sub shop has reduced their meat per sandwich and now you eat a giant roll with a little bit of meat.

 

I've been to some of the nicer ones and they are very nice but again not nicer than say a Publix.

 

So I open-mindedly ask what is so great about Wegmans?  Why does it get this mythical reputation as the grocery store to end all grocery stores?  Is it simply because it is born locally?

Wegman's built their reputation in part on wide selection, quality, and being friendly to labor.  For many years until Bob Wegman passed on Wegman's funded quite a few scholarships so they were fairly community minded.

 

  I would agree that core areas such as meat and produce have declined in recent years.  What this is due to I am not quite sure of.  I know they have stopped baking core bakery items such as white bread and when I asked management the story basically came down to they had to get the per unit price down to compete (with Walmart).  Maybe the competitive pressure is felt in other areas of Wegman's such as meat and produce.  

 

  I disagree about not being competitive on pricing when it comes to basics.  I buy a core of items every week that includes bread, milk, soup, and ground beef to name  a few items.  Wegman's always has the better price on bread versus Tops.  Soup if not less is at least equal to Tops and generally under Walmart.  Ground beef is tougher to quantify as Tops does not offer 95 percent lean unlike Wegman's so I can't really direct compare.  

 

  Wegman's stores are always kept very clean and until recently I always thought Tops were not kept very clean but Tops has improved.  

 

  Lastly, there is the appeal of keeping as much money as possible in the local economy such as it is with Wegman's.  Contrast that with sending money to Arkansas via Walmart which benefits relatively few out of the Walton family none of whom makes you think of John Boy Walton.

16 minutes ago, Buffalo_Gal said:

I love Publix. For a large grocery chain, they do it right.  Baggers, people stopping and asking if you need help, the bagger always asks if you need help getting your groceries in your vehicle! They have sales - something Wegmans forgot about years ago. And, if you use a coupon you can use (2) on  the B1G1 stuff (I never had two coupons, but it is a nice perk if you did!)

I don't get the Wegmans appeal either and never have.  My closest grocery store is a Wegmans. I haven't been inside it in years.

  No Publix in this area but it really aggravates me that the local Tops runs what amounts to a skeleton crew on a late Friday morning.  I don't like self checkout and maybe I am old fashioned in that respect but that Tops only has one register crewed when I am in there.  Contrast that with the Wegman's on the same street that has at least a half dozen registers staffed including an express lane.  That tells me a lot in terms of what the public at large thinks about the one versus the other.

[RaoulDuke79]

They are in the process of building a Wegmans about 15 minutes from me which should be done sometime late summer/early fall. I'm really looking forward to it , as I hear a lot of good things. Generally, I make one or two Costco trips a month to stock up on things. I'm anxious to see how Wegmans compares.

[Buffalo716]

8 minutes ago, RaoulDuke79 said:

They are in the process of building a Wegmans about 15 minutes from me which should be done sometime late summer/early fall. I'm really looking forward to it , as I hear a lot of good things. Generally, I make one or two Costco trips a month to stock up on things. I'm anxious to see how Wegmans compares.

 

I have a wegmans and tops within 2 minutes of eachother

 

the wegmans blows the tops away in every department 

 

their prices are usually pretty good

[plenzmd1]

I also am ambivalent on Wegmans. At first was nice to grab some Buffalo comfort foods, but that wears off quick. I go there over Kroger or Publix now when I want to get beer or wine, as they carry the beer I like in the vessels i like..Kroger and Publix for some reason still think people only want bottled beer..I like all my beer in cans if possible.

 

The wegmans here is out of fresh herbs and othe produce  want just as much as Kroger..no better/ no worse

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

1 hour ago, plenzmd1 said:

I also am ambivalent on Wegmans. At first was nice to grab some Buffalo comfort foods, but that wears off quick. I go there over Kroger or Publix now when I want to get beer or wine, as they carry the beer I like in the vessels i like..Kroger and Publix for some reason still think people only want bottled beer..I like all my beer in cans if possible.

 

The wegmans here is out of fresh herbs and othe produce  want just as much as Kroger..no better/ no worse

You can't beat the 6 pound Family Pack of 90% ground beef or the Family Pack of Wegmans Sausage. (Mild, Medium or HOT)  Plus Zweigle’s Hots.

 

 

 

What sucks walking into these out of State Wegmans - No Bills hats -  Proud blah blah Redskins    

[plenzmd1]

1 hour ago, ShadyBillsFan said:

You can't beat the 6 pound Family Pack of 90% ground beef or the Family Pack of Wegmans Sausage. (Mild, Medium or HOT)  Plus Zweigle’s Hots.

 

 

 

What sucks walking into these out of State Wegmans - No Bills hats -  Proud blah blah Redskins    

I do agree, I buy the family packs of pork tenderloin, individual vacuum sealed chicken breasts, and the chicken thighs..those are great deals.

 

But man, sometimes those guys get all cranky and snotty behind their meat and seafood counter. Went there on Sunday as I needed beer and decided on some clam spaghetti for dinner..dude got cranky with me when I asked to see the bag as I wanted to see the harvest and pack date. When it was close to two weeks and I told him no thanks, he was like "we would not have them in the case if they were bad" ..I said fine, I don't want littlenecks that have been harvested almost two weeks ago. 

 

 

[section122]

14 hours ago, RaoulDuke79 said:

They are in the process of building a Wegmans about 15 minutes from me which should be done sometime late summer/early fall. I'm really looking forward to it , as I hear a lot of good things. Generally, I make one or two Costco trips a month to stock up on things. I'm anxious to see how Wegmans compares.

 

2 different stores.  Costco is much more like a BJs or Sams Club.  Wegmans is just a regular grocery store.

 

14 hours ago, Buffalo716 said:

 

I have a wegmans and tops within 2 minutes of eachother

 

the wegmans blows the tops away in every department 

 

their prices are usually pretty good

 

Yeah the Tops near me is very run down.  They have a weekly meal deal though that can't be beat.  Whatever is on special is discounted then a bunch of complimentary items are also discounted.  For example pot roast will be on sale, if you buy gravy, carrots, etc... you get a deal on all of them as well and usually a free 12 pack of water.  It is worth the trip just for that one deal.  Other than that and prepared foods, Wegmans is the better store.

 

2 hours ago, ShadyBillsFan said:

You can't beat the 6 pound Family Pack of 90% ground beef or the Family Pack of Wegmans Sausage. (Mild, Medium or HOT)  Plus Zweigle’s Hots.

 

 

This reminded me of another annoying Wegmans thing.  They will regularly and routinely be out of name brand items while pushing their store brand.  Wegman's as a store brand isn't bad but I prefer Giannelli sausage.  Their Gardineria also decent but I prefer Mezzetta.  It seems purposeful.  Small things I know but they add up.

 

Their family pack of chicken breast and ground beef though is on point.  

 

Zweigles sucks Hoffman forever!!!! 

[PromoTheRobot]

Pretty much every supermarket innovation, from in-store pharmacies, florists to prepared foods and cafes, Wegman's developed the concept. They're considered trendsetters in the supermarket industry.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

5 hours ago, section122 said:

This reminded me of another annoying Wegmans thing.  They will regularly and routinely be out of name brand items while pushing their store brand.  Wegman's as a store brand isn't bad but I prefer Giannelli sausage.  Their Gardineria also decent but I prefer Mezzetta.  It seems purposeful.  Small things I know but they add up.

 

Their family pack of chicken breast and ground beef though is on point.  

 

Zweigles sucks Hoffman forever!!!! 

Wife and kids like hot dogs. 

 

Im all eyetalian sausages