The Untold Truth Of Wegmans

Wegmans stores, though they are a grocery juggernaut today, have humble beginnings in New York. It was founded in Rochester in 1916, when John Wegman opened the Rochester Fruit & Vegetable Company. He was joined by his brother Walter a year later, and because the two brothers had grown up working in their parents' store, they were able to grow and sustain the business. They steered the company until 1950, when Walter's son Robert assumed the reins, and during the 1970s he expanded the business significantly. Today the store is run by Robert's son Danny, who is the chairman, and his two daughters, Nicole and Coleen, who are the president and CEO and senior vice-president, respectively.

Wegmans stores are physically large. In fact, the space that one Wegmans store occupies can be equal to double the space of other supermarkets — between 80,000 to 120,000 feet — which gives you a sense of just how big they are. Additionally, they really utilize that space, stocking it full of goods that never stay on the shelf for long. That's because Wegmans turns over its inventory as much as 100 times per year, compared to other stores who only turn inventory over 18 to 20 times. That's a significant difference, and it explains why their produce is known for being fresh. Top it off with the fact that this helps them function with minimal food waste — something they've been working on for a while — and you have a very efficient system at work. Plus minimal food waste means cheaper prices all around.

With such a hospitable working environment, it's understandable that competition for jobs at Wegmans would be healthy. But apparently, it's more than healthy — in fact, it can be downright fierce. Wegmans regularly gets thousands of applications every time it opens new stores, which is impressive, but sometimes it can be strait-up cutthroat to get your foot in the door. For example, when a new Wegmans store opened in Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania, a whopping 10,000 people applied for 500 available positions. That means it was more competitive to get a job there than it was to get into Harvard University that same year, which only admitted 5.8 percent of applicants. 

Back in 2015, Chris Christie found himself in some hot water after it was revealed that he spent $300,000 on food and alcohol over a five-year period, and charged it to an expense account. Of that $300,000, a total of $76,373 was spent at Wegmans stores during 53 separate visits to the chain. That means each visit averaged out to a little over $1,400 spent. According to an aide at the governor's office, all of those expenditures were for official purposes only, such as receptions and upkeep of the New Jersey governor's mansion, and nothing for Christie's personal use. 

Many grocery stores have prepared meals for purchase that they make on-site, like sushi, sandwiches, and rotisserie chicken. And some stores have additional specialty offerings. If you shop at Whole Foods, for example, you might be able to treat yourself to beer and oysters. Also, some grocers will have a Starbucks operating within the store so you can get fresh lattes and scones. 

But Wegmans has taken the prepared food game a step further, as some of their locations have full-on restaurants, and they're quite popular. One restaurant serves contemporary American fare, such as sushi, salads, and sandwiches. Another one specializes in high-end burgers and fries, generating long lines on Friday nights. They even have an Italian fine dining restaurant inside one of their Rochester locations, which makes its own pasta from scratch and has an extensive wine list. And of course, all of the ingredients they use are from Wegmans.

Proponents of GMO labeling have criticized Wegmans for their decision not to require labels on products that contain genetically modified ingredients. But that doesn't mean they're not supportive of the idea altogether. Rather, they want to see the directive come from the government. A statement on their website says, "We have strongly supported a national GMO definition for labeling food products.  In 2016 the US Congress enacted a GMO labeling bill which will take a couple of years to implement. Eventually consumers will have consistent, non-misleading labeling no matter who distributes the product." So while they don't require labels for now, they'll implement whatever the mandate may be.

Wegmans sells a wide variety of wines and spirits, ranging from cheap domestic standards to high-end imports from Italy and France. So there's nothing unusual about the fact that they sell Trump wine, which they have been doing since 2011. Unsurprisingly, though, in recent years this has become a controversial action, according to those who oppose the Trump administration and its policies. Some have called for a boycott on Trump wines, putting Wegmans in the middle of of a controversial situation. But as Jo Natale, the vice president of media relations for the grocer, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch, "Our role as a retailer is to offer choice to our customers," he said. "For various reasons, we are sometimes asked to stop selling a product. Our response is always the same, no matter the product: How a product performs is our single measure for what stays on our shelves and what goes." So they're attentive only to supply and demand, and don't consider this to reflect their political stances.

It's no secret among hardcore Wegmans fans that Danny Wegman has an eclectic fashion sense. He's known for wearing bold, bright colors and styles that sometimes have been known to border on the flashy. Even in corporate advertisements for the chain, he's not afraid to sport a yellow, western-inspired leather jacket, complete with fringe, casually draped over his otherwise professional getup. Devotees have also pointed out his proclivity for suit jackets in bright colors or with bold accents, which tend to turn his look into a strange combination of glam and grandpa. So he's pretty hard to miss, especially given that he drives a cherry-red, custom ferrari around town, to boot.