It started to ramp up in 2007 and 2008: Members of the Wegman family -- operators of one of the biggest and most beloved grocery store chains in New York state -- were buying up existing wine and liquor stores.
Today, Wegman family members, some of whom hold key positions with the grocery chain, own and operate at least six liquor stores around the state. All are adjacent to Wegmans food stores. (See timetable and details below).
That's not illegal, on its own. New York prohibits grocery stores from selling wine or liquor (though they can sell beer). State law also prohibits any one individual or corporate entity from owning more than one liquor store.
But state law says that as long as the liquor stores operate independently of each other, and independent of corporate ownership, they are legal.
Read more: Why state regulators came down so hard on Wegmans and its affiliated liquor stores.
Dick Blume
So the fact that Wegmans Food Markets CEO Danny Wegman (above right) operates the Century Liquor & Wine store near Rochester is not illegal. His daughter, Nicole, is not violating the law by operating Amherst St. Wines & Liquors in Buffalo. Nor is Danny Wegman's son-in-law, Chris O'Donnell, in violation by owning Liquor City in the Syracuse suburb of DeWitt. O'Donnell is married to Danny Wegman's other daughter, company president Colleen Wegman (above left),
Last month, however, the State Liquor Authority announced it did find legal violations in the Wegmans liquor store set-up. The agency accused the food market chain of illegally controlling five of the family-operated liquor stores by managing operations like purchasing, dealing with wholesalers and setting prices. Wegmans and the stores did not contest the charges, and together paid $1.1 million in fines.
SLA Chairman Vincent Bradley warned both Wegmans and five family-owned liquor that continued or future violations could cause the agency to revoke their liquor licenses.
Five Wegman-family owned liquors stores were part of the SLA's case: Amherst St. Wine & Liquor in Buffalo; Whitehouse Liquor & Wine in Rochester; Century Wine & Spirits in Pittsford; Liquor City in DeWitt, and Johnson City Liquor & Wine in Johnson City.
A spokesman for Wegmans and the lawyer for the five liquor stores declined to comment for this story. Wegmans has denied controlling the liquor stores.
Here's a look at how the Wegman-affiliated liquor network came to be, and some of the ways it operates:
The earliest connection between a Wegmans family member and a liquor store appears, from state records, to be at the Whitehouse Liquor & Wine store. Gail Wegman Tobin, sister of Danny Wegman, owned the store with her husband from 1992 until her death in 2016. It was originally on Monroe Avenue in Brighton, and the Tobins moved it in 2012 to 650 Hylan Drive in Henrietta, next to the Marketplace Wegmans. It is now owned by Erin Brooks, Gail Tobin's daughter and Danny Wegman's niece.
Whitehouse Liquor & Wine, Rochester
Address: 650 Hylan Drive, Rochester (Henrietta)
Owner: Erin Brooks
Filed for license: May 9, 2012
Connection to Wegmans family: Erin Brooks is the daughter of the late Gail Wegman Tobin, the sister of Danny Wegman. The Tobins had owned the store since 1992.
Nearest Wegmans food market: There's a Wegmans next door to liquor store.
The family's next entry into the wine and liquor store business is, perhaps not coincidentally, adjacent to the store considered the "flagship" of the 95-location grocery chain.
Century Liquor & Wines is in Pittsford Plaza, on Monroe Avenue in the Rochester suburb of Pittsford. The big food store is nearby in Pittsford Plaza West. The liquor and wine store was founded in 1967 by Sherwood Deutsch. He sold it in 2007 to Nicole Wegman, now the senior vice president of Wegmans Food Markets. In 2012, she sold it to her father, Daniel R. (Danny) Wegman, the grocery chain's CEO.
It's Danny Wegman's name that now appears on the license for Century Liquor and Wines, also known as Pittsford Century Wines & Spirits..
Nicole Wegman, meanwhile, went on to purchase a share in a Buffalo liquor store.
Century Wines & Spirits, Pittsford (Rochester)
Address: 3349 Monroe Ave., Pittsford (Pittsford Plaza)
Owner / licensee: Daniel R. (Danny) Wegman
Filed for license: June 18, 2007
Connection to Wegmans family: Danny Wegman is chairman of the grocery chain. In 2012, he bought Century Wine & Spirits from his daughter, Nicole, who had operated it since 2007. That freed up Nicole Wegman to buy Amherst St. Wine & Liquor in Buffalo.
Nearest Wegmans food market: 3195 Monroe Ave., in Pittsford Plaza West
The third wine and liquor venture for the extended Wegman family came in 2008. Chris O'Donnell, who is married to the grocery chain's president, Colleen Wegman (daughter of Danny Wegman), bought Liquor City, a store on Erie Boulevard East in DeWitt a few miles from the DeWitt Wegmans. O'Donnell then moved the store to the DeWitt Wegmans Plaza in 2009.
O'Donnell bought Liquor City from the Wishengard family, which until the sale had opposed efforts by the Wegmans to build a big liquor store in the plaza with the Wegmans food market. At time of the sale to O'Donnell, Wegmans Food Markets spokeswoman Evelyn Carter denied a "corporate connection" existed between the grocery chain and Liquor City.
"From our perspective, Chris O'Donnell is an investor opening a liquor store near our supermarket and his store is going to be independently owned and operated," Carter said. "It's not Wegmans. It's Chris O'Donnell."
Liquor City, DeWitt (Syracuse)
Address: 6793 E. Genesee St., DeWitt (Wegmans Plaza).
Owner / licensee: Christopher Courtney O'Donnell
Filed for license: Oct. 15, 2008.
Connection to Wegmans family: O'Donnell is married to Wegmans Food Markets President Colleen Wegman, and is the son-in-law of Wegmans chairman Danny Wegman. O'Donnell bought Liquor City, then located on Erie Boulevard East, and relocated it to Wegmans Plaza in 2009.
Nearest Wegmans food market: Liquor City is in the same plaza as Wegmans DeWitt, at 6789 E. Genesee St.
More Wegman family members added liquor stores in subsequent years:
Amherst St. Wine & Liquor, Buffalo
Address: 601 Amherst St., Buffalo
Owners: Nicole Wegman, Laura Wegel.
Filed for license: Dec. 3, 2013
Connection to Wegmans family: Nicole Wegman is the senior vice president of the grocery chain and the daughter of chairman Danny Wegman. She had owned the Century Wine & Spirits store in Pittsford, but sold that to her father, Danny Wegman, before buying into the Buffalo store.
Nearest Wegmans food market: Wegmans Amherst Street store is just behind the liquor store in the same plaza.
Johnson City Liquor & Wine, Johnson City
Address: 650 Harry L Drive, Building B, Johnson City
Owners: Jason Wehle, Chris M. Maxwell.
Filed for license: May 28, 2013
Connection to Wegmans family: Jason Wehle is Danny Wegman's son-in-law.
Nearest Wegmans food market: In the same plaza at 650 Harry L Driv.
Not all the Wegmans family-affiliated wine and liquor stores were part of the State Liquor Authority's recent case. For example, Northside Wine & Spirits, in the Ithaca Shopping Plaza at 222 Elmira Road in Ithaca is owned by Christina O'Hara, Danny Wegman's stepdaughter. She took control of the shop in 2016. But this store was not cited or fined in the case involving the five other Wegman family shops.
Clues to the connections between Wegmans Food Markets and the five affiliated wine and liquor stores go beyond the family ownership and the proximity to Wegmans stores.
Several of the family-owned liquor stores, for example, allow customers to use their Wegmans Shoppers Club cards to earn discounts on liquor and wine purchases. The receipt is from the Liquor City store in DeWitt, next to the DeWitt Wegmans in Syracuse's eastern suburbs. The Shoppers Club card earned the customer $6.50 off a $72.50 bill.
State Liquor Authority spokesman William Crowley said such use of the cards is not specified as illegal in state law. But, he said, state investigators took note of the affiliated stores' use of the Wegmans cards during their investigation into the allegations that grocery chain illegally controlled the liquor stores.
Similarities can also be seen in the logos for some the Wegmans-affiliated stores. This image shows the logos for the Century Liquor & Wines store, owned by Danny Wegman, and the Wegmans Food Markets, of which he is CEO.
Again, Crowley of the State Liquor Authority noted this is not strictly prohibited by law, but was taken into account in the state's investigation.
The Wegmans-affiliated liquor stores also have joined together in their use of promotions on their web sites. The same "Party-Perfect" holiday tips guide here appears in these Dec. 6 screenshots of the home pages for Amherst St. Wine & Liquor, Johnson City Liquor & Wine, Century Liquor & Wine and Liquor City. (It was also on the home page for the Whitehouse store in Rochester, not shown here).
NY State Liquor Authority issues warning to Wegmans
State Liquor Authority board members, while assessing fines against Wegmans and the five family-owned liquor stores, sternly warned all the parties that they would be watched for future violations of the law, which could result in the loss of their liquor licenses. This video shows some of the SLA board's comments on the matter.
Ad Choices