"wegmans" news and stories

As someone who worked in the tobacco industry for awhile and who smoked for more than a decade before I finally quit, I personally have to applaud Wegmans. They just announced that as of February 10, 2008 they will stop selling all tobacco products. They have already stopped ordering all tobacco and are only selling the inventory that they have on hand.

This has led to many different reactions from their customers. Some are pleased and some feel that their right to make a choice has been denied them. Wegmans feels that they don't want to play a role in this area. "As a company, we respect a person's right to smoke, but we also understand the destructive role smoking plays in health," said Danny Wegman, CEO. Wegmans has already been charging up to 50% more for cigarettes than other stores, primarily since they do not accept promos or advertising from the tobacco companies in their stores. Wegmans operates 71 stores: 49 in New York State, 12 in Pennsylvania, 7 in New Jersey, 2 in Virginia and one in Maryland. Wegmans has $4.1 billion in sales in 2006 and employs over 36,000 people.

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Is grocery shopping the new national past time? Sometimes, it can certainly seem that way. With lines around the block at store openings for Trader Joe's and Whole Foods markets, one would think that the customers were lining up to see a Broadway show or a blockbuster movie, not to pick up a quart of milk and some specialty produce. Shoppers drive for hours to visit a Wegman's grocery in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland or Virginia - not only to get all the goodies they need to stock their kitchens, but for the fun of it. Cheese tasting, gourmet and artisan prepared goods and other foods, like sushi, prepared on the spot by skilled chefs are all draws of markets like these, whether their prices are high, low or midrange.

Why is shopping becoming entertainment, though? USA Today tried to answer that very question and found that the answer lay in a combination of factors. Americans are more interested in new and quality foods than ever before. They want healthier foods, international flavors and they want to find it all in one store because the long-standing tradition of one-stop shopping is the only kind that fits into a busy schedule. Consequently, the stores that offer everything do well, so well that people want to visit them more than other stores. "Nothing compares with it," a customer said of Wegman's. "You can spend an entire day there."

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