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It doesn't matter what any of us think. Whole Foods is part of the Amazon ecosystem. Don't forget Amazon delivers and sells to people in all corners of the US and has a wealth of information about how much people spend and where. They can just look at the data and know for sure which areas make sense for them. The Whole Foods stores are a big undertaking and here they demolished the middle of a strip center and rebuilt the store from scratch. The stores are stocked with lots of local products which are prominently displayed and a great idea IMHO to give small local companies a break. There are a lot of employees constantly stocking shelves, manning the fresh fish and butcher sections and there is always someone there to help out. The bakery section rivals Wegmans with a huge selection of everything. The prepared foods section also rivals Wegmans. Whole Foods also has humane animal treatment, lots of Organic and healthy food and is really tuned in to the healthy food movement. I have shopped many, many times at each.
I’ve noticed changes at WF stores some of which may have began before, but definitely have accelerated in earnest since Amazon. Years ago, their employees seemed to be more knowledgeable and went out of their way to service customers. I no longer encounter those earthy, crunchy, Birkenstock types that seemed passionate about and dedicated to the store’s mission. Now the stores seem overrun by less engaged Amazon type workers, and the in store experience which could be enjoyable at times is less so. I don’t want to go so far as to say they’ve lost their identity, but they have become soulless.
Indeed some of their long-standing customers believe they are placing too much value on on-line shopping and turning the stores into Amazon food warehouses. Thus, I believe the 50K sq ft Brighton location which is larger than their typical footprint was probably configured to support all of those added Instacart and Amazon shoppers, and include additional infrastructure (bins, racking etc.) needed to fulfill online orders to support shoppers throughout the entire region. This, coupled with everything that is Wegmans’ and its dominance in upstate, would likely preclude multiple WF brick and mortar locations from opening in either Rochester, Buffalo, or Syracuse. Nevertheless, this is a good model for WF that appears to be working for the moment (and could possibly lead to future closing of some stores where they have perhaps oversaturated the market). So, I’m sure they’ll do fine. I would envision one more WF location opening in east Syracuse to complete its upstate expansion.
I agree for the most part with your assessment on the things WF does well in the robust healthy and organic food market segment. Wegmans is very much a formidable competitor in this segment as well among full line grocers, and of course does very well across virtually every other market segment/ category.
On occasion I shop at WF (perhaps you’ve jokingly heard them referred to by customers as “Whole Paycheck” due to the prices), Sprouts, the Fresh Market, Central Market (in Texas only), and Trader Joe’s which is my favorite among the group of specialty grocers. I guess my motivation is in seeking to substitute for the total Wegmans experience that I miss. In all honesty, if Danny boy had stores where I live now, I doubt I’d waste time shopping elsewhere! I just hope through all of Wegmans’ continued growth that they do not allow themselves to lose the soul of who they are.
Oh and a just another tidbit for those complaining about Rochester traffic, the checkout lines at WF tend to move a LOT slower than they do at Wegmans. So there’s that!
I’ve noticed changes at WF stores some of which may have began before, but definitely have accelerated in earnest since Amazon. Years ago, their employees seemed to be more knowledgeable and went out of their way to service customers. I no longer encounter those earthy, crunchy, Birkenstock types that seemed passionate about and dedicated to the store’s mission. Now the stores seem overrun by less engaged Amazon type workers, and the in store experience which could be enjoyable at times is less so. I don’t want to go so far as to say they’ve lost their identity, but they have become soulless.
Indeed some of their long-standing customers believe they are placing too much value on on-line shopping and turning the stores into Amazon food warehouses. Thus, I believe the 50K sq ft Brighton location which is larger than their typical footprint was probably configured to support all of those added Instacart and Amazon shoppers, and include additional infrastructure (bins, racking etc.) needed to fulfill online orders to support shoppers throughout the entire region. This, coupled with everything that is Wegmans’ and its dominance in upstate, would likely preclude multiple WF brick and mortar locations from opening in either Rochester, Buffalo, or Syracuse. Nevertheless, this is a good model for WF that appears to be working for the moment (and could possibly lead to future closing of some stores where they have perhaps oversaturated the market). So, I’m sure they’ll do fine. I would envision one more WF location opening in east Syracuse to complete its upstate expansion.
I agree for the most part with your assessment on the things WF does well in the robust healthy and organic food market segment. Wegmans is very much a formidable competitor in this segment as well among full line grocers, and of course does very well across virtually every other market segment/ category.
On occasion I shop at WF (perhaps you’ve jokingly heard them referred to by customers as “Whole Paycheck” due to the prices), Sprouts, the Fresh Market, Central Market (in Texas only), and Trader Joe’s which is my favorite among the group of specialty grocers. I guess my motivation is in seeking to substitute for the total Wegmans experience that I miss. In all honesty, if Danny boy had stores where I live now, I doubt I’d waste time shopping elsewhere! I just hope through all of Wegmans’ continued growth that they do not allow themselves to lose the soul of who they are.
Oh and a just another tidbit for those complaining about Rochester traffic, the checkout lines at WF tend to move a LOT slower than they do at Wegmans. So there’s that!
An endless quest I’ve been on myself. I will say The Fresh Market feels the closest to Wegmans but on an extremely small scale. At least in terms of ambiance and their produce/prepared foods sections. The one nearest to me is set up as if someone took 1/6th of Wegmans and merged it with 1/4th of Trader Joe’s. _ small footprint but not a bad store overall.
But yes, Wegmans is just on an elite tier nobody can seem to touch even despite their best efforts.
In terms of the types of locations they look to put a store in. I mentioned those places due to similar criteria demographically. If you have ever been to the eastern suburbs of Syracuse for instance, it is similar to the Brighton/Pittsford/other eastern suburbs of Rochester in terms of income, high educational attainment, etc. Those other places are relatively similar in that regard as well.
An endless quest I’ve been on myself. I will say The Fresh Market feels the closest to Wegmans but on an extremely small scale. At least in terms of ambiance and their produce/prepared foods sections. The one nearest to me is set up as if someone took 1/6th of Wegmans and merged it with 1/4th of Trader Joe’s. _ small footprint but not a bad store overall.
But yes, Wegmans is just on an elite tier nobody can seem to touch even despite their best efforts.
I was just at the Fresh Market here and this one is like a mini Whole Foods. Massive prepared foods section, bakery, fresh fruits and veggies. Its nothing like Trader Joes who has great prices or Wegmans which is a full service supermarket. You really can't compare Wegmans with anything since they have gigantic stores 2 or 3 times larger than the other upscale grocers. We have Publix here, who owns the market with 848 stores all over the place. Their customer service is superior to Wegmans because Publix is owned by the employees who are always super nice. When a line gets too long the manager will come over and open up a register himself. Publix also buys other chains when it enters a market and they are spreading rapidly throughout the Southeast. The one to watch is Lidl, which is like an upscale Aldi with amazing selection and super low prices. I was really impressed. They are not in Florida yet, I saw them in Charlotte when I was visiting family.
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employees constantly stocking shelves, manning the fresh fish and butcher sections and there is always 
