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8valvegrowl t1_iz4q8qp wrote

Wegman’s >>> Than any other grocery chain

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mundiel t1_iz4rmo9 wrote

You're 100% right, but they're not coming to VT any time soon. Probably ever.

I actually asked a Wegman's store manager about it once. He said their business model relies on being much closer to their supply chain than other supermarkets. They expand to whole regions at a time. It's not like Burlington just getting a single Target. All northern New England would have to become Wegman's territory, and it probably will never have the population density for that to be cost-effective for Wegman's, that manager thought.

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BudsKind802 t1_iz569yl wrote

I heard that same argument a decade ago from a Trader Joes rep I had known. Apparently the supply chain issue wasn't unsolvable, since they opened their store in S. Burlington a few years after that.

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mundiel t1_iz59edx wrote

Yeah, that seems reasonable. I'd love to be wrong, that was still the best major grocery chain I've ever shopped at.

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Nukeashfield t1_iz5vxvk wrote

I talked to a store manager at the Burlington MA Wegmans when it opened and he flat out told me in New England they're only going for sufficiently large affluent communities. So Bedford NH is about as close as you might see one to Vermont.

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bananabates t1_iz76zeq wrote

There's also the unofficial non-compete clause they have with Price Chopper. You'll never see a PC near Wegs locations and vice versa.

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master_harper t1_iz4tt3b wrote

And it's not even close. I've been in Vermont for over 5 years now and I still miss the subs. And everything else.

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Otto-Korrect t1_iz4z2h8 wrote

There is a Wegmans in Ithaca NY that is a 'must visit' every time I'm in that area. If I lived in that area. I'd be there every day.

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SuperBeastJ t1_iz5259a wrote

Went to undergrad in Rochester, NY. I miss Wegman's so so much :(

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hideous-boy t1_iz4yevk wrote

what's the point of Wegmans up here? It's overpriced and not as good as co-ops, so if I was looking to get groceries I would either go to Shaw's/Hannaford where the prices are more manageable or a co-op for more expensive local food. I don't know that there's a niche for Wegmans up here

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InformationHorder t1_iz4zs3g wrote

Wegmans is as good as you can ever get from a chain shy of going to the co-op. Their quality is better by miles. I dare say they have higher or equal quality than Whole Foods and only have half the price. Like all chains what's expensive and what's cheap is relative, but at Wegmans you never feel ripped off for the price you pay.

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kswagger t1_iz5681r wrote

Wegmans sells a lot of overpriced gourmet things, but that's hardly the majority of items in the store. Their fresh food (sushi, subs, soups, pizza, etc.) is miles above any other grocery store, I worked near a Wegmans for 10 years after college and basically was there for lunch 2 to 3 times a week, would never get lunch at hannaford or shaws, although the Market 52 sushi is okay. But that said, they sell plenty of bargain priced items of good quality, in particular their store branded canned goods, frozen seafood, lunch meat/cheeses, and pantry items. Also their bulk section is way better priced for as good quality as City Market/Wealthy Living.

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random_vermonter t1_iz5dc9p wrote

I’d take a Wegmans over Market Basket. Funny how I still remember the one Wegmans I stepped in over 20 years ago!

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_checho_ t1_iz4u8n4 wrote

I lived for a couple years in a place with a Wegman’s. It was easily the worst grocery store I’ve ever shopped. It was expensive relative to the surrounding grocery stores and the produce section was absolutely awful. Somehow they were often under stocked and large swathes of what they had were either rotten or crawling with flies.

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myloveisajoke t1_iz56koh wrote

Their pricing has gone nuts over the last year or so, more so than other chains. I used tobreally like them. Now not so much.

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LHcig t1_iz610e0 wrote

You misspelled Publix. I unfortunately lived in Florida for a bit and those grocery stores are the only part I miss.

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8valvegrowl t1_iz70a34 wrote

I’d still take a Weggies over a Publix. Any day and twice on Sunday.

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