SamHenry’s native home is Rochester, NY in western New York. And proud I am (or once was) that it was also the birthplace of “the yellow box,” Kodak; Xerox; Gannett, Bausch and Lomb, Ritter, and Wegman’s.
Wegman’s was where you LIVED. It was like Christmas every day with shelves creaking with products from all over the world and the US. It reminded me of the gourmet grocery at the now defunct department store, Sibley’s. My grandfather had started that department and so I know a bit about groceries. First I do know that it was wildly popular. When the store was sold to Associated Dry Goods it remained but when it was resold to the May Company it got the ax and clothing went into the space. Every square inch of floor space and its productivity was measured and worked to the max. But people went around saddened by this loss to our local culture really. Some store brands and that bakery – tastes lost forever.
It was so reassuring when Wegmans Food Stores began to offer some of the world-famous food items on their shelves. At their local flagship store, they even had a separate area for imported foods. But slowly since the death of the grandfather, Danny Wegman and now his daughters who succeeded him have moved to another strategy: Making the Wegmans brand uber alles in that store.
Initially we all thought that it would be limited to canned goods. But then there was product creep to EVERY department of the store and even into the health food section. In their bread section all competing brands were summarily dumped until customers complained loudly. They dumped competing milk brands until there was an uproar. Wise potato chips got the boot but were brought back.
There are some foods for which I will save and buy – Keller & Son’s Dundee Orange Marmalade for instance. It is pretty much a staple to much of the middle class but no more. You either have to shop the other markets of take to the internet.
When you write to the consumer affairs department at the store, more often than not you get a response that they need to try new brands and make room for them. They point to the fact that it would be difficult to determine which ones to bring back unless a large group wants backs a particular product. Even then, if it does not turnover as they would want, it will be out again. They “enforce” their brand via their quarterly slick magazine “Menu.” They test foods and recipes at their restaurant “Tastings” (it may have a different name at this writing).
People who used to live in Rochester and have had the Wegman’s experience get really excited when they see that one of the stores is coming to a location near them. And Wegman’s for its part opens only a few of them each year to keep quality up. They also send teams from Rochester to operate and train personnel for a month or more. But it is not your parent’s Wegman’s. It is a changed place.
As our country becomes one in which medical care is slowly flattening out into fewer choices, car brands are dying and economic necessity has put many of the more expensive restaurants out of business, it was an oasis to be able to have lunch at Wegmans and then do leisurely shopping reading labels from all over the globe. No more. The sameness of the offerings only serves to remind us that we are now victims of, well, supermarket socialism.
DarcsFalcon
October 26, 2011
Wegman’s is one store I’ve not heard of, even when I lived in NY. I was on the Island though so maybe they didn’t have any there in the late 70s.
Darc and I have often talked about the grocery stores we recall from our childhood in CA, that no longer exist. They either went out of business, or got vacuumed up into a bigger chain.
It’s sad. The competition is tough though. I’d love to shop at a different store, but how can I justify paying 30-50% more for the exact same item, same brand, at Walmart? I have a budget too.
Those little stores – they were like friends, the people who worked there. They knew you by name, asked how the family was. In many ways, we’ve lost a lot.
samhenry
October 26, 2011
We have lost a lot but we lost it because of Walmart! They knew price was the bottom line. See I’m up and right behind you tonight!
Pam
October 26, 2011
Thank you for posting this. I was just commenting the other day that our local Wegmans is incredibly difficult to shop in these days. Unless you want to buy Wegmans brands you are stuck with an incredibly small selection for most products, and it is getting worse every week.
I’ve actually turned to our local Tops just for the variety of products they have on their shelves.
The only thing I have to go to Wegmans for is fresh produce. That, to me, is their only draw. Everything else I buy at Tops.
Sorry, Wegmans. I’m glad to have known you in your heyday. Maybe we will meet again someday.
samhenry
October 26, 2011
Pam – many of us are reluctantly going to tops. What I cannot understand is the risk they are incurring taking a store known for one format national when the expectation is to get that store. You are correct – the produce is the only draw. I don’t like all of their brands and I don’t like the fact that they leave so few alternatives to their brands. I guess they have too much invested in those brands to change now. Thanks for commiserating.
roblorinov
October 27, 2011
Safeway is another store doing this. Name brands are slowly disappearing and their own brands are replacing them. Personally I don’t like their brands. And other stores are doing the same. You’re right SH. This is Supermarket Socialism!!
In socialist states there is NO COLOR! All the building are battleship ugly hideous gray. No yellows, no blues, no reds, just ugly old gray. In the stores there is no color either. Food comes in ugly cans with just words on a blank label. The whole idea of the Socialists is that everything must be bland so the masses do not get excited about anything other than the socialist propaganda they issue out endlessly. I always considered blind people to be the lucky ones in a socialist society because they didn’t have to look at all of the ugly.
BTW didn’t these store brands start out as items that were cheaper than name brands? Now many of them are actually more expensive than name brands. For instance, I can buy name brand coffee and get more and a better product than I can if I buy the store brand of coffee. Does that make sense LOL?
samhenry
October 27, 2011
Yes, the products were originally introduced to provide lower cost items. However, I like you, do not like these brands and they are not always cheaper although advertized as such.