A Case Study of Wegmans Food Markets Essay

Wegmans Food Markets, Inc., is unmatched of the premier grocery chains in the united States. Headquartered in Rochester, NY, Wegmans operates over 70 stores. The company employs over 23,000 people, and has annual gross sales of over Rs. 2.0 billion. Wegmans has a strong reputation for offering its customers high harvest-festival quality and excellent service. Through a combining of market research, visitation and error, and listening to its customers, Wegmans has evolved into a very successful organization. In fact, Wegmans is so pricy at what it does that grocery chains all over the country give representatives to Wegmans for a firsthand look at operations.Many of the companys stores atomic number 18 giant 100,000 squ atomic number 18 foot superstores, double or dual the size of average supermarkets. A superstore typically employs from 500 to 600 people. Individual stores take issue somewhat in terms of actual size and some spare features. Aside from the features normal ly found in supermarkets, they generally have a large bakery Section (each store bakes its own bread, rolls, cakes, pies, and pastries), and extra-large acquire sections. They also offer film processing a complete pharmacy, a dominate board stag and video rentals. In-store floral shops range in size up to 800 square feet of space, and offer a wide potpourri of fresh-cut extremums, flower arrangements, varies and plants.In-store card shops covers over 1000 square feet of floor of floor space. The legal age nutriments department provides customers with the opportunity to select what quantities they desire from a vast coordinate of nourishmentstuffs and some nonfood items. Each store is a little different. Among the special features in some stores are a dry cleaning department, a wokery, and a salad except. Some feature a Market Cafe that has different food stations, each impartd to preparing and serving a certain type of food. For example, one station has pizza and other Italian specialties, and another oriental food. in that location are also being a sandwich bar, a salad bar and a dessert station. Customers ofttimes wander among stations as they conciliate what to order. In several affluent locations, customers backside stop in on their way home from work and choose from a selection of newly prepared dinner entrees. Some stores have a coffee shop section with tables and chairs where shoppers can enjoy regular or specialty coffees and variety of tempting pastries.The company prides itself on fresh modernise. Produce is replenished as oft as 12 times a day. The larger stores have nonplus sections that are four to five times the size of a produce section of an average supermarket. Wegmans offers locally grown produce a season. Wegmans gives a farm to market system whereby some local growers deliver their produce nowadays to individual stores, bypassing the main warehouse. That reduces the companys inventory keeping costs and gets the produc e into the stores as quickly as possible. Growers may use specially designed containers that go right onto the store floor kinda of large bins. This avoids the bruising that often occurs when fruits and vegetables are transferred from bins to pomposity shelves and the need to devote labor to transfer the produce to shelves.In addition to large display cases of both fresh and frozen meat products, many stores have a full-service butcher shop that offers a variety of fresh meat products and where butchers are available to provide customized cuts of meat for customers.Each department handles its own ordering. Although sales records are available from records of items scanned at the check breaks, they are not used directly for replenishing stock. Other factors, such as pricing, special promotions, local circumstances must(prenominal) all be taken into account. However, for seasonal periods, such as holidays, managers often check scanner records to learn what past demand was during a parallel period. The superstores typically receive one truckload of high-priceds per day from the main warehouse.During peak periods, a store may receive two truckloads from the main warehouse. The short lead-time greatly reduce the length of the time an item might be out of stock, unless the main warehouse is also out of stock. The company exercises strict control over suppliers, insisting on product quality and on-time deliveries.The company recognises the nurse of good employees. It typically invests an average of Rs.7000 to train each new employee. In addition to learning about stores operations, new employees learn the importance of good customer service and how to provide it. The employees are helpful, cheerfully answering customer questions or handling complaints. Employees are motivated through a combination of compensation, profit sharing, and benefits.Quality and Customer satisfaction are utmost in the minds of Wegmans management and its employees. Private label food it ems as well as name brands are regularly evaluated in test kitchens, along with the authorization new products. Managers are responsible for checking and maintaining products and service quality in their departments. Moreover, employees are encouraged to report problems to their managers.If a customer is dissatisfied with an item and returns it, or even a portion of the item, the customer is offered a choice of a replacement or a refund. If the item is a Wegmans brand food item, it is then sent to the test kitchen to determine the cause of the problem. If the cause can be determined, corrective action is taken.