I am originally from Rochester, NY and have had many experiences with Wegman's. Friends of mine worked there, my family often shopped there and late at night, when everything was closed and we were bored, my friends and I would wander the aisles making bizarre purchases. I have always been impressed with their quality service and product. Their success is no surprise to anyone who grew up with them.

Wegman's clearly illustrates how a company's investment in building a corporate culture, aka, internal branding, can pay huge dividends. When employees are sold on the corporate brand and represent it so faithfully to the customer, providing great service naturally follows.

Calls to mind Stephen Denny's excellent post on the subject yesterday. Thanks, Stephen and Ted.

Thanks, Nic and Claire, for the observations. In this day and age of poor service complaints, it's a pleasure to be able to shine a light on an example of the opposite.

I'm curious to hear from Daily Fix readers out there, anywhere in the world, who can cite examples of other companies like Wegman's. And I'm hoping managers who read this take a cue from Wegman's to train and fully integrate their employees like they have. Wegman's deserves our accolades.

Wegman's has created an outstanding customer centric environment. I have been in several stores in New York and they all have the combination of unique selling points: great in-store layout, excellent product choices, an assimilation of wholesome, fresh and tantalizing food offerings, empowering their employees to quickly resolve or assist customers requests or complaints. The stores are well layout to make the shopping experience fun and exciting. The employees evoke a sense of pride, are courteous and genuine. Wegman's definately sets the industry standards high.

A natural food supermarket I have experienced was Mrs. Gooches in LA before they were bought by Whole Foods.In fact, Whole Foods is another, however they fall short to Wegman's overall service , selection and quality.

While in Japan over 10 years ago I visited an upscale Dept. Store with an exceptional customer service attitude. There was respect and courtesy for the customer. The employees greet you at the door with a traditional hello and the bow. Same holds true when you are leaving; the staff emits a gratitude that the customer has honored them to visit their store. During the purchase the staff assigned to me actually ran through the aisles to get the merchandise, wrap the gift and meticulously place it in a shopping bag. I was amazed with such an attitude toward pleasing the customer.

If retailers in America implemented a small percentage of the service level of Wegman's or the Japanese, they would have greater customer loyalty and repeat sales.

Richard,

Thanks for your input on this issue. Many questionnaires have put Wegman's at the top when it comes to delivering satisfaction and customer service; and yes, many have put it above Whole Foods.

It makes a powerfully positive impression on customers when a high level of service is the norm, as was the case with your experience in Japan. You still remember it vividly 10 years later. That should say something to retailers. . .

Richard has brought up an interesting point. Having spent years at United Natural Foods as a marketing manager in both the wholesale and retail divisions, I can vouch for the power of Wegman's in the natural products arena. In fact, a number of independents went out of business in upstate NY due to the power of Wegman's and its natural grocery, personal care and supplement selections; its effective marketing of these categories and its knowledgeable sales staff. They simply couldn't compete, or didn't do what was necessary to be effective competitors!

Wegman's is admired for being able to adeptly merchandise mainstream grocery brands, gourmet and international foods as well as natural products. Kudos to them for doing such an excellent job!

Richard,
You are so so right.
I too visited that department store while in Japan as well as Japanese retailers in Manhattan.It was an "experience". The Japanese knew all about the value of internal branding and customer service long before these buzz words were buzz words. I rank food shopping as the number 1 worst chore. Search for food. Put food in cart. Take out of cart for cashier. Put back in cart. Take out of cart into car. UGH! There must be a better way!

Thanks for adding some additional insights into Wegmans, Richard and Claire.

Susan: many people feel as you do. Especially these days when time is so tight. I'm not sure where you live but you might want to find out if your local supermarkets offer an Internet shop-at-home service. For example, Stop & Shop's Peapod site allows shoppers to place orders and have them delivered to their homes at their convenience. Might be worth looking into--my understanding is that Peapod took a while to take off, but it's become an integral part of S&S's business. Consumers seem to be willing to pay a premium price for the service since their time is perhaps worth even more than the cost of joining the Internet shopping service.

Ted, very good article, i would like to put it into my page, can I ??

Wegmans' success starts at the top. The family is deeply committed to their employees and customers' well being. The culture rewards good people and encourages exceptional customer service. It is a pleasure to be in their stores. The Wegmans' organization should be a case study for every service business. Its no wonder they were vote the #1 place to work in America!

"The Wegmans' organization should be a case study for every service business." Agreed, Dan. Wegman's may not be the largest supermarket chain, but it is one of the best managed, strongest food retailers in the country. How many times can customers truly say, as you did: "It is a pleasure to be in their stores"?

Thanks for weighing in with your observations, Dan. Much appreciated.