Wegmans — Attraction in Town of Amherst

Used to go to this Wegman's often when I lived nearby and loved it. Still use the pharmacy as they are great to work with, even though I am closer to the Sheridan location. However, in the last 3 or 4 years, this store has not followed the usual wonderful Wegman's place to shop protocol. I usually leave this store very frustrated. Examples that come to mind--it seems like every time I go there, something has moved, like a perpetual relocating of their goods. Tonight, after looking throughout the health and beauty area for vitamins, I finally asked the pharmacy where they put them, and learned they were moved to the 'nature's way' area, with gluten free, probiotics, and other organic products. Who would think to put Centrum and One-a-Day vitamins there? This movement is frequent in this store and is extremely frustrating. Next, the bulk section was removed maybe a couple years ago, while other Wegman's stores still have it. All of it is prepackaged in half pound or pound size containers, but I don't want a full container of most items. This frustrates me and as a result, I don't purchase anything from what they call their bulk section. I am convinced this is a cost reduction in that someone is no longer needed to run that department. Next, so many items are coming in large quantity 'family packs', like meats, paper products, etc. I do not want multiple roasts in foil packs, or dozens of rolls of toilet paper, and have to outlay lots of my grocery funds, and just to get a better price. In addition, the bulk packs flood the shelves so much that other smaller, individual packages almost don't exist. Next, the 'six dollar meals' are now more like ten dollar meals, and in addition, have decreased in size and selection. That's over 50% price increase in the past two to three years, not to mention what you get for your money. What generated this swing in cost? Result for me: I've gone from as many as a meal a week to not having bought one in months! Next, rotisserie chicken. The chain has kept the price at $5 for a long time but the size is down to almost 2 pounds! Hardly a meal for two now. (Note: same hot chicken at BJ's at same price, but at 3 pounds, 50% more food!). Next, produce. Quality has remained fairly well but prices have skyrocketed. There is lots of competition out there for produce, of which I have taken advantage. I'm going to call my my broker and have him invest my money into green peppers! Next, the overwhelming Wegman's brand. It is obvious what they are doing, attempting to control sales via their own label. If you go to shop and are looking for a name brand item, most likely you will not find it. Next, and lastly for now, inventory control. This store has been out of things for weeks that other Wegman's stores have had plenty of stock of same item. I know as I have purchased things for friends that they can't get at the Alberta store. And what's really amazing--it's Wegman's own brand item!!! They can't even stock their own goods appropriately. Folks, I confess that the chain is still my number one stop for grocery and pharmacy needs, but I really don't like leaving the store without my desired items and being frustrated for the rest of the day from the experience. I have lived in the area for 25 years now, but because of this store operating like this, I made 1st visits--and repeated visits--in 2018 to the following: Aldi, Price-Rite, BJ's, Trader Joes, Lexington Coop, Hanzlians Sausage & Deli (let's not leave out Federal Meats), and several farmer's markets. It takes a little time and effort, but there is a very nice and affordable world outside of Wegman's. I'm just still scratching my head. Shopped there today and, yes, I'm still frustrated. Can you tell? And I know I will go back in the near future. Good...

I loved you Wegmans, but it’s time to part ways. It’s not me. It’s you. I spent thousands of dollars every year on you for groceries, and I did it eagerly and happily, as your customer service, produce and products were exceptional. Now, your sauces are too sweet, and your employees aren’t. Your products are pedestrian ( I am looking at you farm style bread, amongst many others. Once chewy and crusty, you are now no different than regular sliced bread, but you still cost 5 times as much). Your produce is now more expensive than Whole Foods (disparagingly called whole wallet by people who have not recently shopped at Wegmans). While I have been withdrawing for sometime, a major issue happened a few months ago. I was hauling some hungry kids back from soccer and we picked food from Wegmans. One kid does not eat pork for cultural reasons. Once he reached home, and bit into his Chicken Caesar Ciabatta, he realized it had little chicken, but mainly bacon. After calling and apologizing to his parents, I talked to a food manager at Wegmans, who informed me that it does list bacon on the fine print ingredients list, somewhere at #26. He agreed it was a problem (points for that), apologized (more points), offered a refund (I never went back for it, but more points), indicated that they would change packaging ( wow, even more), and that someone from corporate would call me. It’s been a few months. No one in corporate called and the packaging is still the same (all points lost). The final straw came on Halloween, when I stopped to pick last minute candy. You can never run out of candy during trick and treating. The hordes of kids never came though, and I went back to return the unopened packets the very next day. The cashier was non plussed when I told her I had received only 50% of what I paid back. She talked to the manager who clarified that it’s a seasonal item , and so will not be returned back at original price. Now I don’t mind following policy, even though it’s not clearly stated. And I don’t mind loosing a few bucks. What I do mind is the condescending attitude of the manager. Please finger wagging lady, writing complex department policy is actually the easiest part of my job. So, I took the candy back. I don’t care what your policy says, I think candy is always in season. As I sat in the parking lot, eating the now not returned candy, I decided to break up with you. It is indeed easier with chocolate. I’ll still rarely venture into you, as old habits die hard. But I’ll be spending my substantial grocery dollars on Trader Joe’s and some on Whole Foods. It was great while it lasted. I hope you can find...

I shop the store on Alberta drive and like all Wegmans locations, this one gets very busy as well. I always used to think of Wegmans as "the cool and hip place to shop" and because of that thinking, I avoided it. But I understand why it's so popular after visiting it. I started shopping online through the Wegmans website. I found the prices competitive with other grocery stores in the area and they have some of the freshest produce around. The online shopping and picking up the order is very convenient. I can order my groceries, pick a time and then drive to the designated area to pick up my order. The service is quick and excellent. To me, this is one of the store's best features. I hate shopping at a crowded store where there are tons of people (no exception here) but the online pickup sold it for me. It's my favorite place to shop now. I used to be a dedicated Aldi shopper but a few incidents with their online pick up service left me frustrated to find an alternative so I used Wegmans. The prices are a bit higher but the quality of Wegmans goods is far better. If you were like me, give Wegmans a shot and if crowded stores turn you away, try using their online shopping experience. You'll understand why I made the change.

Edit: I have always used their online shopping and pick up because it's convenient, however, my girlfriend recently began going shopping for me because she constantly shops there too. She told me I was paying more by having the Wegman shoppers shop for me and deliver my food to the parking lot for me. She was right. I mean there is a $3.99 fee for that service but the overall cost is more per item, sometimes a lot more. Something s are 50 cents to over $1.50 more from the advertised in store prices compared to the online shopping prices. My online bill was listed at $76 but in actually the real cost shopping in the store was $66. I know there is a $3.99 upcharge for them shopping for the consumer and bringing the food out to the car but the extra charge is a lot. And my food order was less than $70 because I'm a single person. Imagine the added cost when shopping for a family?! That's a big...