Wegmans — Local services in Silver Spring Township

Edit 9/22/22 -- Down to 1 star in protest of the removal of plastic bags as this means that Wegmans clearly hates the environment. Will return to 5 stars when the free plastic bags come back. In the meantime I will also limit my purchases at this store to what I can carry in my hands without bags and buy the rest elsewhere.

For the record, there have been several studies that have investigated the various grocery bag options, including "single-use" plastic, paper, and reusable plastic and cotton and they came to the same conclusion that "single-use" plastic bags aren't really single use at all and are by far the best choice for the environment:

"In Canada, Recyc-Québec, an environmental organization based in Montreal, released a study that found the conventional plastic bag is the best option for the environment due to several advantages. The study states, “Thin and light, its [plastic bags’] production requires little material and energy.” Plastic bags also have a high reuse rate as garbage bag/bin liners (77.7%), which helps avoid the production and use of additional bags for that purpose. According to Recyc-Québec, the overall life-cycle of the plastic bag – from production to the end of its life – has far less environmental impact compared with other bags.

In fact, Recyc-Québec recommends against using cotton bags, which were found to have a significant impact on human health. Not only that, cotton bags are harmful for the environment. A single cotton bag, the study found, requires “between 100 and 2,954 uses for its environmental impact to be equivalent to the environmental impacts of the conventional plastic bag.” Other bags that are deemed “reusable” require anywhere from 35 to 75 reuses “so that their impacts on Life Cycle Environmental Indicators are equivalent to or better than those of the conventional plastic bag.” This is unrealistic, as many people forget their bags at home, meaning the bags don’t get reused as much as you’d think.

Across the pond, the new study from Denmark’s Environmental Protection Agency found even more staggering results. The study reports that cotton bags should be reused at least 52 times to offset its climate change impact, and at least 7,100 times in order to offset the impact on all environmental indicators. The report states the “very high number of reuse times is given by the ozone depletion impact alone.” Plain and simple: these bags are bad news for the environment.

And of course, along with the finding that plastic bags are better for the environment, they also reported that plastic bags are 100% reusable."

Further, some other quality concerns have popped up here lately including the chicken and sweet potatoes both being rotten more often than not. Sweet potatoes are a very strange thing to be rotten as they are a root vegetable that traditionally was kept in storage most of the year. The fact that they're going bad means that they're being grossly mishandled in some way that likely involves exposure to extreme cold or heat.

Old review from a few years ago:

Literally the best grocery store that has ever existed. I've lived all over the US and nothing else comes close to Wegmans. They combine the best quality, selection, and service and still manage reasonable prices. Imagine Whole Foods for food quality and selection, but double their customer service quality and halve their prices and you have a sense of what Wegmans is about. As far as selection goes, they find the best products from each category that exist anywhere and they source them. They are always adding new products that never cease to amaze me..... like a super rare specific cheese, or meat, or type of flour.... even ones that are highly regional that you simply would never expect to find in central PA. They also have a wide selection of local foods too. Keep up...

The Sewage plant just behind the store permeates the entire store when the winds are prevailing from the north. I’m not sure if the warehouse doors are open when this occurs. Moreover, customers are not allowed back there…understandably. Maybe it only occurs when the sewage plant is flushing their systems… perhaps leaving warehouse doors closed during this process could minimize the smell. Perhaps a coordinated response with the township…every problem has solutions.

I’ve contacted two managers and neither one asked my name. I’ve noticed this problem a dozen times over the recent months. Everyone working there must be aware of this issue because it happens so often. What are the long-term effects on employees? Maybe people just live with it somehow. Perhaps we are conditioned not to complain. The worst customer on the planet is the one who says nothing!

The odor flows inside from the back side of the store, out the front sliding doors like a funnel throughout the entire store. My concern is what it does to exposed foods…breads, muffins, pizza, meats, and fish? What about our lungs? It’s raw-sewage-gas for heaven’s sake. Google the dangers of raw-sewage-gas sometime… no bueno !

There are probably solutions to this problem, but they must first be made aware of it. I’m not sure if anyone really cares. The two managers I spoke to seemed oblivious…almost detached. One lady actually said: “We’ll see what we can do.” I cannot be the only one who has noticed this. The DEP advocates submitting reports to them, however, I was hoping management would respond to this first.

Wegmans, you are better than this! I actually advocated your move to our area decades ago when I first met your staff in Buffalo. I was so proud of you! Thank you for moving to our community. Now, please fix...

Why is Wegmans trying to sell milk that expires in less than 4 days? Seeing this once is a mistake, but doing this for months is ridiculous. Also, fruits and vegetables are being sold a lot less fresh than less than a year ago too. It's one thing to sell inventory as in first in, first out. But, trying to sell food this close to expiration or being spoiled is unbelievable. Huge decline in quality over the course of less than a year. Hope you guys change this soon!!! Next time I see this I'll definently upload some pictures to google!! With the amount of employees present during the daytime, it is unbelievable that this a problem that was being overlooked. I'm sure management is already aware of this issue. Just address inventory and when you guys are ordering certain goods!!!! Please take stated advice into consideration soon! When this change is established I will happily update this review!!

Update! Apparently, Wegmans thinks it's a great idea to sell pizzas with mold on them. Wow, like really great job. Still selling milk that expires in less than a week too. Not to mention very "friendly" staff at self checkout. Seriously the worst place to get food. How does place not get shut down by health inspection.

Don't shop here. Walmart has fresher food. Also, Walmart actually appears to be cleaner than Wegmans too. Hands down the worst business in central PA. And that really says something.

Close down guys, let a qualified business occupy this location!! Do the smart...