Community Chat

[NoelSeven]

On 4/5/2015 Irshgrl31201 said:

On 4/5/2015 NoelSeven said:

On 4/5/2015 SydneyH said:

On 4/5/2015 NoelSeven said:

Following the same model doesn't mean they have the same quality. Trader Joes and Wegmans give out scholarships to the people who work for them.

In SF, every single day M-F, Trader Joes prepares lunches for all the kids at a large public school where most are very poor. They do a lot more, also.

TJoes and Costco provide health care for their employees. Walmart cannot say that.

Walmart got a low rating because of the quality of their food. I have a friend who lives in the CA mountains. One tiny store in her area, and down the road, a Walmart. She does not like Walmart, but shops there out of necessity. We stay with her often, I have been to Walmart with her. The quality of the fresh food there is poor, comparatively.

I'm not gonna continue the Walmart bash here, as for the other stores, they too treat their employees very well, scholarships and grants are not a new thing.

I didn't bash Walmart. They aren't a victim, they could put out better produce.

We don't have to play pretend because they were ranked low, there was a reason for it.

My daughters shops at Walmart (Aldis too) and I really think there is a big difference in produce between theirs and other stores, even Aldis has better produce (and a lot of organic fruits and veg too). Recently when I was over at her house she made a platter of sliced veggies using red and green bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, radishes and cucumbers. The peppers had absolutely no taste at all. They were the most flavorless veggies I have had. The same with the cucumbers, not even the normal light and fresh taste that cucumbers have. I have also eaten apples, oranges and pineapples from there when I've been over at my daughters and the same with them. I think people may not even realize it especially if they shop there often and get a lot of their produce from them. I am a member of a CSA and get a lot of veggies from there and get large baskets of whatever is in season and I also get veggies from Fresh Market and Whole Foods and there is just such a huge difference in the taste. The fruits and vegetables firstly just look better. It has a much fresher taste and actually has a taste. When I taste a tomato from Walmart and another place, it is such a huge difference that I think people who don't notice the difference maybe have not had quality produce in a while, or perhaps their Walmart gets their produce from a different supplier than the ones here, there is most definitely a difference though.

I've had that exact same thought, but I've only seen two of the Walmarts that sell food, so I can't really comment about a pattern, just from what I've read and I've seen.

You and I like to cook and like fresh produce, so we know what the flavor should be. There are so many local farmers in this area, it's easy to have tomatoes almost off the vine. We love artichokes, and the main area for growing them is just a couple of miles away.

Things like that make a difference in travel time which can rob produce of flavor.

[NoelSeven]

On 4/5/2015 terrier3 said:

I checked out their website. They have an assistant manager's job open starting at 40K and going up to 75k. Pretty good for an assistant!

That is good!

[Irshgrl31201]

On 4/5/2015 terrier3 said:

On 4/5/2015 Irshgrl31201 said:

On 4/5/2015 terrier3 said:

I read a few stories around this award.

Trader Joe's STARTING pay for employees is around $40,000 a year....plus health insurance, 401ks, etc.

Wow.

They have managed to figure out a way to keep costs low, quality high AND pay good wages!

You must be talking about management because the cashiers start at $10, the average on glassdoor is $13.24. The supervisors there average $22.09 which is about $46k a year which is a little below average for some of the other grocery supervisor positions. They definitely pay more for entry level salaries than a lot of other supermarkets though but not even close to $40k.

Here is the article...it doesn't mention management. I know that our local TJs hasn't had employee turnover at all.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/03/wegmans-fresh-supermarket_n_7000976.html

They are talking about the starting pay of managers because starting cashiers and and other entry level positions aren't even close to that, though they are good salaries for entry level grocery stores. They are higher than the average for most in the same profession. When Trader Joes opened here the starting wage was $10 and that was a couple of years ago but they regularly advertise here and it was still $10. I am sure it varies across the country and they take the average pay for all cashiers to determine that. They run about even in manager pay compared to other grocery stores in my area.

[Bridgegal]

Wegmans IS price friendly. Last year a price comparison was done of grocery stores in the Tri-state area, PA. DE and NJ. Bottom Dollar, closing stores here now, was the cheapest by far but they only carry 15% of the items large major stores carry. WalMart and Wegmans were neck and neck at number two. If you stay away from imported and speciality convenience items, Wegmans is very cheap and competitive.

[Irshgrl31201]

On 4/5/2015 Bridgegal said: Wegmans IS price friendly. Last year a price comparison was done of grocery stores in the Tri-state area, PA. DE and NJ. Bottom Dollar, closing stores here now, was the cheapest by far but they only carry 15% of the items large major stores carry. WalMart and Wegmans were neck and neck at number two. If you stay away from imported and speciality convenience items, Wegmans is very cheap and competitive.

See, I always found them competitive too but I haven't lived in an area with a Wegmans for about 10 yrs so when people on here said how expensive it was, I wasn't sure if they had raised prices. Thanks for the info.

[Charming1]

I would agree that Wegmans doesn't have to be expensive. I moved and no longer am anywhere near a Wegmans. I always went to Wegmans.

[lulu2]

While I was running errands this AM, I knew I'd pass Wegmans so decided to forgo my regular store based on this thread.

It looked like Hurricane Easter/Passover hit. Outside and in the vestibule were all the unwanted and damaged pots of spring bulbs. (not a pleasant greeting) Inside the produce didn't look much better. (it was 10:30AM so they had plenty of time to restock)

I left without purchasing a thing. I found everything I needed at my regular grocery store.

[SuiGeneris]

I haven't read all the responses in depth, but a cursory glance seems to indicate that "price" is thought to be the primary reason Wegmans received the best scores in the Consumer Reports review of Best Supermarkets.

Since I subscribe to Consumer Reports online, I have access to the criteria used in the ratings process. Listed in order:

First - Overall Score, then . . . Perishables . . . Bakery . . . Store-prepared food . . . Service . . . Cleanliness . . . Price Satisfaction . . . Price paid . . . Selection of healthy options . . . Local product quantity . . . Produce variety . . . Product variety . . . Store brand quality

Each of these categories is assigned a rating from better to worse, with the black circle indicating the worst. I can't copy and paste the full ratings page [copyright and intellectual property reasons], but I can tell you that the top-rated Wegmans received the "red circle" best rating in most categories, with the second best rating for Service, Price Satisfaction, Price Paid, and Store Brand Quality. All these were combined to achieve the top score of 90.

ETA: The overall score has the potential to be 100. A score of 100 means all respondents were completely satisfied; 80 would mean very satisfied [on average]; 60 is fairly well satisfied; 40, somewhat dissatisfied. [from Consumer Reports website]

[Lipstickdiva]

I'm in Ohio. No Wegmans here, no Publix.

Right in my area my choices are Super Walmart, Giant Eagle, Save-A-Lot and Aldi. Trader Joe's is about 35 minutes away.

Giant Eagle's prices have gotten ridiculous but I much prefer them over my other choices. I gave up on Walmart because I hated the produce and wouldn't buy meat from there. I have no desire or time to run to various stores. I want my shopping done in one trip.

There is a Heinens about 20 minutes from me and I've thought about going there this weekend and seeing how the prices are there and what the store is like. Anyone shop Heinens? I never see them mentioned.

[lulu2]

On 4/6/2015 LipstickDiva said:

I'm in Ohio. No Wegmans here, no Publix.

Right in my area my choices are Super Walmart, Giant Eagle, Save-A-Lot and Aldi. Trader Joe's is about 35 minutes away.

Giant Eagle's prices have gotten ridiculous but I much prefer them over my other choices. I gave up on Walmart because I hated the produce and wouldn't buy meat from there. I have no desire or time to run to various stores. I want my shopping done in one trip.

There is a Heinens about 20 minutes from me and I've thought about going there this weekend and seeing how the prices are there and what the store is like. Anyone shop Heinens? I never see them mentioned.

Ms Diva, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN???? There was a thread about you last week.

I hope you are OK!