Chairman Danny Wegman said he’s been waiting 40 years to open a store in the state of Connecticut and, after more than three years of planning and construction, Wegmans cut the ribbon on that store in tony Norwalk on July 23.
Thousands of Fairfield County residents flocked to the first-day festivities to see the retailer’s unique perishables and prepared food offerings within the 92,000 square foot mega-store. Approximately 500 associates have been hired or relocated from other Wegmans stores, including 32-year-old store manager Emily Gee and executive chef Ethan Morse who moved from the retailer’s next closest store in Harrison, NY (about 20 miles away).
The new unit, which was built on two levels and features an adjacent parking deck, also offers 177 seats for in-store dining from its multiple stations and departments including a bowl station, a sushi and poke bar, Marche station, pizza and sub shops, breakfast area and coffee station.
Although the Norwalk store was teeming with customers on opening day (many with full baskets) conquering Norwalk won’t be an easy task. Why? Because of all the Rochester-NY-based retailer’s suburban stores (which comprise the majority of Wegmans 114 total units), the established competition there is arguably the strongest the regional chain has ever faced.
Those competitors include Stew Leonard’s flagship store (located about four miles away), Cingari’s ShopRite (less than a mile away) and Costco (less than a mile away). All are doing more than $1 million a week in sales. Stew Leonard’s and Cingari’s both have long-term ties with the community and with affluent Fairfield County in general.
Also in the trading area is a low-volume Stop & Shop supermarket whose survival is questionable and a new Target store which is scheduled to open on August 17.
A check of Stew Leonard’s and Cingari’s the day before the Wegmans opening revealed that both retailers have unveiled strong price-driven promotions to counter the new entry’s debut.
Stew Leonard’s, which operates one of the best meat and seafood departments in the country, offered its signature porterhouse steak for $9.99 a pound (regular price is $12.99 a pound); chicken drumstick or thighs for 99 cents a pound (when using app; regular price is $3.99 a pound); and Washington State cherries for $3.99 a pound (regular price is $5.99 a pound).
At Cingari’s, the promotional offers were even stronger: cherries were discounted to $1.99 a pound; Haagen Dazs ice cream pints were selling for $2.99; and four bags of Lay’s potato chips (4.75-8 ounces) were offered at $9. Additionally, the store’s weekly ad featured a custom overwrap which included “supercoupons” for items such as red peppers (99 cents per pound), tree ripe peaches (also 99 cents per pound), and 40-ounce Wesson Oil for $1.49.
While several Wegmans executives acknowledged meeting its typical weekly volume for a store of this size (at least $1.5 million a week) might be difficult in the first year, they cited the company’s “slow build” process in developing stores in new markets where it often faces strong and established retail competition.
“Naturally, people are initially attracted to our strong fresh and prepared food departments,” said one veteran company leader. “Perishables are what might bring people into our new stores, but we have found that it takes time to gain traction in other areas that are more subtle. One example is the strength of our private label program which needs to be ‘road tested’ by new customers. Once they are confident of the across-the-board quality of our own label products, sales will increase. Additionally, over the past year, we have reinforced our ‘CLP’ (Consistently Low Price) image and customers eventually recognize how strong our everyday grocery pricing is. Another growth vehicle for us is our digital platform. By adding DoorDash and Uber Eats to our long-standing relationship with Instacart, we have some stores whose online-driven orders produce a significant part of our overall volume. And as every retailer knows, the way to build sales is to display executional consistency and a high level of customer service – hallmarks of our company.”
