Retail Spotlight: Wegmans

Wegmans is one of the largest private companies in the US. The regional supermarket chain has 115-plus stores and more than 55,000 employees. It is known for its enormous stores and wide selection. The average store is 80,000 to 120,000 square feet, about double the size of a conventional grocery store. The stores are designed to evoke European open-air markets, with wide aisles and low lighting.

Stores are located in Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Delaware, and Washington, D.C.

Wegmans boasts a variety of specialty departments that include prepared foods, sushi, bakery, cheese, and fresh seafood. The company sources fresh produce and meats from regional farms and also operates its dedicated Wegmans Organic Farm.

Wegmans is not without its quirks. Just look up at the model train featuring Wegmans-branded cars on tracks above the dairy section. Or the animatronic rooster that crows out announcements and is named “Casanova,” after a rooster that lived on Wegmans Farm.

While roughly 3.5 million customers, or “Wegmaniacs,” love shopping at Wegmans every week, the company truly stands out for the way it takes care of its employees. Wegmans has been named to the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list every year from 1998 through 2026. Wegmans appeared on Forbes magazine’s list of “America’s Best Employers” from 2015 through 2024.

Wegmans invests over $55 million in training annually, with employees averaging 65 hours of training and development. The company spends more than $6 million annually on an employee scholarship program. It has awarded over $135 million in tuition assistance to more than 44,400 employees since the program began in 1984. More than half of the store managers have worked there since high school or college.

History

Wegmans began in 1916, not with a store, but with a pushcart where John and Walter Wegman sold fresh produce. In 1930, the two brothers opened a 20,000-square-foot store. They had water mists to keep produce fresh and refrigerated display windows. 

In 1950, Robert Wegman, Walter’s son, became President and laid the foundation for Wegmans to be dedicated not just to shoppers, but to its employees. The stores also began to offer more departments, including bakeries.

From the 1970s through the 1980s, Wegmans stores grew in size and selection. The company introduced fresh-prepared foods and house brands.

In the 1990s, Wegmans took quality to the next level by hiring executive chefs to create restaurant-quality prepared foods. The company also began to expand outside of New York State to Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Wegmans launched its own organic brand line in 2003. In the decades that followed, Wegmans Food Markets expanded geographically and demographically. Stores were opened in Virginia and Maryland. The company later expanded to Delaware, Washington, D.C., Connecticut and North Carolina. New Wegmans stores were located in higher-income suburbs. 

Leadership

Today, Wegmans is still a family business. Danny Wegman serves as Chairman. His daughter Nicole Wegman is President of Wegmans Brand. His other daughter, Colleen Wegman, became President and CEO in 2017. 

During the transition, Danny Wegman released this statement: “I will continue in my role, but now as Chairman of the company. The time has come to create a structure for the future that will allow us to remain strong, vibrant and family-owned. I have no doubt that our company will be in good hands.”

Colleen Wegman said, “What I’ve been happy about is I’ve never paid attention to a title. I’ve been fortunate because I’ve grown up in the business, and it’s never been important what role anybody plays. It’s been everybody’s role to contribute the best we can every day.”

Community & News

Wegmans was named to PEOPLE magazine’s list of “50 Companies That Care” from 2017 through 2026, ranking No. 1 in 2021 and No. 2 in 2026. The list highlights “US companies that have succeeded in business while also demonstrating outstanding respect, care and concern for their employees, their communities and the environment.”

The past year offers several examples of the company’s commitment to its community and the environment. For Earth Day, the company celebrated 10 years of its Zero Waste initiative. Today, nearly 90 percent of materials from Wegmans operations are diverted from landfills. In 2025 alone, Wegmans donated 36.8 million pounds of food to local hunger-relief organizations. 

“Zero Waste is about doing the right thing every day—for our communities, our environment, and our people,” said Chris Foote, Sustainability Area Manager at Wegmans. “We started this work by asking a simple question—what more could we do? And that mindset continues to guide us today.”

Recently, Wegmans raised $769,300 during the company’s annual Fill the Bus/Fill the Backpack scanning campaign. Since its start in 2013, Wegmans’ Fill the Bus/Fill the Backpack campaign has raised more than $3.5 million.

“Each year, our customers step up in an incredible way to support their neighbors, and their generosity continues to inspire us,” said Deana Percassi, Wegmans Vice President of Community Engagement and Communications. “Our employees are also essential to the success of this program, helping raise awareness and drive donations that make a meaningful difference in the fight against hunger.”

Wegmans continues to expand and is opening its first store in the Pittsburgh area in 2027. The company is also expanding in other ways. In August 2026, Wegmans launched a comprehensive food, nutrition, and hydration program called “Wegmans for Athletics.” It is designed to support collegiate athletic programs, youth sports, and professional organizations.

In May 2026, Wegmans announced 1,500 new recipients of its employee scholarships. The company will pay out more than $5.8 million in tuition assistance to both new and returning scholarship recipients during the 2026-2027 school year.

“We are proud to be able to offer our scholarship program for over 40 years,” said Colleen Wegman. “It is an important way that we help our people achieve their goals through higher education while also growing their careers and becoming their best. We are grateful to work with such caring people committed to excellence in all they do, while supporting the communities we serve.”

Also in May, the company announced that its in‑store bakeries meet the Wegmans “Food You Feel Good About” standard—meaning all bakery items are made without artificial colors, dyes, flavors, or unnecessary preservatives. 

“Our employees are committed to offering our customers the most delicious desserts with only the best ingredients every day,” said Jerritt Branagan, VP of Wegmans Bakery Merchandising. “Wegmans is not only an industry leader when it comes to the use of clean ingredients in bakery products, we have been able to maintain the delicious flavors, perfect textures, and vibrant colors that make our bakeries such a happy place.”

More than a century after John and Walter Wegman began selling produce from a pushcart, Wegmans continues to grow. With new stores, new programs, and another generation of family leadership, the company is looking ahead while staying focused on the employees, customers, and communities that have shaped Wegmans for over 100 years.