Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Well onpening up Upstate could lead to more stores with the ease of supply chain type stuff.
But I have heard that TJ's looks at other things besides just size. Based solely on size they would already be here. I don't know all the rules. Places like the Woodcraft I mentioned above have rules like the city itself has to have 200K and the metro a million or some such. If you have it you have it and if you don't you don't.
New Hartford I would love to see get one. But with two very nice Hannafords in the area and a small population I don't think they could support one. Syracuse would also benefit me greatly and they have a much better chance. Syracuse would be a great place for a small one and I'm not sure people here realize just how small these stores are. Almost any strip mall can fit a TJ's.
Rochester is the only city Upstate that I would drop a Trader Joes and know it would make it.
Rochester opens the door for the upstate...I could see one near Chipotle on 5 in Dewitt. Could definitely see one in Albany eventually. Don't think Ithaca is a big enough market for this // doesn't have a high enough concentration of wealth.
Yeah, I wasn't sure about Ithaca, even if the college profs and students might fit their target demographic. If they did get one, it would probably be set up near the Mall/Triphammer Road area in Lansing.
Wegmans and TJ's I don't really see as direct competitors. Wegmans direct competition would be Walmart and Price Chopper and so on. Trader Joe's doesn't really have any competition on a national level I have ever heard of.
Wegmans is a roll of crapper paper, some Hot Pockets, a tube of toofpaste and a pound of hamburger place.
TJ's sells more high end type stuff at great prices. Its for people who like good stuff but aren't snobs about brand name. If I had a TJ's handy I would do most of my shopping there but would still need to stop at Wegmans or Walmart every so often. A perfect match would be a Sams Club and a TJ's close to each other.
One area that could heat up is Madd Dog 20/20 is made in Rochester. If NYS lets grocery stores sell wine Wegmans could pit MD against Two-Buck Chuck!!!
That is very wrong, especially in regards to the Pittsford store. Although Wegmans does offer their own generic brand for cheaper (which is still a WAY better quality than Wal-Mart generic brand) and although they do attempt to have family oriented pricing for FAMILY ORIENTED ITEMS, they also cater to many other markets.
Wegmans has it's own organic farm, they have "natures market" which pretty much makes it a huge competition for TJ or Whole Foods.
They also sell local and imported deli meats and sausages and have extremely high standards (unlike wal-mart) for their seafood and meat counters. And the cheese market at Wegmans (especially Pittsford) is unbelievable.
I've been to TJ, down in new mexico.
Wegmans kicks it's butt.
Seriously, if you think Wal-mart is comparable to Wegmans, you're just... wrong.
Wegmans has it's own organic farm, they have "natures market" which pretty much makes it a huge competition for TJ or Whole Foods.
I've been to TJ, down in new mexico.
Wegmans kicks it's butt.
The "Nature Market" or health food section at Wegmans is nothing to write home about. They offer just about anything you can get at an independent health food store. Trader Joe's offers a wide variety of unique health food products, many of which you simply cannot get anywhere else. Totally different store than Wegmans; zero competition. Whole Foods is on another level. I doubt that you have ever been inside a Whole Foods, or you would not be comparing it to Wegman's Nature Market. Whole Foods need not worry about Wegmans; the people that shop at Whole Foods don't give Wegmans a thought (not to mention that the closest Wegmans-Whole Foods distance is 35 miles (Woodbridge, NJ-Paramus, NJ). There is a reason why Whole Foods is called "whole paycheck."
Don't get me wrong - I like Wegmans - but as a frequent shopper at Wegmans (during school year) and Whole Foods/Trader Joe's (at home) - there is no comparison.
Wegmans doesn't compete here in Eastern NY so to us its just a store, or more often just a name we have heard. They have not a single store in NY East of Syracuse. That said they do have a Supercenter in Dewitt that I have been to and its very nice, as nice as any Hannaford or Publix and very much larger.
I drive by that store about once a week and I couldn't say a bad word about it if you paid me but I don't stop but maybe twice a year. Lottsa grocery stores, mostly I stop at Price Chopper. BTW Price Chopper is another NY based chain so any local pride stuff applies to them as well.
I just found a place on the innerweb that shows the percentage of NYers that shop were. Kinda neat. Eastern NY goes back and forth between Hannaford and Price Chopper, my own CNY Utica/Rome area is Walmart country(only region in NY) and Western NY, starting in Syracuse, is Wegmans.
But Trader Joes's could plop down right near any of those and compete. Supply chain is gonna be the problem for them. They run small stores with high turn over so sending a truck to an island is gonna be tough. I have to believe they plan more stores.
I doubt that you have ever been inside a Whole Foods, or you would not be comparing it to Wegman's Nature Market.
Ha that's funny. Well, since I moved to Philly I've shopped in a Whole Foods pretty much every week, since they lack Wegmans. There is also TJ here. I would much prefer Wegmans.
Both Trader Joes and Whole Foods have a huge selection of natural and organic products, but I don't care if my boxed macaroni and cheese(for example) is organic, it isn't good for me either way, I would rather have a store that had a large selection of organic AND conventional foods (Wegmans?) with Consistant Low Prices.
ALSO since this IS is referance to Rochester, we have Lori's Natural Foods for those "unique health food products" which is supporting local business.
ALSO ALSO I think I should re-stress that the Pittsford Wegmans is on a level of pure insanity...
Last edited by voilalaura; 10-15-2011 at 12:49 PM..
I drive by that store about once a week and I couldn't say a bad word about it if you paid me but I don't stop but maybe twice a year. Lottsa grocery stores, mostly I stop at Price Chopper. BTW Price Chopper is another NY based chain so any local pride stuff applies to them as well.
I just found a place on the innerweb that shows the percentage of NYers that shop were. Kinda neat. Eastern NY goes back and forth between Hannaford and Price Chopper, my own CNY Utica/Rome area is Walmart country(only region in NY) and Western NY, starting in Syracuse, is Wegmans.
Hannafords is usually a pretty reliable store. When I visit the Herkimer area, thats the best place to go.
That's an interesting statistic, but I'm not surprised.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
