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Having come back to the area from Texas, I note some interesting shopping comparisons. TX had Whole Foods and Central Market as upscale competitors. The latter had Whole Foods beat in terms of products and selection. The flagship store for Whole Foods in Austin was great but the branches were so-so.
I checked out the Whole Foods at Sheridan and it was not much. The times I've been there, the hot buffet was half empty, the bakery racks about a 40%. Their sushi was limited compared to other WFs in the country. The Wegmanns across the street was a much better store. The cheese section was great, while WF was what I would call gourmet pedestrian. Standard stuff for an upscale selection but not much at the more turophile level.
So I was interested that a Wegmanns opened in Brooklyn (my birth place) and a local review said that it beat the local WFs significantly.
I know that Bezos regards WF as side effect of Amazon but I'd pay attention. There's not a real reason to make WF a destination given the competition.
For now Wegmans has it all over WF. Their hot food and salad bars are similar, Wegmans has a better bakery and a much larger selection of everything. I would never sell Bezos short so I will reserve judgement for now. Down here in Jax the WF is awesome, the Hot Food bar was well stocked even later in the afternoon, the soup selection was great as was the bakery. Its in a really upscale area whereas the more upscale areas of Buffalo are a distance away from the WF there. Buffalo IMHO does not have the clientele to support a WF hence it is not as well stocked as a WF in a nicer area. I stayed for 3 weeks next to the WF in Jax while we were moving here and ate there every day. I was surprised they even opened in Buffalo given the economy there. Only time will tell.
So far its NYC Albany and Buffalo. I suspect Amazon is focusing on more economically prosperous areas of the country which are Southeast, West, Northwest and West. I am surprised as well that they picked Buffalo. I doubt even if Wegmans wasn't there, it would make that much of a difference. Buffalo is more of an Aldi and Walmart place. They certainly would be doing better but the economy there is not really that robust to support a higher end store. Down here we have 1 and another much closer to us scheduled to open in a year. We also have Sprouts, Fresh Market, Lucky's, Trader Joe's as well as our beloved Publix.
Wegmans is going downhill, but it’s still arguably the best grocery chain in the country.
How is it going downhill? Location-specific or generally?
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