Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Wegmans is Looking to Enter North Carolina

     Yes, I know this isn't Florida related news. Thanks to the anonymous commentor who left a link to an article in the Raleigh News & Observer about how Wegmans is looking to open their first North Carolina store in a new shopping center that is planned to be developed in the Raleigh suburb of Cary, NC. Why do I bring this up? Well, two things - First, it seems like Wegmans is showing some interest into moving into the Southeast, outside of the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC where their southernmost stores currently are (and again, no, Wegmans is not looking to expand into Florida at this time). I really thought Wegmans would rather be looking into expanding into places like Eastern New York, Western Pennsylvania, and New England, closer to their core store base in the Northeast and filling in some of the gaps in Northeastern regions where they lack stores. And secondly, the main reason why I bring this issue up, is if Wegmans does open this store in Cary, this will mark the very first time where Publix and Wegmans overlap markets - something I've always wanted to see play out. This pairing is interesting, as Publix and Wegmans are pretty similar in some ways. Both chains have extremely loyal followings and fan bases, both are known for their superior customer service and top rankings among supermarket chains for service and quality. However there are some interesting differences between the two. Publix has 1,114 stores in the Southeast, and Wegmans has 88 stores in the Northeast. Publix stores are no larger than 55,000 square feet, and Wegmans stores average 120,000 square feet, with their smallest stores around 70,000 square feet. Wegmans has a huge prepared foods selection and multiple in house restaurants that they're famous for, and have offered for a long time now. Publix's newest stores have improved upon prepared foods offerings (which all of their stores in Central NC would have, as they only began to enter that area in early 2015). I'll stop with all of the comparing and contrasting, but seeing Publix and Wegmans going head to head is something I've wanted to see play out. It's the battle of the Southeast's and the Northeast's favorite supermarket chains. Both have their own characteristics that differentiate themselves from each other, but I think Wegmans is one of the few chains that I feel can give Publix a run for their money, no matter how competitive the market is (and Cary, NC is pretty competitive). Or maybe I'm just the only one who seems to find this interesting.

     To read the article about Wegmans entering North Carolina, you can see that here. Wegmans also has confirmed plans to open stores further south in Virginia in Charlottesville and two around Richmond in 2016, and supposedly Wegmans is looking into opening stores in Raleigh and Durham, NC as well, but any other Wegmans stores in North Carolina outside of the Cary one are not confirmed. 

Anyway, that's all for now. Until the next time.

The Albertsons Florida Blogger

27 comments:

  1. Wegmans moving down the East Coast is certainly interesting. Of course, Publix seems more interested in going north than west, as west runs into MS. Meanwhile, HEB wants to take on Dallas before it goes anywhere else.

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    1. I think Publix is actually interested in both West and North. Publix is building a new distribution center in the western suburbs of Birmingham, AL that could potentially service Misissippi and Western Tennessee, and they're creeping further north into North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee, possibly hinting at entering Southern Virginia at some point as well. I just didn't think Wegmans was looking South instead of North.

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    2. I think Publix is positioned to expand north and west. Its western expansion will be in Memphis, western Tennessee, and entry into Mississippi. The completion of Interstate 22 and the future distribution center in McCalla, Alabama will support this growth. Its northern expansion will be entries into Virginia and Kentucky. Publix has two stores in Clarksville, Tennessee.

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    3. H-E-B may have competition as Kroger adds stores in its Dallas and Houston divisions.

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  2. The closest grocery store to this Wegman's location is Harris Teeter #430. Publix #1466 and Harris Teeter #430 are on opposite sides of town but they both opened on 10/29/2014.

    What's even more interesting is that both are competing in an area where both Kroger and Harris Teeter overlap.

    The grocery store wars could get interesting in the Research Triangle.

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    1. Cary currently has that one Publix, although there are going to be a total of three Publix stores in Cary in the next year or so (I don't know what the current status of those other two stores are at the moment, or their exact locations in town). That's kind of strange how the Publix and Harris Teeter opened on the same day. With Wegmans in the mix, that area is going to have a very unique grocery war.

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    2. http://carycitizen.com/2014/10/29/publix-opens-cary/

      Yep, this article mentions it.

      Anyway,there is a pretty good chance one of the other competitors in this market could get pushed out as the market is already saturated.

      One store is a former Lowes Foods that closed in 2014 so I would suspect that it would open sometime this year. The other would be somewhere in Western Cary, and I don't know what stage that project is in.

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    3. EDIT: Store #3 has been made official
      http://www.wral.com/new-publix-announced-in-cary/15258252/

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    4. Publix currently has 1 store open and 4 additional stores underway in Wake County, North Carolina. Amberly Village is the fifth announced store. Publix also owns land for a future store site in Cary. I would not surprised to see that store be announced as soon as possible.

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    5. I wouldn't be surprised if Publix begins to purchase more land in the Cary area just to keep others from buying it, like they've done in Florida in the past.

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  3. Wow. This is the first I'm hearing of this news. As I mentioned before, I thought it was odd for them to have already skipped a lot of key markets. The whole competition angle with Publix does sound rather interesting. I too have to wonder how it will play out. I can't compare the two as I've never been into a Publix.

    Speaking of Wegmans, upon doing some research it appears that the Pittsford, NY location seems to be their prototype location. Can you confirm this? It seems to me that it always get any new ideas that Wegmans uses. Therefore, I'm thinking of possibly visiting it in the future.

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    1. That's why I was surprised that Wegmans would be looking at North Carolina before places like Albany, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, or Long Island, which you would think would make more sense as places for Wegmans to be expanding into now. Seeing Wegmans vs. Publix is something I've always wanted to see though. Since both Publix and Wegmans will be relatively new to this area, it makes it even more interesting than seeing one expanding into a well established area of the other chain.

      I'd say with a very high amount of confidence that the Pittsford, NY store is the prototype location. It's the only one with the Next Door by Wegmans restaurant, and reading articles about new features always says the concept was first introduced in Pittsford (along with everyone referring to it as the "flagship Wegmans". I couldn't find anything official about this from Wegmans, but the evidence all points in the same direction.

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    2. Wegman's store count (88 stores) and expansive footprint (New York, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia) makes growth into additional states questionable. Initially, it would make sense to increase store count and infill in its current footprint. Wegman's is like Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's in being very selective with store sites.

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    3. That's exactly what I though Wegmans would do instead. There must be some big potential in the Research Triangle if Wegmans would skip all the way down there for a store.

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    4. You are correct in saying that the Pittsford Wegmans is the "flagship" store for the company. I have worked in that store two different times. It is a research and development store as well. Many ideas are started there and then rolled out to other stores. I for one can't wait to see this scenario play out in Cary. Having also worked for Publix and i am rooting for both to succeed and continue to grow. Both companies are awesome to work for.

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    5. This scenario will also be playing out in Richmond soon. Wegmans is opening two stores in Richmond this year, and I just found out that Publix has just announced an entrance into Virginia, including a store in Richmond expected to open in early 2018.

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  4. The farther out Publix goes, the less relevant it becomes to that market, and I can see that in Cary that Publix might actually do poorly as compared to its closer-to-home markets.

    In Florida, Publix obviously has strength of numbers on their side, but they were both able to capitalize on being a Florida supermarket (and thus, older than its later competitors) and understanding its base well. It modernized supermarkets better than Winn-Dixie ever could and didn't do expansion attempts for years, choosing to concentrate Florida. Eventually, they were able to weaken Winn-Dixie, and drive out all but the independents. For the one of the most populous states in the nation, that's a huge victory: for all of its following and similar tactics, H-E-B has only managed to conquer maybe one or two major metropolitan areas.

    In Atlanta, Publix was able to gain a foothold on its weaker competitors (a generally poorly managed Kroger division, Winn-Dixie, Bruno's) with the South being generally easy to win over because Publix was far and away better than anything seen previously, namely dirty Supercenters and worn-out Winn-Dixie and Kroger stores.

    But when you throw them in with supermarkets that have always been pretty good, a behemoth with its smallest stores building substantially bigger stores than you, and your name becoming farther and farther away from the "home base", then you stand to lose a lot. I'm not saying that Publix is going to fail in Cary, but I feel that the farther Publix goes out, the worse it will go for them.

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    1. I doubt Publix will perform poorly in Wake County, North Carolina. Its further expansion in the Raleigh-Durham-Cary-Chapel Hill Combined Statistical Area will shift and change up market participants and the order of market share.

      Publix has competed with Kroger and Harris Teeter in Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee markets. I would not expect major changes among their competition.

      Food Lion has been obliterated by Publix in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, and may experience changes if Ahold's acquisition of Delhaize, Food Lion's parent company, completes itself.

      Lowe's Foods has made improvements, but they may not be enough to compete against Publix. After failing in the Charlotte, North Carolina region, Lowe's Foods has announced expansion into Greenville and Charleston counties of South Carolina. It has created original concepts (Chicken Kitchen, Sausageworks, Pick & Prep, Beef Shoppe, Community Table, The Beer Den) to enhance its store departments. None of its stores presently have pharmacies.

      I would expect Publix to open more stores in Wake County, and proceed with a distribution center somewhere in its Charlotte Division.

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    2. Looks like Publix is coming to both Bristol and Richmond. Richmond, VA could actually be the first market where both Publix and Wegmans coexist. Unlike the Research Triangle, Harris Teeter isn't in RVA and Kroger Mid-Atlantic has a greater presence.

      Food Lion and Martin's will merge later this year.

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    3. I guess it was to be sooner rather than later that Publix would be announcing an entrance into Virginia. They've been creeping very close to the VA/NC border. I'm surprised they picked a Richmond area location this early into a Virginia area expansion, but I'm sure there will be many more coming to fill in the gaps. I'll try to get a post up about this either tomorrow or Thursday.

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    4. Richmond kinda surprised me too. Publix doesn't have that many stores in NC yet they're already going to VA.

      I'm sure Hampton Roads, Charlottesville, and Roanoke will be next. It'll meet Safeway again if it goes up to NO

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    5. I wonder if the jump to Richmond has anything to do with those two new Wegmans opening there later this year. I was thinking they would stick more to the Southern or South Central Virginia cities at first and naturally making their way closer toward Richmond.

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    6. It could be, but then again, They're not in Charlottesville

      Then again Royal Ahold and Delhaize (Food Lion and Martin's parent companies) are merging and that could play a part too, and could leave an opening for Publix.

      Ahold brought local chain Ukrops a few years back and the Publix in Glen Allen is going in on a site Ukrops planned to build on. Like Publix, Ukrops' bakery department seems to have a following.

      Martins seems to get pigeonholed for ruining Ukrops old stores in this area

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    7. Maybe Publix wants to get into the Richmond so they could make an offer on any stores Martin's might have to give up. Any closing Food Lion stores probably wouldn't be Publix's top pick other than for real estate purposes, but I have seen a Publix open in an old Food Lion before. Maybe Publix can fill the gap that everyone seems to miss from Ukrops.

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    8. Food Lion stores tend to run on the small side (Approximately 35,000 ft²). No other traditional grocery store (other than maybe Walmart Neighborhood Market) would take it without splitting it up, expanding it or tearing it down.The average grocery store runs about 46-53K ft². (Hanna-Krogers in this area that haven't been expanded and Publix tend to be this size)

      Martin's could be a bit bigger than Food Lion's making them more suitable for Publix.

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  5. http://corporate.publix.com/about-publix/newsroom/news-releases/publix-announces-entry-into-virginia


    More Publix news

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