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Friday, February 27, 2009
Wegmans hiring 550 in Phila. suburbs

 

Wegmans is hiring for its new Collegeville store -- and yes, they plan to sell beer.

"Wegmans is beginning the process of hiring full-time employees for its new Collegeville store (in Upper Providence Township, Montgomery County) set to open in October," the Rochester, NY-based chain says. "Available positions include everything from cashiers and customer service to culinary professionals. The store will employ approximately 600 people, 550 of whom will be hired locally."

Wegmans wants would-be fulltime workers to apply online at www.wegmans.com/careers, go to Job Listings, and to Collegeville. Why is Wegmans building now, with the economy so slow? "We've been working on the location," at US 422 and PA 29 near the Wyeth labs, "since before the downturn. And everyone has to eat," Blaine Forkell, the manager who'll open the store, told me. He opened earlier Wegmans in Downingtown (2003) and Warrington (2006) since the company decided on its current low-price, limited-brands big-store model.

Wegmans employs around 37,000 at 72 stores. Most are in sleepy upstate Pennsylvania and New York towns like Erie, Bethlehem, Syracuse, and Buffalo, but increasingly it's been adding large stores in East Coast suburbs like Cherry Hill, Downingtown, and Manassas, Va.

It's avoided big cities like Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., however. "Our stores are large -- 100,000 square feet plus," said spokeswoman Jo Natale. "Finding sites in large cities that are able to accomodate a store our size with parking is almost impossible."

Natale said pay and benefits at the nonunion chain are "comparable to, or exceed, that of our competitors," which in the Philadelphia area are led by the unionized Acme and ShopRite chains. One difference: while union supermarket workers can qualify for traditional guaranteed pensions, Wegmans has only a 401(k) worker-directed retirement plan. 

Posted by Joseph N. DiStefano @ 9:56 AM  Permalink | 52 comments
Comments   
Posted 11:44 AM, 02/27/2009
Adam Smythe
Best run supermarket group in the country. Glad that they are expanding here.
Posted 11:58 AM, 02/27/2009
phillygwm
Oh baby...I hope they offer delivery!
Posted 12:28 PM, 02/27/2009
Dutch of N
Juggernaut.
Posted 12:35 PM, 02/27/2009
The Selector
Where will they find enthusiastic and friendly people around here?
Posted 01:04 PM, 02/27/2009
Fisher
Excellence expands. The Warrington store puts all the stores in the area to shame. Basics are very addordable, it is clean, people are friendly and helpful.
Posted 01:07 PM, 02/27/2009
dreinterests
c'mon, there are big lots of land in Philly...unless they are against multilevel garages.
Posted 01:09 PM, 02/27/2009
FaciaBella
This is great news in a struggling economy. Go Wegmans!
Posted 01:09 PM, 02/27/2009
williampennmanship
Selling beer at supermarkets? C'mon. That makes way too much sense.
Posted 01:11 PM, 02/27/2009
FletcherT
Wegmans is excellent. I just wish they could find a spot a little closer to my house.
Posted 01:12 PM, 02/27/2009
Joe the Bat
Wegmans is the best! Their store-brand stuff is sometimes better than the big label stuff, and cheaper
Posted 01:13 PM, 02/27/2009
NickEeee
Glad that they are expanding here; sad that they'll be putting a few local beer distributors out of business. I imagined that they would have hired 550 even without the beer license.
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Posted 01:20 PM, 02/27/2009
AreaMan
Wegmans would be nice if not for the shoppers there. It's somehow worse than Trader Joe's. Nothing but a bunch of smug clowns who live 3 feet up their own butts and talk with their eyes closed. The last time I was there two years ago, I saw a group of snobs who would not let a stock boy in to restock the shelves. It's organic food with a parking lot the size of North Dakota, doesn't make sense to me.
Posted 01:20 PM, 02/27/2009
Leapinliz
Wegman's is THE BEST. They should open a training center for the art of fine customer service! The most pleasant associates on earth. Bensalen, PA could REALLY use a Wegman's
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About Joseph N. DiStefano
Joseph N. DiStefano writes this blog to feed his PhillyDeals column, which is printed in the business pages of The Philadelphia Inquirer every Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Joe has worked at the Inquirer, mostly, since 1988. He has also written for Bloomberg and Gannett, authored the book Comcasted, majored in economics at Penn, and fathered six children. Reach Joe at 215-854-5194 and JoeD@phillynews.com

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