A recent
profile of the Wegmans supermarket chain in
The Atlantic
focused on the company’s investment in its employees. The company’s philosophy is that “a happy, knowledgeable and superbly trained employee creates a better experience for customers,” the article said.
Wegmans has no mandatory retirement age and has never had layoffs. All profits are reinvested in the company or shared with employees.
Wegmans, which has 79 stores on the East Coast and 42,000 employees, generates $6.2 billion in annual revenues. The company’s profit comes from high volume, the article said. Wegmans stores are roughly double the size of a traditional supermarket and have the highest average daily sales volumes in the industry. Second-generation owner Robert Wegman, father of current CEO Danny Wegman, pioneered the greatly expanded store size, the article said.
Executives say the company is also able to invest in its employees and focus on steady, strategic growth because it is not publicly traded.
(Source:
The Atlantic,
March 2012.)
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