How worried is Wegmans about Amazon?
The constant promotion of home delivery of Wegmans meals and groceries is one indication.
Another sign, although more obscure, is Wegmans’ growing list of internet domain names. In the last two years, the company has registered 10 new names, many of them centered around delivery services. (A few examples: wegmans2go.com, wegmanstogo.com and wegmansdelivers.org.)
Amazon, meanwhile, has continued to roll out its AmazonFresh service in cities across the country. Amazon Prime customers in places such as New York, Phoenix and Los Angeles can order groceries with one- or two-hour delivery.
The service has yet to reach Wegmans’ headquarters city of Rochester, NY. However, Amazon’s grocery subsidiary, Whole Foods, is trying to open a store in the area.
(The proposed site in suburban Brighton, NY, has drawn local opposition, which the developers blame on Wegmans, which Wegmans denies.)
Amazon bought the Whole Foods chain for $13.7 billion in 2017, and offers another delivery and pickup service called Prime Now through those stores.
Can Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, with (let’s admit it) superior technology, a broader customer base, and now a network of supermarkets, overpower the cult status of Wegmans?
“Everyone is feeling the competition out there,” Greg Ferrara, president of the National Grocers Association, a lobby group for independent grocers, told CNN Business.
And yet, CNN reports:
Some regional chains like H-E-B, Publix, Wegmans, Hy-Vee and others are proving pretty resilient. These grocers have opened new stores and grown sales in the cutthroat industry.