This year Rochester New York’s Wegmans Food Markets, a privately held supermarket with $3.4 million in sales (2004) and 31.3% of the market (2003), tops Fortune’s 2005 “100 Best Companies To Work For” list. Quite a feat considering (1) the reported negative shareholder returns (-49% to -78%) of the largest U.S. grocers (Albertson's, Kroger, Safeway, and Ahold USA) between 2/99 and 11/04; and (2) the negative perceptions and often realties of working in a grocery store — low wages, long hours, high turnover, labor unrest.
While most people probably haven’t heard of Wegmans (unless you live in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Virginia where its 67 stores are located), if you read Fortune, you have now. Plus, you can’t help but be impressed with what they have accomplished. So how did they do it?
“Employees first, customers second”
This is Wegmans’ motto. It permeates everything they do. It demonstrates they understand the impact that satisfied and performing employees have on customer satisfaction, results and reputation. They promise employees and customers: “Every Day You Get Our Best;” and they mean it.
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