The Tampa Bay Business Journal reports that Wegmans CEO Danny Wegman has said that "it is kind of sad" that his company will be competing head-to-head with Publix in the Richmond market.
The story notes that "Wegmans, which is based in upstate New York and has a cult following among foodies, opened its second store in the Richmond area this weekend. Publix in July announced its intentions to buy 10 former Martin's Food Markets stores in the Richmond area." The two iconic retailers never have competed against each other before.
"George Jenkins, who founded Publix, and [my] dad (Robert Wegman, who died in 2006) were like best friends," Wegman says. "In many ways, it’s kind of sad that we will compete. We didn’t know that they were going to Richmond. Anyway, here we go."
The story notes that "Wegmans, which is based in upstate New York and has a cult following among foodies, opened its second store in the Richmond area this weekend. Publix in July announced its intentions to buy 10 former Martin's Food Markets stores in the Richmond area." The two iconic retailers never have competed against each other before.
"George Jenkins, who founded Publix, and [my] dad (Robert Wegman, who died in 2006) were like best friends," Wegman says. "In many ways, it’s kind of sad that we will compete. We didn’t know that they were going to Richmond. Anyway, here we go."
- KC's View:
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A lot of people would've said that "it is kind of sad that we're going to have to kick their butts." But Danny Wegman didn't.
I have a lot of respect for Publix, but I haven't talked to one retailer who thinks that it will be victorious in a head-to-head battle against Wegmans. hate to say it, but that's just the way it is.
To be clear, Wegmans and Publix run very different types of stores, but I do think that there will be a lot of overlap in their target shopper. In Richmond, there is a lot of competition and there is going to be more ... there's going to be blood.
