Text 980, 73 rader
Skriven 2006-04-30 19:36:00 av JOAN MACDIARMID (1:123/140)
Ärende: Wegmans
===============
 Hi, All,

 Several of you have experienced Burt's Wegmans store
 and heard about mine sometimes. The patriarch of the
 chain died recently, and I thought I would share some
 of the obit info my paper carried.

   "Robert B. Wegman, patriarch of the nationally
 recognized supermarket chain bearing the family name,
 died Thursday in Strong Memorial Hospital, Rochester.
 He was 87.
   Wegmans Food Markets, built on the simple idea that
 it was essential to treat customers and employees right,
 topped Fortune magazine's list of the 100 best companies
 to work for in 2005 and ranked second this year.
   In a 1994 front-page story in the Wall Street Journal
 a supermarket industry analyst said this about Wegmans:
 "We consider them the best chain in the country, maybe
 in the world."
   Mr. Wegman was born in his grandparents' Rochester
 home, where his grandmother ran a storefront grocery.
 His father and grandfather had gone into the food
 business together 2 years earlier, and in 1930, they
 opened a Rochester store that received national
 attention: a 20,000-square-foot store featuring a 300-
 seat cafeteria, refrigerated food display windows and a
 vaporized water spray to keep produce fresh.
   After his father's death in 1936 and his high school
 graduation in 1937, Mr. Wegman joined the family
 business full time. He worked in the accounting office
 while attending Niagara University and became a store
 manager in 1947 after serving 3 years in the Marine Corps.
   After his uncle's death in 1950, Mr. Wegman became
 president of the company at age 31.
   During the next 56 years, he pursued his goal of
 building the finest supermarket chain in the land -
 even if it wasn't the fastest-growing company. He
 pioneered the superstore and the concept of one-stop
 shopping, placing bakeries, cafes and other sections in
 a single store. Grocery shopping gradually became a
 visit to the global village.
   Among the many accolades received by Mr. Wegman and
 his company was his induction, in 2004, into the Junior
 Achievement National Business Hall of Fame. In accepting
 the honor. Mr. Wegman said the most important thing in
 life was taught to him in elementary school, by the
 Sisters of Mercy. "How do you get to heaven?" he had
 asked. "Never think of yourself; always care about
 others," was the reply.
   Mr. Wegman had retained the title of chairman after his
 son, Danny, had become CEO and Danny's daughter Colleen
 became president last year. Danny Wegman's daughter Nicole
 is vice president of restaurant operations."

 There was more, about the local operations (Wegmans has
 11 stores in the Buffalo Niagara area) and his various
 philanthropies. I just thought some might like to hear
 about the guy who authored the development of a really
 nice set of stores, some of the grocery store concepts
 we are now fairly familiar with, and a place I like to
 shop in because there is something friendly about it! He
 seemed to have been a really nice guy, and managed to
 institutionalize his niceness and still make a profit.
 I hope his family continues his philosophies in the
 business.

 Joan MacDiarmid


... If we do what we should we won't have to do what we shouldn't.
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