Here is a simple but powerful rule: always give people more than what they expect to get.
Nelson Boswell
Good News for Wegmans and Us
Kitch Loftus-Mussari
Tony Mussari
The announcement by Fortune Magazine about Wegmans could not have come at a better time. We were ready to launch our “Good News” segment on The New Windsor Park Stories and the two fit together perfectly.
Good News is our way of trying to offer a balance in the world of information. Viewers are constantly bombarded with violent images of crime and war. There are many sad stories about people all over the globe and the economic reports are often not what we want to hear.
The old saw certainly applies in print journalism as well. If it bleeds, it leads. We have had a lot of bleeding of late.
These news stories are legitimate and the public needs the information, especially in a democracy, but there is also room for stories that will bring a smile, a laugh and offer a more balanced look at the world.
Not everyone in our world is earning a one-way ticket to Dante’s ninth circle.
There is much more to our world than drugs, death and destruction.
There are places where things work, people count and the future is bright.
The story that Wegmans is one of the top ten companies in America to work for is a perfect fit for our first Good News segment.
Anyone who has been to Wegmans refers to it as an “experience” rather than grocery shopping. It offers more than the average store, and the employees are a large part of why this is so. Taking care of the customer is something they are trained to do.
Quite frankly, one gets the impression it is something they like to do.
A visit to the deli counter is pleasant, regardless of how busy it is. Stop at the bakery with a question and the clerk will find the answer. Order fish and you can learn how to make it a new way. Go to the natural food section and they are happy to reach up to the shelf you can’t reach and get the items you need.
It sounds too good to be true, but it’s been our experience that at Wegmans the customer counts. That may very well be true because at Wegmans the employee counts, and that’s why it’s such a pleasant experience to shop there.
One-stop shopping is another way to put it. The pharmacy is there along with the international foods section. All you need in the line of greeting cards, wrapping paper, magazines and books are conveniently located in the neighborhood of DVD and video rentals.
When you’re finished shopping or even before, stop by the café for a meal or a treat. There’s deli, pizza, salads, subs, Chinese and pasta. Kitch likes to stop on her way out and grab a coffee to go.
Our friends, Joyce and John Lucas, like to have breakfast at Wegmans every Friday. Guests are welcome to join them. We accepted their invitation the last time we were in State College, PA, and the experience was wonderful.
By the way, there’s a huge coffee selection. On the other side of produce is a small floral shop if you want to brighten up your home.
This may not be on the radar screen when one thinks of grocery shopping, but it impresses us. The restrooms are sparkling clean and well maintained. Our thought is, “How can the store be clean if the restrooms aren’t?”
So as the young people and ad agency execs would say, “going to Wegmans is a no brainer.” It’s 
good to support a company that takes good care of its employees who in turn, like to help the customer.
It’s refreshing to know that there are companies that think about their employees with the same intensity that they think about the bottom line.
A corporate culture deeply rooted in caring about employees that produces good customer service should be applauded. We hope our first Good News segment does just that.
Service with a smile is an endangered species these days.Sometimes you have to shop at Wegmans and you have watch The New Windsor Park Stories to find it.
(Photograph of Wegman's Food Market in State College courtesy of Bill Coleman. Special thnaks to Jo Natale)
Kitch Loftus-Mussari & Tony Mussari
tmussari@aol.com
