<p>I am another Wegmans shopper; no one can compare in terms of the variety, particularly in the produce department. I think their prices are reasonable, especially when you are looking for things that are a little out of the ordinary like fennel or honey crisp apples. (I also love their bagels and those kalmata olive rolls.) And I appreciate the way they treat their employees.</p>
<p>I do stop at Walmart when my list reads something like-- green onions, appliance light bulb, brown thread. Generally, though, walking around Walmart or Target just reminds me of how much stuff people buy that will end up in a landfill after a season or two. I find it depressing.</p>
<p>Right, Zoos. So unionization or not, treating employees well or not, having ethical business practices or not–none of these seem to be the reason for a well-run, profitable individual store. You can run a store well treating employees well, or not. So, that being said, I will vote with my money for those whose ethical practices make sense to me. The SR I got to treats its employees well, and also delivers a good shopping experience.</p>
<p>“supermarkets don’t need to attract the best employees, so they have no incentive to do more for their employees.”</p>
<p>It costs money and time to train new workers. It’s expensive if you have lots of turnover. </p>
<p>Walmart simply seems to solve that problem by not having many employees. </p>
<p>When I go to the big chain in my area (Price Chopper) almost every checkout line is staffed. Ditto when I go to Shoprite. At the Walmart superstore near me there is usually only a three or four checkouts open and hardly an employee around to ask where something is if needed. </p>
<p>The shelves are also always fully stocked and there are lots of employees walking around to assist the customers.</p>
<p>Garland, are you really and truly sure of how your shoprite treats its employees?</p>
<p>Emilybee, as far as turnover, the point I was trying to make is that some positions, like overnight shelf stocking, have very high turnover regardless of what the employer does or does not do. That is the nature of some positions, and my husband’s employer, for example sees no upside to providing expensively for that population. Whether that is ethical is another question entirely, but that is the thought process.</p>
<p>I think that there are variations, but not necessarily from state to state. Old, new, large, small. I’ve shopped at Wegmans in three different states. All were large, fairly new stores.</p>
<p>Someone else asked if there are Wegmans near college campuses. In NY, they have stores located in the Rochester, Syracuse, Buffalo, and Ithaca areas where there are many colleges. There is one near Penn State and Princeton also.</p>
<p>Ok, and? Scubasue, what specific business practices bother you? What are your thoughts on Shoprite’s annual practices vis a vis it’s can can sale?</p>
<p>Zmom: employee turnover can be costly; incompetent employees cause problems–all sorts of negative effects from not getting good people and/or keeping the people you do have content. Do you think it’s the culture of large retailers to devalue their employees?</p>
<p>And, scubasue, do you know for a fact that employees of the places you frequent are doing well enough to avoid “government handouts”? I can tell you for sure that where I live, anyway, Target is no better. I do know someone who gets health benefits from working at J.Crew, but unfortunately we cannot buy dish soap and bananas and bread there. :)</p>
<p>Bromfield, I think it is a function of being at the bottom of the food chain. The same companies treat employees a few levels up much differently.</p>
<p>^Yes. Although interestingly, I have two friends who work at Walmart corporate and they say no one has swanky offices, even the mucky-mucks. (I’m sure how they are compensated financially is a different story, of course.)</p>
<p>I don’t shop at Shoprite, so I don’t need to know about their business practices. And, if you read my earlier posts, you can see which business practices are important to me.</p>
<p>Zoosermom, I have to ask - for someone who is so apparently anti-union, why is it your husband has not one, but two union jobs? Why isn’t he working in non union jobs if they are so much better?</p>
<p>Zmom–I should have a chance to gather some first-hand info. I’m going with two friends to visit my former neighbor whose husband is a sales executive for one of Walmart’s supplier. He was sent to Bentonville, AK because most of Walmart’s big suppliers have people based in Bentonville, AK (Walmart headquarters) to make sure Walmart gets what it needs. My friend has been living in Bentonville for 2 years now and most of her friends and neighbors work for Walmart. She doesn’t like living there (mostly because she’s misses New England) and is just waiting until her husband can move on.</p>
<p>Walmart has lots of employees…over 2 million worldwide! Walmart is the largest private employer in the United States…1% of American workers are Walmart employees. Maybe it is good that Walmart employs so many…I don’t think there would be enough traffic intersections in America for all those people to stand with cardboard “Will Work for Food” signs if they didn’t have the Walmart jobs .</p>
<p>They are also the largest supplier of welfare recipients.</p>
<p>If, as a few of you insist, there is no place else for all these hundreds of thousands of welfare recipients to work, how in the world are the supposed to get themselves off welfare?</p>
<p>Emilybee, why would you ask me to speak for someone else’s priorities and values? I don’t work a union job because it is unacceptable to me. But my husband and I are not the same person. </p>
<p>But to answer your question in the logistical sense, if a job is a union shop, there is no choice. When a person is functionally illiterate, there is little choice. Living ones’s values is a luxury many people can’t afford.</p>
<p>Scubasue, did you research all of your potential supermarkets’ policies before choosing?</p>
<p>I would guess the unemployed are a bigger drain on welfare system in the U.S. than Walmart employees. Maybe other companies should hire more people who are unemployed.</p>