A birds eye view of part of the Wegmans fresh food section. Paul Goldfinger photo while seated in the second floor café. ©  Click to make the portions bigger.

Blogfinger photo Jan 17, 2016 ©

By Eileen Goldfinger (food editor) and Paul Goldfinger (Editor) @ Blogfinger’s Wegmans office where much of the editing goes on daily.

Wegmans is the go-to place for excellent food, both perishable and non. Many Ocean Grovers shop there. Each of their stores is tailor designed to match the location and clientele of each place. For example, with the large Jewish population in Manalapan, there is a huge Kosher section there, whereas in Ocean Twp, it is much smaller. The café, with table seating on two floors, is actually like a restaurant with many customers buying prepared meals, some as inexpensive as $8.00 and some as simple as a fresh sub.  I would bet that Wegmans serves more lunches than any restaurant in the area.

But the common denominator of all this is the company’s commitment to quality, variety, freshness and customer service. The values of the company originate at the Rochester, New York  headquarters, but each store has a degree of autonomy as to how they function, and the employees are remarkably knowledgeable, happy and helpful.

In recent years Wegmans Ocean has remodeled a number of sections including the produce department which is one of the best in the region. Their seafood, bakery, wine and prepared foods areas are incomparable and are delightful to visit.  In fact most every department is superior.

Tomorrow, January 18, they will embark on a remodeling of their non-perishable/grocery sections which begin north of produce and end at the personal health area by the pharmacy. The time frame for this project is Jan 18 to Feb. 12.   The main goal is to improve the shopping experience for their customers.

A Wegmans manager told Blogfinger that they will strive to complete this project without too much disruption from the perspective of shoppers. New, modern, adjustable shelving and displays will be featured. The end caps (at the ends of aisles) will be constructed to allow greater flexibility in featuring different items efficiently.  The placement of products will be improved such as moving the greeting cards over to the flower market. Dairy and frozen foods will be unchanged.

A new “may we help you team ” will be devoted to patrolling the aisles to assist customers.  In addition, to offer assistance locating specific items, the familiar paper store maps will be updated daily to include specials and other information.

We sat with Tony, an affable and knowledgeable store manager, as we discussed the project. We were sipping the excellent organic House Blend coffee from the Café while munching on fresh baked bagels with butter that is provided free. Our table was on the second floor, overlooking the spectacle of a typical Wegmans European-style food market where the colors, the hubbub, the people-watching and the sounds were  all  like viewing a floor show. Wegmans is entertainment and food.

Tony was enthused about the new project, and, like so many Wegmans employees and managers, he takes great pride in the store. He was there when the Ocean store opened 11 years ago. He was a full time regular worker then, but over the years he rose to become a store manager.

Among all the rest of its accomplishments, Wegmans is a place to forge a career, but you need to meet their high standards.

GRANT PHABAO   From the movie Chef: