Opinion: Wegmans responds to Bertha Lewis column

Dear Editor,

We are compelled to set the record straight. Bertha Lewis had some blatantly false things to say about Wegmans in her Nov. 2 opinion article. We don’t know Ms. Lewis, and clearly she doesn’t know Wegmans, nor did she reach out to us to verify the accuracy of her information. We also have no idea what motivated her to attack our reputation as a great employer and an ethical company.

Here is the truth:

Wegmans is a family-owned company founded in 1916. Today, we have 88 stores in six states and 45,000 employees, and our business was built on the simple philosophy that the path to great customer service begins with treating employees right. There are five values that guide our company:  caring, respect, empowerment, high standards and making a difference. We care about our employees, and we care about the communities where we have stores.

We could rebut each of Ms. Lewis’s allegations point by point, but instead we share the following:

Wegmans has been named one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" by Fortune magazine for 18 consecutive years, ranking No. 7 in 2015.  Inclusion on this list is based largely on employee responses to an anonymous survey conducted by a third party. 

In the 2014 Harris Poll Reputation Quotient ® study, Wegmans ranked No. 1 for corporate reputation among the 100 "most-visible companies" nationwide.

A number of benefits (health care, too) are available to full-time and part-time employees, and that includes a benefit that is unique in the retail industry: Wegmans Employee Scholarship Program. Since it began in 1984, this program has awarded $100 million in college tuition assistance to 32,000 Wegmans employees, and many recipients have gone on to build careers with our company.

In closing, we want to say how much we look forward to building a team of 450 employees at our Brooklyn store and opening the doors to welcome our new customers.

Sincerely,

Jo Natale

Vice President of Media and Consumer Relations