Wegmans isn’t just a super market around here, it’s a destination. Going the store is less about “getting food” and more about shopping. My local store is huge, but it feels comfortable. The selection is massive, but I can always find what I came for. I can also find things that I didn’t come for and didn’t know I wanted until I saw them. So how can Wegmans accomplish this? How can they have a massive store, but yet have items that catch my attention that I wasn’t specifically looking for. The answer: The Wegmans Magazine
The Summer magazine arrived at my house on Saturday and it was greated with “Oooh, the latest Wegmans magazine”. What other super market can say they get that reaction with one of their flyers? Flipping through it, the Summer beers caught my attention because I’ve already had 2/3 of them, but even more importantly that means I haven’t tried 1/3 them! But whatever, there are a ton of beers I haven’t tried and probably never will.
I found myself at Wegmans today to pick up lunch and some avocados. To buy lunch there, you walk through the beer section to the registered. I usually glance over to see if anything catches my eye and this time was no different. As a tie in with their Summer magazine, they positioned their Summer selections right on an end-cap. There they were, the beers I have just read about in the magazine! Something went off in my mind like “oh, I found them!” even though I wasn’t looking for them and they were never hiding. I just didn’t know I wanted them until Wegmans showed me the light, all through orchestrated marketing. Well done, you got me.
P.S. The beer was Unibroue Blanche De Chambly