Poll: Should Columbia Grocery Stores Be Worried About Wegmans?

Do you think other grocery stores should be worried about losing business to Wegmans, which is expected to open in Columbia in 2012 and Owings Mills in 2014?

Janet Wagner, a University of Maryland associate professor who directs the Robert H. Smith School of Business' Center for Excellence in Service, believes Wegmans has no direct competiton — even when built close to an existing store —  and instead provides a middle ground between standard supermarkets and high-end grocery stores.

While stores like Giant and Safeway attract standard middle class customers and Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market appeal to more upper middle class customers, , Wagner said.

Not all grocery stores agree with Wagner's assessment.

According to The Baltimore Sun, the new Abingdon Wegmans in Harford County ruffled the feathers of at least one local grocery store.

Klein’s Shoprite, a locally owned grocery chain in Harford County, claimed Wegmans was inaccurately printing ShopRite price information in the store’s price comparison advertisements.

Wegmans, which routinely compares its prices on select items with those of two other chains in circulars it publishes, denied that claim.

Weigh in on the subject and take our poll.