When was Wegmans founded?

The company was founded on January 30, 1916, in Rochester, New York, as the Rochester Fruit and Vegetable Company. It adopted the Wegmans name in 1930.

Brothers John and Walter Wegman founded the business. John's son Robert B. Wegman led the company for more than five decades and built its modern large-store format and employee culture.

What is Wegmans' market position?

Wegmans is a premium regional grocer operating 115 large-format stores in nine states and D.C. It competes on perishables depth, prepared food, and service rather than on the lowest price.

Retail & E-commerce

Who Owns Wegmans?

Q: Is Wegmans a subsidiary of a larger company?

No. Wegmans is the operating company itself, owned by the Wegman family through Wegman Enterprises, Inc. There is no corporate parent above the chain.

Q: Is Wegmans publicly traded?

No. Wegmans is privately held and has never been listed on a stock exchange. It does not publicly report revenue or profit figures, though press estimates place annual revenue near $14 billion.

Q: How many stores does Wegmans have?

Wegmans operates 115 stores as of November 2026. The newest opened October 14, 2026, in Ballantyne, Charlotte, North Carolina, the chain's first location in the Charlotte market.

Wegmans is owned by Wegmans Food Markets, Inc., a private company controlled by the Wegman family through Wegman Enterprises, Inc. Founded in 1916 in Rochester, New York, by John and Walter Wegman, the chain operates 115 stores in nine states and the District of Columbia. Colleen Wegman, the founder's great-granddaughter, is president and CEO.

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Parent Company

Wegmans Food Markets, Inc.

Founded

1916

Status

Private

Headquarters

Gates, New York, USA

mid rangepremiumRegionalall-agesOfficial Website

Who Owns Wegmans?

Parent Company: Wegmans Food Markets, Inc.
Ownership Type: Wholly owned
Company Type: Privately Held

Brand	Parent Company	Ownership Type
Wegmans	Wegmans Food Markets, Inc.	Wholly owned

History of Wegmans

Founded: 1916
Founders: John Wegman, Walter Wegman

John and Walter Wegman opened the Rochester Fruit and Vegetable Company on January 30, 1916, building on produce retailing skills John learned in his parents' grocery store. The brothers renamed the business Wegmans in 1930 and opened a self-service store of about 20,000 square feet the next year, a format far larger than the typical corner grocer of the Depression era.

Robert B. Wegman, John's son, joined in 1937 and would lead the company into the early 2000s. He pushed the chain into prepared foods, in-store bakeries, and private-label goods well ahead of competitors. He also institutionalized the company's employee-first posture: above-market wages, scholarships for store workers, and promotion from within. That posture later became the chain's most cited competitive advantage.

Expansion outside Rochester accelerated in the 1970s and 1980s into Pennsylvania, then New Jersey in the 1990s, and Virginia and Maryland in the 2000s. Stores grew in scale along the way, with modern locations typically exceeding 100,000 square feet and including restaurants, cheese caves, and full pharmacies.

Danny Wegman took over leadership in the mid-2000s, followed by his daughter Colleen in 2017. The current era has brought the brand into denser urban markets: a Manhattan store at Astor Place opened in October 2023, Delaware joined the footprint, and the chain moved into New England with Massachusetts and Connecticut locations.

In 2025 the company opened three stores, including its first Connecticut location in Norwalk and its Long Island debut in Lake Grove. On October 14, 2026, the 115th Wegmans opened in Ballantyne, Charlotte, North Carolina, drawing more than 25,000 opening-day customers, the largest weekday debut in company history. Additional Charlotte-area sites are under contract.

About Wegmans Food Markets, Inc.

What does Wegmans own?

Wegmans operates as a single-brand company. It owns the Wegmans supermarket chain, the Wegmans private-label product program, in-store restaurant concepts such as The Pub, and supporting assets including distribution centers and an organic research farm in Canandaigua, New York.

Is Wegmans publicly traded?

No. Wegmans is privately held by the Wegman family through Wegman Enterprises, Inc. It has never issued public stock and does not disclose detailed financial statements.

Who founded Wegmans?

Brothers John and Walter Wegman founded the company in Rochester, New York, in 1916 as the Rochester Fruit and Vegetable Company. John Wegman's son Robert later led the chain for more than five decades and shaped its modern format.

Where is Wegmans headquartered?

The company is headquartered in Gates, New York, a suburb of Rochester, where it also operates offices, warehouses, and food production facilities. Roughly 11,000 of its employees work in the Rochester area.

How many stores does Wegmans have?

As of November 2026, Wegmans operates 115 stores across New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Virginia, North Carolina, Connecticut, Delaware, and the District of Columbia. The newest location opened in Ballantyne, a Charlotte, North Carolina suburb, on October 14, 2026.