For Frank Guidice, what began as a part-time high school job nearly 22 years ago has grown into a director role in a rapidly evolving department within Wegmans. Currently serving as eCommerce Director for Meals 2GO, Frank started his Wegmans career as a cashier at our Britton Rd. store in Rochester, New York. A recipient of our scholarship program, he worked through college at the Brockport Wegmans and relocated to Virginia shortly after graduation to assist with opening new stores.

“A week after I walked the stage, I moved down to Virginia to be a front-end management trainee at Potomac, which was in the process of being built,” said Frank.

Over the next decade, Frank continued to grow his career, picking up new skills and learnings in various roles at stores throughout Virginia and Maryland. During this time, he gained an understanding of what Wegmans’ customers want and need, and how our people work together to create the Wegmans experience.

In 2015, he began a special assignment studying emerging food trends in the Virginia area to increase the variety of products we carried in our stores, with a focus on Asian and Hispanic cuisines.

“We were starting to understand the market a little better and realized the diversity was super strong. We had a small international section, and we didn’t feel we were able to serve those community members’ needs at Wegmans,” he explained.

Frank met with local suppliers, family companies, small grocery stores, and ethnic restaurants to learn about different food cultures and determine how we could incorporate items for all communities into our stores. This role taught him about relationship building and growing a category to better serve all customers.

“We really worked hard over the course of a couple of years to build the international foods options, getting them to where they are today, with a very expansive grocery set, a lot more frozen and dairy items, and more produce items,” said Frank. “We worked with all the merchants around the company to help bring this to life.”

Following his special assignment in Virginia, Frank moved back to Rochester for a position in our Restaurant Foods department. His responsibilities included improving our self-service bars, salad stations, sub shop offerings and later building our new fresh salad and sandwich program during the pandemic. This role gave Frank insight into the inner workings of the company, connected him with colleagues in a variety of departments, and provided him with the knowledge of the vast catering and meal options available to our customers.

“I’ve learned how we measure the business and how we grow the business, and I’ve also developed a passion for food and different cuisines,” said Frank. “My experiences have allowed me to really focus on learning about food and also educating our employees and customers about it.”

Rebuilding a Legacy
Frank’s career up to this point helped prepare him for his next big task. In 2022, a position became available in our eCommerce department focusing on overhauling our Shoppers Club for Business program. Frank jumped at the opportunity and was empowered to take the lead in building a new solution for our business customers.

“We took a legacy program that was very successful for 25 years and we rebuilt it for the digital world,” said Frank. “We wanted to drive more business to our eCommerce solutions, knowing that’s where a lot of organizations were looking to go to fulfill their needs.”

The new program eliminated the need for a formal application, simplifying the sign-up process and allowing members to start using their account right away.

“Any for-profit, not-for-profit business, or organization can shop with us, and we make it as simple as if you were signing up as a retail customer. You just check a box that you’re a business,” said Frank.

Through Wegmans for Business, members can order groceries, everyday essentials, or even fully catered meals for pick-up or delivery. The program also offers exclusive savings, automatic tax exemption, and a dedicated account manager.

“If you’re planning an event, or you have some questions about how things work, you’ve got a dedicated person within your region that can support you,” said Frank. “Some of our top customers are colleges and athletic organizations. We support nutrition for teams, whether they’re in practice facilities, or they’re on the road traveling for away games. If we have colleges or athletic teams coming into another area that we have a Wegmans, we’ll connect them with our account managers in the region to help them plan meals and just make things super simple.”

Wegmans for Business members also have access to an optional credit program. Benefits include 0% interest, flexible online payments, and purchase order capabilities. The credit program provides access to electronic statements and balances, and there are no limits on the number of accounts per customer so multiple departments within an organization can share an account.

“A lot of not-for-profits like to use this because we only charge the fee for one organization and we can take purchase orders,” said Frank. “We have a system that allows them to have a declining balance situation so they can use purchase orders with us pretty seamlessly.”

In early 2023, Frank was promoted to eCommerce Director for Meals 2GO. He’s tasked with growing Wegmans Meals 2GO program, which includes a wide variety of meals, catering, and dessert options available for delivery, curbside pickup, or carryout.

“We want to understand what our customers are looking for and bring all the programs and products we have in our stores to life online,” he said.

Frank will accomplish this by working closely with Wegmans merchants throughout the company, as well as our meals teams, marketing, IT, and operations departments to ensure everyone is supported and in sync as we grow the business.