Pierre Herme Assisting Wegmans

[Rail Paul]

Guess they weren't selling enough of them in the other locations!  But knowing Wegmans and their stupendous customer service, if you can't get to a store that does sell his collection, I bet you can have it sent/delivered.

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The Woodbridge bakery manager told me that the licensing deal with Herme was limited to a small number of stores.

Although Wegmans would like to carry Herme in more locations, it hasn't been allowed to add new salons, and has removed the Herme salon from several other stores where sales didn't justify maintaining the location.

[menton1]

According to the Wegmans web site,

You can purchase in person at selected Wegmans. Completely customize an assortment of Wegmans Chocolates by Pierre Hermé, by the box or container, at these Patisserie locations:

  New York: Pittsford

  New Jersey: Bridgewater, Manalapan, Princeton

Guess they weren't selling enough of them in the other locations!  But knowing Wegmans and their stupendous customer service, if you can't get to a store that does sell his collection, I bet you can have it sent/delivered.

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I don't think this is accurate information-- I referred to the "Freehold" store, but I guess it is actually in Manalapan... and they had ZERO Pierre Hermé product.

[SethG]

If you can't buy Herme's chocolate creations, you can at least make them yourself!

[phaelon56]

More people need to climb aboard the Wegmans bandwagon, for this and for many other reasons.

In general terms I agree and they do represent a breath of fresh here in the "wasteland of upstate NY". I can only hope that they maintain their high standards in the pastry and chocolate department as time goes on. Here in Syracuse, they went to great lengths to build a traditional brick bread baking oven for their new flagship store, even importing a few artisans from Spain for the construction process. After a few years of baking their "artisan style" breads (which were very good) from scratch, they switched over to par-baked stuff that gets delivered from Rochester. It gets finished in the Syracuse oven but the bakers here are no longer bakers - just machine operators.

I was alerted to this fact by someone here on eGullet and was loathe to believe it until a local acquaintance who is a pastry chef advised that a friend of hers was the chief baker and resigned in disgust when they made the change. I'm baffled as to why they would do this unless it were strictly a cost-savings move. If they think people here don't know the difference theyr'e incorrect, as the success of a few other bakeries should indicate. But they still do the numbers and I guess that's what works for them.

Despite my grumbling, they are the only mass market grocery store I've yet to encounter that really "gets it".

[Rail Paul]

In general terms I agree and they do represent a breath of fresh here in the "wasteland of upstate NY". I can only hope that they maintain their high standards in the pastry and chocolate department as time goes on.  Here in Syracuse, they went to great lengths to build a traditional brick bread baking oven for their new flagship store, even importing a few artisans from Spain for the construction process. After a few years of baking their "artisan style" breads (which were very good) from scratch, they switched over to par-baked stuff that gets delivered from Rochester. It gets finished in the Syracuse oven but the bakers here are no longer bakers - just machine operators.

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Even after paying the licensing fees, a supermarket can do very well selling the par-baked bread. The California-based LaBrea line, for example, has excellent name recognition in NJ, and sells for up to a buck more than local, family owned bakers in the same supermarket bakery.

Cheaper to produce, and sells for more money.

[rozrapp]

According to the Wegmans web site,

You can purchase in person at selected Wegmans. Completely customize an assortment of Wegmans Chocolates by Pierre Hermé, by the box or container, at these Patisserie locations:

  New York: Pittsford

  New Jersey: Bridgewater, Manalapan, Princeton

Guess they weren't selling enough of them in the other locations!  But knowing Wegmans and their stupendous customer service, if you can't get to a store that does sell his collection, I bet you can have it sent/delivered.

←

I don't think this is accurate information-- I referred to the "Freehold" store, but I guess it is actually in Manalapan... and they had ZERO Pierre Hermé product.

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I shop at Wegmans in Manalapan regularly. The other day, I spoke to someone in the Patisserie Dept. about the disappearance of the Pierre Herme chocolates. She told me that the Manalapan store still carries them. However, they are now pre-boxed in 3 different sizes and, since they are not on display, you have to ask for them. Furthermore, they are only being sold during holiday periods. Valentine's Day is one such time. I asked if that meant the next time would be Easter, and she said, "Probably."