Rachael Peart

Meteo 482 – Industry Section - Weis Markets Grocery Index

Business Outline Concerns/Aspects – Where does the money go and where does it come from?

  1. Qualitative
  2. Number of daily customers
  3. Peak shopping quarters based on sales/income (chart on p 35)
  4. The following graphs represent the Quarterly Financial Data for the company from FY2010 and FY2011, with all values in thousands.

  1. Advertising
  2. Weis advertises through a variety of mediums to its customers. The main company website has a link to “Social@Weis”, which redirects users to the regularly updated news feeds for the company. Social@Weis displays the feeds for its Facebook page “Weis Markets”, its Twitter page “@WeisMarkets”, and its YouTube channel “Weis SuperMarkets”. Through these three channels, customers are updated with sale information, printable coupons and recipes. Customers are also provided with “WeisBucks”, in which offers are sent directly to them based upon what they buy with their Weis preferred shoppers card. More information about WeisBucks can be found at ( Coupons and other offers are also placed in print ads in newspapers and magazines. Weis also presents a variety of television commercials in the areas in which stores are present.
  3. Location of Weis manufacturers relative to Weis store locations
  4. The company is run out of central Pennsylvania. The corporate office and company headquarters is located in Sunbury, Pennsylvania. Weis has three manufacturing plants, all located in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. The Ice Cream, Dairy, and the Meat Processing Plants are all also located in Sunbury, Pennsylvania.Weis has had a large presence in Sunbury since the early 20th century when the company began. The Distribution Center is located in Milton, Pennsylvania, which is less than twenty (20) miles north of Sunbury (according to Google Maps).
  5. Types of benefits received by employees (full- and part-time)
  6. Typically, there are no benefits for part-time employees, but it is to be noted that part-time employees may be promoted to full-time status if a position opens up or if there is a greater need for laborers.
  7. Full-time employees receive a comprehensive benefits package from Weis Markets, Inc. The Full-Time Employee Welfare benefits includes Health (not including dental and vision care), Life insurance, Dental, Vision, Temporary and Long-term disability, and Death benefits. This plan has been in effect since 1965 and is available for all full-time employees of Weis Markets.
  8. Other benefits - In addition to the Full-Time Employee Welfare benefits, full-time personnel are also entitle to the Full-Time Retirement plan (chart on page 31). There is a different executive retirement plan for those personswho hold administrative and managerial positions and non-qualified pharmacist deferred compensation plans for those who qualify.
  1. Quantitative
  2. Shipping
  3. Trends in gas/diesel costs 2008-2011
  4. Prices of gasoline and diesel directly affect shipping costs to the company. Fluctuations of gas prices will positively correlate with fluctuations of shipping prices.

  1. Any weather phenomenon that would cause changes in normal travel will negatively impact the cost of shipping. Phenomenon such as flooding, snowstorms, and high wind speeds would make travelling more dangerous and thus may impact how long it takes for a shipment to get from the Distribution Center to a store.
  2. In the case of severe weather, the driver’s safety will be deemed more important than the quality of the shipment. Thus, with more severe weather phenomenon comes a higher chance of spoilage. Spoilage costs for FY2011 were documented as 1% of the Cost of Goods Sold, for a total of $20,166,490.
  3. Estimate/graph how much money is being consumed based on location of manufacturers
  1. Labor
  2. Any labor costs included will account for the amount of preparation by the stores done before the storm occurs. Labor will also include the amount of manpower that may be needed depending on the intensity of the oncoming storm. Snow removal will not be included in the labor costs of the index.
  3. Employees
  4. Full- versus part-time
  5. Amount of hours worked per week - A full-time employee works forty (40) hours per week. A part-time employee works any amount of time less than 40 hours per week, with a normal range of 20-30 hours per week.
  6. Rates of pay - There is virtually no difference in rates of pay between full-time and part-time employees. The only difference in wages lies in the number of hours that each staff member works per week.
  7. Costs of benefits - According to page 13 of the 2011 Form 10-K, employee costs (wages, employer paid taxes, health benefits, retirement plans) account for 60+% of Operating, General and Administrative expenses (referenced from page 13, chart on page 10)
  8. Overtime - Overtime pay is equal for both part-time and full-time employees, normally one-and-a-half-times the normal hourly wages.
  9. AdvertisingCosts (page 27) - Weis Markets spent approximately $24.7 million in 2011, $25.1 million in 2010, and $23.4 million in 2009 in advertising costs, for an average of $24.4 million in advertisements per year during this three-year period.
  10. Sales Distributions – the following are the net sales distributions for FY09, FY10 and FY11 broken down in terms of percentages

Sources:

“Weis Markets.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 31 December 2012. Web. 20 January 2013.

“Weis Markets, Inc. Employee Welfare Benefit Plan.” Find The Best. FindTheBest.com, Inc. Web. 20 January 2013.

“Weis Markets Ice Cream Plant.” Fyple. Fyple.com. Web. 20 January 2013.

“Weis Markets.” Manta. Manta Media Inc. Web. 20 January 2013.

“Weis EDI Bill-to, Ship-to Locations.”Jobisez. Jobisez LLC. Web. 20 January 2013.

“Weekly Retail Gasoline and Diesel Prices.” EIA. 14 January 2013. Web. 20 January 2013.

“Part Time Vs. Full Time Hours.” eHow. Demand Media, Inc. Web. 20 January 2013.

Weis Markets, Inc. Annual Report: Form 10-K. Washington, D.C.: United State Securities and Exchange Commission, 2011.