Individual Proposal

When a Wegmans comes to a community, it not only brings along the positive reputation, it also causes some side-affects.  In this project, I want to focus my research on the ways Wegmans, as a cultural community center, directly affects the residents in the surrounding area through its presence.  Since Wegmans is known for its positive community influences by providing a friendly supermarket atmosphere that gives back to the community through college scholarships, charity fundraisers, and excellent working conditions (among other things), I wanted to take a closer look at how Wegmans affects the community when they don't try.  

In order for me to look at the impact of Wegmans, I will need to try and find some patterns about where the company chooses to build their establishments.  From there, I will be looking at the gentrification that often occurs with the arrival of a Wegmans, the socioeconomic status of the people who live in the area around Wegmans and how it changed, who shops at Wegmans, how far they have to travel to get there, and how other supermarkets in the area are affected by Wegmans.