Wegmans Opens Third North Carolina Store

Wegmans will open the doors to its much-anticipated third store in North Carolina on Feb. 24. The 100,000-square-foot store at 1810 Fordham Boulevard in Chapel Hill features many Weggies’ fan favorites, such as its casual Burger Bar restaurant, Pizza Shop, fresh sushi and poke bowls, and Buzz Coffee Shop.

Prepared foods are a focal point of the Rochester, N.Y.-based grocer’s stores, and Chapel Hill is no exception. “Fresh, delicious meals [are] prepared throughout the day right before customers eyes,” says the company website. “Shoppers are [also] invited to engage with Wegmans culinary experts to discuss the preparation of meals, pairings and ingredients.”

Other foodservice highlights include a salad station; a Sub Shop offering hot and cold sandwiches, subs, wraps, party trays and cookies; a soup station that offers a variety of hot soup options; and packaged ready-to-go entrees and sides, also available in family pack sizes.

The new Wegmans is also home to a colorful produce department featuring hundreds of different fruits and vegetables and a variety of organic choices. “Each location builds strong partnerships with nearby growers and, in season, offers locally grown produce picked daily and delivered directly to the store,” the company said. The Wegmans Organic Farm and Orchard in Canandaigua, N.Y., has a research farm that collaborates with Wegmans’ partner growers.

Wegmans said its seafood is delivered daily from ports on the East Coast, across the country and around the world. The department “showcases fully traceable and sustainable seafood processed without chemicals,” the company website notes. Customers can choose from fresh and frozen. Fresh shellfish, including lobster, shrimp, mussels, clams and crabs, can be steamed at no extra charge.

In the Chapel Hill Wegmans meat department, shoppers will find ready-to-cook entrees and pre-marinated meats in a variety of preparations. In addition to conventional meat, Wegmans also offers organic beef, pork, chicken, lamb, bacon, sausage and the choice of meat with no antibiotics or added hormones. The new Chapel Hill store also features a dry-aging case.

The in-store bakery is brimming with artisanal-style breads and rolls, featuring whole-grain options, items made with organic ingredients, and grains grown near Wegmans’ stores. Other bakery offerings include a wide variety of Cookie Shop cookies baked fresh throughout the day, breakfast pastries, decorated cakes, cupcakes, specialty chocolates, doughnuts, muffins and desserts.

Wegmans Chapel Hill offers plenty to keep cheese lovers engaged—from specialty and artisanal cheeses produced domestically or imported from around the world to a temperature- and humidity-controlled affinage case that houses premium cheeses aged in the Wegmans Cheese Caves.

Seeking to offer a one-stop shop, Wegmans wine shop is designed to draw customers in with approximately 2,000 wines ranging from $6 bottles to examples from some of the finest wine estates in the world. Additionally, the new Wegmans features more than 900 varieties of domestic, craft and imported beers, including "Craft Your Own" six-packs and hard ciders.

For those customers looking for a contactless experience, the new Wegmans includes its Meals 2Go service that invites shoppers to order Wegmans’ chef-prepared restaurant foods for curbside pickup or delivery. Catering options are also available for in-store pickup. And online shopping is available at the location. Customers can complete their grocery shopping online for curbside pickup or delivery to their door in as little as one hour. And the grocer’s Scan App allows customers to scan and bag their groceries as they shop for a quick and easy, contactless shopping experience.

Next up for North Carolina-based Wegmans shoppers? The new Wake Forest store, the grocer’s fourth in the state, is slated to open in late spring.