Wegmans extends its reach

Upcoming new stores from Wegmans Food Markets will push its Mid-Atlantic market farther south and also establish a presence in the New York City area.

On April 28, Wegmans plans to open a 113,000-square-foot store near the intersection of Virginia Beach and Independence Boulevards in Virginia Beach, Va., which would mark the Rochester, New York-based supermarket chain’s southernmost location.

However, that won’t be the case for very long. Wegmans said earlier this month that a 104,000-square-foot store in Raleigh, N.C. — the company’s first location in North Carolina — is set to open on Sept. 29 at the Midtown East Shopping Center on Wake Forest Road near Interstate 440.

Both stores will feature Wegmans’ signature European open-air market look and feel, including eye-catching displays of fresh produce, artisan breads and other baked goods plus restaurant-quality prepared food, fresh-caught seafood, imported cheese, deli and charcuterie, and international foods. The two locations also will house The Burger Bar, a casual restaurant counter serving burgers, salads, sandwiches, soup, side dishes and beer and wine by the glass.

Meanwhile, Wegmans this month began hiring for a 121,000-square-foot store at 106-110 Corporate Park Dr. in Harrison, N.Y., in Westchester County, near New York City. The retailer said site work was winding down to make way for construction. No opening date has been set, but the company expects the store to be up and running in spring 2020.

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The Harrison store will give Wegmans a second metro New York location. Due to open this fall is the chain’s long-awaited first New York City store, a 74,000-square-foot location (a rendering is pictured above) that will anchor the redeveloped Admirals Row site in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Wegmans had announced the project in May 2015. The Brooklyn store will feature a second-floor mezzanine with nearly 100 seats for the in-store café, which will include a bar that serves food, wine, beer and spirits. An opening date hasn’t been announced.

With the Raleigh store, Wegmans’ operating area will grow to seven states. The chain currently has 98 stores in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Massachusetts. Its most recent opening, a 120,000-square-foot store in Lancaster, Pa., came in late September.

Wegmans said the Harrison location will be its 102nd store overall and 48th in New York state. In late October, the retailer announced a fifth planned location for North Carolina, in Wake Forest. Other stores slated for the state are in Cary, West Cary and Chapel Hill.

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Other new stores planned by Wegmans include locations in Greenville, Del.; Annapolis and Rockville, Md.; Washington, D.C. (in the former Fannie Mae campus); Alexandria, Arcola, Reston and Tysons Corner, Va.; and Middletown, N.J.