Brand New Wegman's Store Opening Tomorrow

[DougGuy]

Wegman's is a huge store in NY from what I know, they are opening a new store here in Raleigh tomorrow to MUCH fanfare on facebook and our local news channels. It will be a MADHOUSE for about a month, but man, they got EVERYTHING you can imagine a top notch grocery store would have. I can't wait until the crowds die down some to go. It seems more like a cultural event than a store opening.

I love cooking, and being stuck up here in podunk Nawth Cakkalakki with nothing but Food Lion and Walmart really throws a hitch in things because the selection is limited and more often than not, downright boring. We get decent produce here but that's about it. I like a store where I can go in the seafood section and find something interesting that makes me want to create something tasty.

Wegman's will have a ton of stuff not available in even our better stores here, Harris Teeter and Publix. Their prices will also stabilize our local economy as more stores open in this area and other stores have to price themselves competitively or price themselves out of a market.

I had tonsil cancer in 2013, radiation pretty much nuked my taste buds and only a percentage came back so for me to enjoy food I have to get extra creative and things have to be packed with flavor and often pretty spicy to be enjoyable, I am always glad to see a new market with well stocked shelves that creativity and recipes can go nuts in. I don't shop for specific things all the time, I tend to go in and find something that looks good, then build a meal around that and the Wegman's ought to be a kick in the butt for me.

[cabezaverde]

I am from the city that is the home of Wegmans. You will like the store.

[Petrol & Powder]

I've shopped at Wegman's and they have a different approach to stores but in the end, it's just a huge grocery store.

The do offer an enormous selection, lots of pre-package single serve meals, a very large food bar for prepared meals in the store or take-out and large specialty departments (seafood, produce, bakery, meat counter, dairy beer & wine).

Wegman's really promotes the shopping "experience".

If you enjoy shopping and like to spend a lot of time shopping for that perfect selection of groceries - Wegman's is for you. They have an incredibly large selection of products.
The downside to Wegman's is the huge size of the store makes shopping quickly difficult and some of their products are very expensive. They have an extensive beer & wine selection, a very good produce section and above average deli. I do not care for their seafood and meat selections. Their seafood looks impressive at first (Lobster tanks, big ice beds with fresh fish) but I've not been impressed with the quality. Their pre-package beef is rather pricy unless you are seeking large amounts.

So it comes down to what you like. If you enjoy shopping and taking the time to pick out the perfect grouping of ingredients for that special meal - You'll love Wegman's.
If you are seeking more "run of the mill" grocery items and don't want to spend a lot of time and money in that process - Wegman's will be a bit annoying.

[Outpost75]

Wegman's is fine for speciality gourmet items, which you cannot get elsewhere, but not for everyday staples, which are more expensive than other places. The wine section of the Wegman's in Fairfax, VA is larger than the entire Food Lion in my home town in West Virginia. I don't enjoy having to spend an hour looking for stuff in a grocery store the size of my local Walmart, when at home I could be in and out of the store in 15 minutes. I spent more time in Wegman's waiting to check out with my order than I usually spend shopping. I found it a big time waster looking for stuff. I'll never go there again.

If the shopping "experience" is important to you and you want to explore new and previously never seen before exotic and expensive gourmet items, then it's your huckleberry. If you use a shopping list, know exactly what you want to buy, must shop within a budget and are not inclined to "impulse" purchases, stay FAR, FAR away!!

[Adam_Selene]

Wegman's is fine for speciality gourmet items, which you cannot get elsewhere, but not for everyday staples, which are more expensive than other places. The wine section of the Wegman's in Fairfax, VA is larger than the entire Food Lion in my home town in West Virginia. I don't enjoy having to spend an hour looking for stuff in a grocery store the size of my local Walmart, when at home I could be in and out of the store in 15 minutes. I spent more time in Wegman's waiting to check out with my order than I usually spend shopping. I found it a big time waster looking for stuff. I'll never go there again.

If the shopping "experience" is important to you and you want to explore new and previously never seen before exotic and expensive gourmet items, then it's your huckleberry. If you use a shopping list, know exactly what you want to buy, must shop within a budget and are not inclined to "impulse" purchases, stay FAR, FAR away!!

Interesting - like cabezaverde, I grew up in Monroe County (where Wegmans originated) and my experience has been the polar opposite. Fast checkout, good organization, better prices than anyone else in the area (on most items). Maybe as they drift away from the flagpole, management degrades? I'd love to see them get away from the eastern seabord and try to break into the midwest.

[DougGuy]

Considering I had to go to EIGHT stores before I found a can of Del Monte Stewed Tomatoes (I know right, used to be in EVERY STORE!! ALWAYS!!!) I wouldn't haggle over the price, it is a PITA when a recipe such as chili calls for a specific branded ingredient and it cannot be found. I made the chili, but it is NOT my usual masterpiece because I had to try and sub the Del Monte. Now I have chili in the freezer that just isn't right. I have to eat it.

* I got ticked and called Del Monte, because Hunts stuff is out in your face, in force, in all my local stores. To the point where the Del Monte products are on the bottom shelf, across the aisle, it's like the Hunts vendors are taking all the managers or buyers out to dinner to secure a choice location on the shelves for their products. Not kidding, it is THAT obvious. The Del Monte lady did look up stores in my area that had ordered Stewed Tomatoes in the last 90 days, the Walmart in a neighboring town had some on the shelf. This whole experience and now some less than superb chili has chapped my butt good. One trip to Wegman's would have been worth the aggravation. And I would have my award winning chili instead of some almost but not quite the same...

A few years ago I set out to make my own stewed tomatoes, a clone of the Del Monte, and man whoa I hit it out of da park! Canned a dozen or so jars of the best ever tomatoes, it was SO good I could just open a jar and eat them right there. A LOT better than the Del Monte that I have used for years and years. I had ran out, and this year nobody had any good acidic tomatoes, couldn't even come up with any at the produce man's stand and he always has the best stuff. I do have my recipe for the stewed tomatoes and will make them again next year, God permitting some good tomatoes can be had!

[Petrol & Powder]

I'm in the camp with Outpost75. When I go to the grocery store I know what I want and where it is located. I shop with military precision and can usually be in and out of a store in less than 20 minutes (often far less). The checkout line is the limiting factor on most trips to the store.

There are times when I'm going to make that special meal and I may go out of my way to find the perfect items. For average grocery shopping Wegman's is not my choice.

[Nueces]

I'm unfamiliar with Wegman's, but it sounds like the Texas equivalent used to be Simon David's. My first experience with SD was a new store in Austin no more than a mile from my place at the time. Large selection of very high quality items and all the suburban moms showed up dressed as if going to their ex's funeral, ie, dressed to kill. Really a peak experience.

[Outpost75]

I have learned that for the few specialty items I do buy, like COFFEE, I am better off buying case lots of food service size #10 cans direct from the importer in Portsmouth, VA. With a $100 minimum order I get free FedEx shipping to my door and the price per pound for good Italian expresso-grind coffee is less than Folgers or Maxwell House at the Food Lion, by the time you figure gas money and sales tax. You haven't lived until you have had expresso-grind Madagascar Arabica prepared in a French press!

I haven't bought ground coffee in the grocery in ten years.

When overseas I got spoiled on good Ceylon bulk black tea. So I buy that direct from the US importer also, in kilogram tins. Specifically, it is Camellia sinensis from Galle, Sri Lanka which is is a very fine, low-grown (under 1000 feet), broken leaf tea that produces a dark cup with a good body that is mellow and brisk and holds up well to the addition of milk or (upon or after the dog watch) Admiralty Rum.

While often used in the US as a base for blended teas, this is the closest I have found to the tea served in the mess on board British Royal Navy ships or like that favored for chai in India and for breakfast teas served in upper class venues in UK. Again, much less expensive than the inferior loose leaf China oolong or hard brick pu-erh tea at Wegmans! A kilo lasts our household about a year, but I'm told by my Brit expat neighbor that we "drink alot of tea for Yanks..."

[MT Gianni]

Living where there is one grocery store with in 30 miles. The town 30 miles south are darn glad to have one after 3 years without a store. I still find locally grown farmers market food to be far superior to that transported from elsewhere, especially meats.

[Petrol & Powder]

I don't want to come across as bashing Wegman's; it's a fine stone. However, Wegman's business model is centered on the "shopping" experience. If you enjoy the activity of shopping (and some people do) then it can be an adventure.
Wegman's does have a huge selection and if you live in an area where the stores have limited selections; that would be a welcomed addition.
If you live somewhere that currently has stores with large and varied inventories; Wegman's will not do much for you.

Partially because Wegman's promotes the "experience" of shopping and partially because they have such an enormous inventory, the stores are HUGE ! It's not a place you just "pop" into and grab a few things.

[georgerkahn]

For over thirty years, we spent two weeks lake trout fishing on one of New York State's Finger Lakes, tent camping at a State lakeside park. The high point of each year -- better than great fish caught -- was the ~30 minute drive to a Wegmans -- not only to buy food, but to eat a lunch there. If I recall, a five dollar bill got you a large soda pop, large piece of awesome (plate-sized) pizza, and chips! From employees there through the years, I understand they are NOT unionized at all; they provide better benefits than competitive stores which are. They also VERY generously help employees with unforeseen financial burdens; and, very happily learned when (I was a member of a scholarship selection panel at university I had gainful employ) a good many of the graduate univ. scholarship applicants -- the "cream of the crop", so to speak -- were the children of Wegman employees, who attended college solely ($$$) from Wegman scholarships to be there. A truly GREAT store, imho. I trust you will be happy to have it close by!
geo

[richhodg66]

And here I was all excited to get an Aldis in our little town...

[Outpost75]

And here I was all excited to get an Aldis in our little town...

We have Aldi here in West Virginia and I shop there often. I can't get everything there that we normally use, but they are good for some things if you are OK with generic store brands and not "brand name" products.

[merlin101]

Wegmans is very well stocked with a wide variety and staffed with helpful and polite employees, they are also very community minded. Great place to shop but like said above it's not a quick in and out! That's not because a shortage of check out lanes! Just the opposite if they see more than a couple people in line they open more, also the front end manager stands in front and actually manages!

[William Yanda]

I am from the city that is the home of Wegmans. You will like the store.

Plus 1

[Texas by God]

Central Market- offshoot of HEB stores- in Fort Worth is an experience not to miss. And Nueces; it's like a bigger Simon David- where I learned that quality ingredients DO make the epicurean difference. As a 20 year old bachelor living/ working near Love Field in Big D, I became quite the Legend in my own mind Chef, thanks to Simon David.

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[jsizemore]

Local news channels had the opening on TV. Police had to direct traffic. Some guy camped overnight in his vehicle to beat the crowds. There was one lady that drove from Charlotte to shop and a woman from Providence, RI. What the heck is wrong with folks?

[Nueces]

Central Market- offshoot of HEB stores- in Fort Worth is an experience not to miss. And Nueces; it's like a bigger Simon David- where I learned that quality ingredients DO make the epicurean difference. As a 20 year old bachelor living/ working near Love Field in Big D, I became quite the Legend in my own mind Chef, thanks to Simon David.

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Oh, yes, I've been an HEB customer since the 50s in south Texas, have two within striking range out here now. Most larger HEBs now incorporate lots of Central Market stuff, so I tend to avoid the CMs in Austin since Austin turned into Hippie Heaven on concrete.

[jsizemore]

The numbers are in. Last nights news said there were 30,000+ folks at the grand opening Sunday. It's a record.