Long lines and dreary weather greeted the first customers of the new Wegmans Chestnut Hill store Sunday, but it didn’t seem to damper their spirits. Twitter was buzzing as they got their first look at the store, which is Wegmans’ first “urban” concept.
At 80,000 square feet, it’s considerably smaller than the typical Wegmans store (with the exception of Rochester’s East Avenue location that opened last summer, which is 86,000 square feet). It also features a different layout that is organized in an “L” shape, and has cafe seating in the front of the store near the cash registers.
A lot of these design quirks were necessary because this store is in the lower level of a mixed-use development, which also includes a 10,500 square foot Wegmans Wine, Liquor, and Beer that is above the supermarket and is treated as a separate store.
Unlike other Wegmans locations, the Chestnut Hill store is not 24-hours; it is open daily from 6 a.m. to midnight. The store employs about 550 people. People on twitter reported traffic jams around the store on opening day. If the East Avenue grand opening is any indication, this could be a problem for a while. Wegmans had people directing traffic at the Rochester store for a week after opening!
Now if only Wegmans would return to Rochester’s midtown site with an urban store like this at the new “Tower at Midtown.”
PENT-UP CURIOSITY 