Wegmans has established a national brand with 85 stores in six states.
And now the Rochester-based grocery chain is making its debut in New York City.
Wegmans will build a 74,000 square foot store as part of the Admirals Row development project at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. That is slightly smaller than the East Avenue location in Rochester.
"One of the big draws is just the density of the population and the number of people who will shop at this store, and we believe we are bringing something so unique to the market," Wegmans spokesperson Jo Natale told WXXI News.
The company’s Twitter feed lit up Tuesday night when the news brokein the New York Times, with messages from both loyal customers and people who've just heard about Wegmans.
" ' I grew up with Wegmans, now this place is gonna feel more like home,' or people who said, ' I shopped there once when I was on a trip to D.C.' A lot from Upstate New Yorkers. We saw tweets from RIT alum, U of R alum," Natale said.
There is no projected opening date for Wegmans’ Brooklyn store. Natale says construction could take three to five years.
She would not speculate about whether this is just the beginning of Wegmans’ presence in the Big Apple.
"Well, we want to get this one open and that's going to take some time to do. It's a little too early to say that. We certainly hope it's so successful that we can open more. Again, sites are hard to come by in that area."
