Wegmans coming to the Richmond area
Everyone’s favorite grocery store will open two locations in the Richmond area.
In a press release posted on their website, grocery store to the stars Wegmans announced that they have plans to “build two stores in the suburbs of Richmond, Virginia”–one in Midlothian and one in Short Pump.
Over the years, we have had countless requests to open a Wegmans store in the Richmond area, so we are delighted to finally announce that we’re headed there,” says Ralph Uttaro, Wegmans senior vice president of real estate. “We look forward to the day when we can welcome customers to our stores and deliver on our promise of incredible customer service, the best ingredients, restaurant-quality prepared foods, and consistent low prices.
The Midlothian store will anchor the yet-to-be-developed Stonehenge Village Shopping Center. The Short Pump store will be located in the West Broad Marketplace near Gayton Road.
The full release follows.
— ∮∮∮ —
Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. confirmed that the family-owned supermarket chain plans to build two stores in the suburbs of Richmond, Virginia. The stores will be similar in size and design to Wegmans’ current Virginia stores, which range in size from 120,000 to 140,000 sq. ft.
“Over the years, we have had countless requests to open a Wegmans store in the Richmond area, so we are delighted to finally announce that we’re headed there,” says Ralph Uttaro, Wegmans senior vice president of real estate. “We look forward to the day when we can welcome customers to our stores and deliver on our promise of incredible customer service, the best ingredients, restaurant-quality prepared foods, and consistent low prices.”
Midlothian, VA (Chesterfield County)
Wegmans will anchor the planned Stonehenge Village Shopping Center, which will also include additional retail space. This site is located on Midlothian Turnpike, just east of Farnham Drive, and is 0.8 miles west of the Chesterfield Town Center Mall and approximately 10 miles southwest of downtown Richmond. Marchetti Properties is the developer for this project.
Midlothian is about 55 miles south of Wegmans’ Fredericksburg, VA store and 60 miles southeast of Charlottesville, VA, where Wegmans will open a future store.
Short Pump, VA (Henrico County)
NV Retail will seek approval to build a food market in West Broad Marketplace, a large retail development on West Broad Street near North Gayton Road that will be anchored by Wegmans and Cabela’s. The site is located 0.6 miles west of the Short Pump Mall and approximately 13 miles northwest of downtown Richmond.
Short Pump is about 45 miles south of Fredericksburg, VA store and 55 miles southeast of Charlottesville, VA.
Each of Wegmans’ Richmond-area stores is expected to employ 550 to 600 people in full- and part-time positions. Wegmans has been on FORTUNE magazine’s list of the ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’ for seventeen consecutive years, ranking #12 in 2014.
According to Wegmans officials, a construction timeline and projected opening date for each store won’t be determined until all necessary approvals are in place. The two sites are approximately 11 miles apart.
—
Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. is an 83-store supermarket chain with stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, and Massachusetts. Wegmans currently operates six stores in Virginia and will open a store in Charlottesville in the future. The family-owned company, founded in 1916, is recognized as an industry leader and innovator.
Photo by: Wegmans
-
Recommend this
on Facebook -
Report an error
-
Subscribe to our
Weekly Digest
Ross Catrow
Founder and publisher of RVANews.
Notice: Comments that are not conducive to an interesting and thoughtful conversation may be removed at the editor’s discretion.
Yes!!! No more Martins or Kroger for us!!!!!!
Wegmans will surely blow Martins and even Kroger away. Very much looking forward to their openings!
I am so thrilled not to have to drive to Fredricksburg for the good stuff!!!! …now, we just need to work on the vaabc board about the having a glass of wine while you shop law!!!!! :). I am soooo…thrilled!
BEST.NEWS.EVER! I have yet to find a grocery store that even remotely rivals Wegmans since moving from Upstate NY to NC and now Richmond 8 years ago. I proudly call myself a grocery store snob because I grew up with Weggie’s. WHERE else can you drop off your dry cleaning, your kids at child care, get the BEST subs on the planet, browse the farmers market of bread and baked goods, grab fresh made cuisine from around the globe, yet also buy “Local”?!?! I simply cannot list the things I love about this place. Admittedly, if you like a “get in, get out” grocery trip – you may want to go to one of the “other” stores. Wegmans is an EXPERIENCE. It feels like Christmas today!!!!! Whoop!!! THANK YOU RVA!!!
While this is great news, I wish they’d actually put one in Richmond. Still a half hour from downtown either way.
I’ve only ever been to their Fredericksburg store and didn’t really like it all that much. It just seemed ridiculously oversized. I have the same issue with most large scale grocery stores, really. I’d much rather go to a butcher, a baker, a cheese monger, a green grocer, a produce market, etc. on separate trips/as needed. Trying to buy all your groceries at the same time in a hypermarket-style store just seems to lead to wasted time and excessive consumption.
Half the time I only want one thing – I have to both drive miles to get to such a store, deal with the hassle of parking, and walk through literal acres of grocery aisles and parking lot to buy a single gallon of milk. My time, energy, gas, and mileage are worth more than that. We need more neighborhood stores that are actually in the city that sell real food.
Agree with Billy. The City is missing out on some valuable tax revenue here.
While this is good news, can we please not delude ourselves that these are Richmond area stores, given that they are both going to be located 15 miles or more from the city center. Those are ex-urbs of Richmond, closer to the Goochland and Powhatan county lines than to the farthest Richmond city limits.
So happy Weggie’s is coming to the Richmond area. However, I do wish it would be built on Midlothian Turnpike, closer to the Powhatan Line. There are tons of lovely sub-divisions around with many eager people just waiting for your store!!
Agreed Billy and Stuffa – Westerfield and Short Stump are hardly in “Richmond”
YES !! FINALLY !! Have been driving to Fredericksburg on/off for the last 14 months. I love the selections, cleanliness, staff, and everything right there for one stop shopping. BTW: They are great community partners!!
Would love to have Wegman’s come to the Columbus, Ohio area. They sound wonderful.
Love that they’re coming but Short Pump? I avoid SP like the plague. Yet another store to access from Broad St. Yuck
Thank your CITY officials for NOT giving approval to welcoming WEGMANS. to the CITY
Great news!! Martins will certainly have a lot of changes to make if they want to stay open. Still miss Ukrops.
Ricky – What exactly are you talking about?? These stores always go the land of lower taxes, saturated malls and babies with blond hair, because that’s where their clientel is at least perceived to be. As a city resident, yes I am disappointed that I must continue to drive all the way out to Short Stump for everything other than beer, lotto tickets and cigarettes. Since these stores feel that they must be in the ‘burbs, which of course is where the marketing folks always put these things, I wish they wouldn’t put them so close to each other, with both locations on the same distant side of town.
Agree with all above regarding comments about the new stores locations. Yes, I understand why stores such as these go where they do. But would it kill one of them to consider a CITY location? Or better yet, would it kill the City of Richmond leaders to consider welcoming them? As a proud urban dweller I would welcome them, and I promise I would not be alone. Now, Short Pump will have Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and Wegman’s. I may go out now and again, but it is honestly so aggravating to do this (traffic and clientele) that most times I stay away. Sigh. Yes, I am glad they’re on the way. But as always, am feeling ignored here in the city.
I am so excited about Wegman’s coming to Chesterfield. We have had nothing out there. Richmond has the best restaurants like Sticks, Edo Squid, Kuba Kuba, LaGrotta, etc., and wonderful speciality stores like For the Love of Chocolate, etc. Henrico has Whole Foods and some great restaurants like Burger Works and Toast and some of the nice chains, and shopping places like Apple. Chesterfield has fallen short and flat until now. I could not be happier! I have been to the Wegman’s in New Jersey and I love the store!
Missed opportunity — could have been the anchor property in the development at the Diamond location.
Why would you even think of putting a store in “the city”. Many have tried, Ukrops to name one. Too much is lost in theft, graffiti, extra security, etc… There simply is not enough sales potential for a company to put a store in the city and it be profitable. Too much overhead.
@Stephen- there were multiple credible rumors that Wegman’s was *very* interested in a spot very much in the city proper. I don’t know if they declined to pursue it or if the city spiked it or none of the above, but they absolutely were considering a city location.
While I love Wegman’s, I could probably get to the Fredericksburg location quicker than getting to Short Pump from Eastern Henrico. That traffic is ridiculous on West Broad Street. If they want folks to trek up there, they need to do something about the traffic conditions…but does Western Henrico really want us to come out there?
Definitely disappointing locations for any fan of Wegman’s who lives in the city. Will have to add these stores to a growing list of places to avoid. Getting to and from Short Pump or Midlothian from in town is quite inconvenient.
I would think the Kroger on Broad and Lombardy would be more than enough proof to show that a Wegman’s would thrive in town. That Kroger, at least the times I’ve gone there, has been beyond busy.
More commercial junk of which we have enough already. I wish I could be more positive but when I look at the tasteless growth in these areas I’m actually glad I live in the city and not the burbs. I don’t need 5o choices, just a few decent ones is fine. Ba humbug.
Being that I have lived in Rochester, NY most of my life from
age 6 to age 55 – I come from the land where WEGMANS has their corporate headquarters. Wegmans has their grocery stores NOT only in the burbs but also many many stores in CITY proper. Take a look at their web site to see how many stores just in Rochester. Wegmans does not serve ONLY the public in the uppity uppity neighborhoods.
Wegmans is a KNOWN COMMODITY of serving all neighborhoods and creating jobs for many – be it a clerk, the managers, the pizza make, the donut baker, the produce manager etc etc. They are the number ONE (1) Best employer for many years in a row. You will get customer service like never before AND the employees receive EXCELLENT benefits – including ability to learn the marketing business and employees can apply for scholarships to continue their education. Each employee is PROUD to be an employee of Wegmans – no take that back – its a FAMILY relationship. The CITY of RICHMOND did not welcome them over a year ago when Wegmans was putting out its feelers. Mr. Wegmans and Mr. Ukrop are both successful business men …and Mr. Wegman promised Mr. Ukrop they would not embark on the Ukrop territory as long as there was a UKROPS in business. When UKROPS announced they were closing, even then Wegmans did not jump on the bandwagon to seize the goods. What Martins did has been admirable BUT its not a UKROPS AND more importantly not a WEGMANS. Wait and see for yourself. Perhaps by a slip of the tongue or the pen – Richmond may one day allow the WEGGIES into the CITY.
Short Pump and Midlo? I personally won’t be supporting any chains that only build in the “sticks”. The City is growing and I’m simply tired of taking my money and helping feed sprawl.
This just made my day! For those of you who have not had the pleasure of visiting a Wegmans you are in for a wonderful surprise. BEST GROCERY STORE EVER!
When I drive to Washington I always stop at the fredericksburg Wegmans, because it’s there. Having one in Short pump means I will shop Wegmans more frequently, but as a city resident Kroger will still be my supermarket of choice. Until Wegmans adds some stores closer to town. The Diamond, maybe? Or Northside/VA Center Commons/Ashland?
Wegmans does urban stores very well. Being from Buffalo and going to school in Rochester, I have witnessed both suburban and urban versions of the brand – both amazing. Wednesday was literally the best day of my Richmond life since moving here 5 years ago. Wegmans will make this place feel like home to me!
Its is swell and all, however when are they going to actually put something in Richmond…They dont have enough glamorous food options in Short Pump with Trader Joes and Whole Foods? So now you are going to take money from them because everybody is going to go to Wegmans. I, myself, will trek the 13 mins to Wegmans but it would be nice to have something available for the masses that live downtown.
OMG, does Short Pump really need ANOTHER premier grocery store? Geez people, there’s more to Richmond than Short Pump.
I stopped at Wegmans in NoVa twice and was disappointed.
The produce and hot bar items LOOKED really good but were weirdly tasteless.
I grew up in Rochester and worked at Wegmans for many years. While I’m not willing to drive to F’burg, I am more than willing to drive to Short Pump to shop at Weggies!!! I am excited beyond belief!! Every time I go home to Rochester I MUST make at least one trip to Wegmans!!
YES!
Blow it out your ass, city dwellers.
Cannot. Wait! Always heard fantastic thinks about Wagmans. No more martins !!! Whoo hoo!!!
Hey people,
Don’t be SO harsh. We moved here 6 yrs. ago and we were told that “Short Pump is where it is happening.” It is true. Short Pump traffic is nothing compared to driving in the big cities like LA, San Diego, Seattle and NY. Some of you sound bitter you live in the city. You got Southern Season, now it’s our turn.:)
this is the greatest news!! Love Weggie’s. Moving to the Richmond area soon as part of a relo and this seals the deal. As far as he waaaa! waaaa! about a city location, being non-emotional which liberals never are, any organization like Wegmans spends millions of dollars a year on location studies. Obviously, the locations selected are the result of metrics and not emotions. Got it?