We Got a Wegmans!

This morning we rose bright and early to go to the grand opening of the new Wegman's grocery store here in our area. If the clouds had parted to reveal a choir of angels heralding this event, there couldn't have been more excitement. Katie F. from Washington, D.C. said in her yelp.com post that 1,000 people were waiting when the doors opened at 7:00 a.m.

We knew it would be crazy-crowded, so the throngs of enthusiastic shoppers packing the aisles didn't bother us. This is the largest Wegman's I've been in, bigger than either of the two sister stores in neighboring communities.

Moments after we arrived the power went out, leaving everyone standing frozen in the dark. Talk about adding to the anticipation! Luckily it was only dark for about a minute and then the lights came back on and people proceeded merrily about their shopping.

Big Daddy and I had to divide and conquer to make any headway on our shopping list. Combined with the milling masses, Little Sprout was mesmerized by the toy train running along a track suspended from the ceiling.

An 8,000 square foot wine shop carried an astounding selection of wines. A huge tea section (huge even by Wegman's standards) will keep me coming back. Then there's the Mediterannean olive bar, seafood and sushi bars, prepared food section, bakery and health food section. And throughout the store, a sea of cheerful, knowledgeable Wegman's "team members" (that's what it said on their name tags, instead of "staff") were on hand to make sure our shopping experience went as smoothly as possible. Checkout was swift and effortless.

And did I mention the guy in the parking lot whose job was to gather up shopping carts? I personally witnessed this guy help elderly shoppers load bags into their car, direct traffic so that cars could back out of parking spaces safely and keep parking lot traffic moving along smoothly. They really were ready to wow us with excellent service -- and it worked.