Interior of a newer Wegmans (photo by Flickr user robobby)
My Greater Boston area transplanted Western New Yorkers:
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts cleared the hurdle for the first Massachusetts Wegmans today by passing the home-rule petition that will allow Wegmans to obtain a beer and liquor license for their proposed store at Westwood Station.
Alleluia! With so much going wrong in the world, this is a beacon of light in an era of sullenness. We are getting a Wegmans, and in within walking distance of a commuter rail station, no less! All the good and charity I have done in my nearly twenty-seven years is finally being rewarded!
So can we start a countdown? Can I start making plans to camp out for the 48 hours prior to the store’s opening? You all think I’m joking. I am determined to be one of the first five customers in that store. Wegmans is the best thing to ever come out of Rochester, NY, and I need to be there to pay homage to my hometown.
On another note, can you believe I have not been in a Wegmans in nearly a year?! A year! This may be why I’m so excited about today’s development. It’s all Wegmans withdrawal.
For those Massachusetts residents who have never experienced a Wegmans, you must think I am insane. I swear I am not. I implore you to visit the Westwood Wegmans when it opens, and within 15 seconds, you will completely understand why the store is such a big deal to us Western New Yorkers. It is indescribable. It is glorious. It is angelic. It is so unmistakably the most perfect grocery store known to man, and shopping in one is a religious experience. Wegmans stores are pretty much now the only reason to visit Rochester, NY (besides, you know, that whole “my entire family still lives there” thing.)
There is a reason I have taken a post out of a strictly sports related blog to write about Wegmans. That is how wonderful it is. That is how excited I am that most of the hurdles have been cleared for this project. And this is why, the minute they announce an opening date, I will be keeping a countdown.
Hmmm….W Pop. How close you are.
I know EXACTLY what you mean and am SO excited!! I grew up in Buffalo, NY and worked at Wegmans for nearly 2 years. It’s been nearly 10 years since I lived in Buffalo but I always make a point when I go home to pick up groceries at Wegmans. I’m up in Boston now – can you give me a better sense about where they will be building it? And definitely start that countdown!
Hi Karen!
Thanks for your comment! Right now, the plan is for the first Massachusetts Wegmans to be built in Westwood, MA (the southern suburbs of Boston, not all that far away). I think it is being built by the Westwood commuter rail station as part of a complex called, “Westwood Station.”
I can’t find anything about an official timeline, but I think they usually take at least a year to build a store. I know from a friend’s brother who works for a Wegmans in Rochester that their store manager started asking employees over the summer if they would be interested in transfer to a potential Massachusetts location within the next year. Wegmans updates their website with tentative opening time periods for new stores on a regular basis, but they have yet to mention the Westwood store.
I’ll be sure to mention on my blog if I hear anything else about a timeline!
Thanks again, Karen!!!
-Kat